Despite a late-game comeback, an inefficient offense and a leaky defensive performance contributed to a 32-27 loss for the Carolina Panthers, who are now 4-9 on the season.
Here are our winners and losers from today’s game.
Winner: DB Jeremy Chinn
If Chinn wasn’t already the NFL’s frontrunner for Defensive Rookie of the Year, he most definitely is now. Chinn solidified his case for the award with an early forced fumble recovered by the Panthers, then followed it up with eight tackles, including one for a loss. Unfortunately, Chinn was one of the few bright spots on a Panthers defense that allowed 32 points to second-year Broncos quarterback Drew Lock.
Loser: QB Teddy Bridgewater
Bridgewater’s quarterback rating was over 50 points lower than that of Lock, but even that doesn’t completely reflect his poor performance. The intangibles— a dropped interception on a wildly inaccurate deep shot, taking sacks instead of throwing it out of bounds, poor game management— should all be pinned on Teddy. To cap it off, Bridgewater threw a check down to Curtis Samuel on a fourth-and-long situation, despite having Robby Anderson and Pharoh Cooper downfield. That failure ended the game for Carolina after netting a mere one yard.
Winner: K Joey Slye
It’s been an inconsistent 2020 season from the “swole kicker,” but Slye finally turned in a perfect day. Slye finished the game two-for-two on field goals and three-for-three on extra points, with a long of 35. Slye also had perfect execution on a late-game squib kick that pinned Denver deep in their territory and eventually gave the Panthers a shot at putting together a potential game-winning drive.
Loser: Special teams
The first points on the board for either team came on an 83-yard punt-return touchdown thanks to multiple embarrassing missed tackles. Just a play later, Trenton Cannon had poor foot placement that forced him to take a kickoff out of the end zone and leave the offense with dreadful field position. To add on, Natrell Jamerson was flagged twice on special teams just one day after being signed from the team’s practice squad. While Slye outperformed Brandon McManus, the rest of the special teams unit needs to recover from some costly mistakes.
Winner: RB Mike Davis
It’s clear that the Panthers need Christian McCaffrey back to do well on offense, but Mike Davis has been a more-than-decent fill-in for much of the season. Although h only put up 51 yards off 11 carries, Davis was responsible for two of the team’s touchdowns, getting Carolina some compensation from their red zone trips.
Loser: Panthers secondary
The Panthers’ DBs made Lock look like an elite quarterback today. After seven straight starts with an interception, Lock threw for 280 yards, four touchdowns and no picks, shredding the Panthers’ defensive backfield. Key mistakes by Rasul Douglas and Juston Burris fueled the fire, with the former stumbling on an early K.J. Hamler touchdown and the latter completely misreading another deep score for Hamler.
Winner: DE Efe Obada
Obada has been a fan favorite since he was signed through the NFL International Player Pathway Program just a few years ago, and he showed off his agility and hustle on a fumble return that set up a short scoring drive for the Panthers. Obada didn’t contribute much more, but he served his role as a rotational player for a banged-up defensive line.
Loser: Penalties
Coming into the game, the Panthers had accrued the fifth-most penalties in the NFL, with 77 of them in 12 games. Unfortunately, today was no exception. The offensive line was responsible for a few crucial flags, but the team as a whole had seven called against them, translating to 48 lost yards in the process. Matt Rhule needs to instill some discipline in his young team for the final few games of the season.
Loser: Referees
From the questionable unnecessary roughness call on Brian Burns that resuscitated a Broncos scoring drive to a suspiciously ill-timed Denver timeout that gave them another shot at a third-and-one, there was plenty of reason for Rhule to be upset about the officiating. Expect a few of those calls to be submitted to the league office this week.
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