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In a fitting end to a disappointing season, the Carolina Panthers fell to 5-11 with a blowout 33-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Here are our winners and losers from Sunday’s game.
Winner: WR Curtis Samuel
Samuel is due for a huge contract this offseason. Today, Samuel hauled in seven receptions off 11 targets for 121 total yards, including this 25-yard reception that was nearly an interception. The fourth-year receiver’s big day contributed to his 1,000 yards from scrimmage on the season, becoming the Panthers’ fourth player this season to accomplish the feat. Only four other teams in the Super Bowl era have had four players record over 1,000 yards in a single season.
Loser: QBs Teddy Bridgewater, P.J. Walker
Team owner David Tepper recently said “unless you have that guy for sure that gets you to playoffs and Super Bowls, you have to keep reevaluating.” Well, it looks like the Panthers have some reevaluating to do. Before being benched for P.J. Walker, Bridgewater threw two atrocious end-zone interceptions, mishandled a few handoffs and garnered a 44.8 passer rating. Unfortunately, Walker was worse, throwing three interceptions and only five completions, both of which contributed to his abysmal 20.5 passer rating.
Loser: HC Matt Rhule
Rhule is the only one to blame for the Panthers not benching Bridgewater sooner. With nothing on the line for Carolina, Walker and even Tommy Stevens should have gotten their chances immediately following Teddy’s first end-zone interception. Instead, Rhule only decided to explore other quarterback options late in the third quarter, and it didn’t go very well. Earlier in the game, Rhule also threw a mind-boggling challenge flag on a D.J. Moore incompletion.
Winner: QB/TE Tommy Stevens
Just a day after he was signed from Carolina’s practice squad, Stevens made good on the few snaps he was allotted. The rookie QB/TE converted four “wildcat” rushing plays into 24 yards and also lined up as a wide receiver on some plays. Stevens gave Panthers fans a sliver of hope for a Taysom Hill-like weapon on their offense.
Winner: DE Efe Obada
Obada had a sneaky-good season after being waived and resigned just before it began. Today, Obada added another sack to his total, finishing the season with a career-high 5.5 sacks and 15 quarterback hits. This Panthers’ defensive line has the potential to be lethal in the near future, especially if they can keep guys like Obada around.
Loser: WR Robby Anderson
It may be surprising to see Anderson here, but the second half of his season has been relatively quiet. While the fifth-year wideout managed to gain over 1,000 yards from scrimmage on the year, nearly half of those yards came in the first five games of the season. His last 11 games saw a major drop in production, so let’s hope to see a resurgence next season.
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