Even without Ron Rivera, these were the same old Carolina Panthers in loss to Falcons
Frankly, Ron Rivera could have been standing on the sidelines.
Norv Turner could have still been calling the plays.
In Atlanta on Sunday, it just didn’t matter who was coaching the Panthers. Nothing was new. Carolina looked very much like the same team its been over the last few weeks to the tune of a 40-20 loss to the Falcons, extending their losing streak to five games.
These last four weeks of the season are supposed to be an “audition” for everyone in Carolina. From interim head coach Perry Fewell to new offensive coordinator Scott Turner calling the plays for the first time in his career.
If Sunday was the first example of that, then the Panthers are simply still just the answer-less team that we had seen during the losing streak that led up to Rivera’s firing as head coach Tuesday.
The same issues remain. The same questions are being asked over and over again about how the team can fix those problems. But answers seem nowhere to be found.
“It’s really frustrating because you saw it early in the year, you saw the potential we have and it’s just, we got to put the pieces together,” quarterback Kyle Allen said of the team continuing to have the same issues. “It’s really frustrating to come out each Sunday and put in good work and put in good practices and have a good energy and good vibes coming into the game, and just have these mistakes pile up.”
The Panthers are now 0-7 this year when they are losing at halftime. It’s hard to believe that they were only down three points after the first two quarters, but things, rather quickly, slipped away once again. Even Fewell said, “I thought that we would play much better in the second half, but that didn’t happen.”
The formula for Carolina’s losing has become predictable to a fault.
They are inconsistent.
Allen had some beautiful throws, and then he had multiple passes that should have resulted in interceptions. The offensive line gave the running game some nice holes, and then allowed Allen to be sacked five times, including one that resulted in Allen giving up his seventh lost fumble of the year.
“We’ve got to do a better job executing,” running back Christian McCaffrey said. “It’s tough to call plays when you’re in third-and-long, second-and-long ... it’s the same story different ending. Eliminating self-inflicted wounds.”
They can’t figure out how to defend against the run.
The one thing the Panthers did well in their first game against the Falcons was hold them to just 54 yards on the ground. Not this time. The Falcons amassed a season-high 157 rushing yards, just their third game this season with more than 100. The Panthers entered Week 14 allowing the most rushing touchdowns in the league (22). The Falcons scored two more Sunday.
They turn the ball over. A lot.
Allen threw two interceptions, but it was a costly Greg Dortch fumble on the kickoff following a 93-yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan to Olamide Zaccheaus that truly took away any energy the Panthers had. Dortch was brought back to the active roster from the practice squad this week and had kickoff and punt return responsibilities. His third-quarter fumble led to a 29-yard field goal for the Falcons and he almost fumbled again on the very next kickoff.
Allen fumbled on two of his five sacks, losing one. The quarterback now has 12 fumbles this season and has lost seven. Carolina has given up 50 sacks (tied for fourth-most in franchise history) as the offensive line continues to struggle to find consistency.
Compounding the Panthers’ issues holding onto the ball, their defense once again did not record a takeaway and has just one over the last five games.
“Not only the players know, but all of you and the fans know, that if we continue to turn the football over and don’t take care of it and do some of the things that we’re doing, we will not be successful, so it’s my job to make us successful and we’re going to find a solution for that problem,” Fewell said. “I don’t have that solution right now, but we’re going to find that solution.”
The time for solutions to the Panthers’ woes has come and gone. A lot of the same went wrong for the Panthers in Atlanta, losing again to a team they haven’t beat since 2017.
They came close at times, like when they almost got pressure on Ryan before he launched the 93-yard touchdown pass, the longest throw of his career.
Tight end Ian Thomas played well overall filling in for Greg Olsen — he even had his first touchdown of the season — but was unable to hang onto a perfectly thrown ball by Allen in the second quarter that resulted in Damontae Kazee’s first interception of the game. It was one of many missed opportunities for the Panthers.
Getting rid of Rivera was never going to fix the Panthers’ problems. But along with the issues that have been with the team since its blowout loss in San Francisco, the Carolina team that showed up against Atlanta was one that missed tackles it easily should have made. It didn’t involve its star running back often and early enough once again with McCaffrey finishing the game with a season-low 11 carries.
It’s the same issues that were present against Washington. And Atlanta the first time. And even in the loss to Green Bay.
“We’re all playing for our jobs. And my message to the team was simply this, we love this game,” Fewell said. “This is the game of football and we chose to play football or coach football. And the competitive spirit in all of us, we don’t like to lose, but we came out on the short end of that today. So we’ll get back to work, get back into the grind, we’ll reset, we’ll refocus and we’ll work to get a win next week because that’s the most important game.”
Spin, rinse and repeat. Do it again next week. Say the same things next week.
The Panthers were tired and dejected. Somehow a 20-point score differential is deceptively close to how this game actually felt.
New coach, old coach. Didn’t matter. It’s the same Panthers.
This story was originally published December 8, 2019 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Even without Ron Rivera, these were the same old Carolina Panthers in loss to Falcons."
