National writers rip Carolina Panthers in devastating Atlanta performance
David Newton, ESPN
Somewhere, former Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman must be smiling. Maybe even laughing. Norman relished his games against Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones. He did a good job for the most part of keeping the league's premier receiver under control. But the Panthers rescinded the franchise tag on Norman in April even though he wanted to stay. They allowed him to sign with the Washington Redskins and chose to replace the 2015 Pro Bowler with a rookie because they didn't believe Norman was worth up to $15 million a year in a long-term deal. On Sunday, they paid for it. Oh, did they pay.
Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News
It's time to push the panic button on the Panthers — maybe the eject button, too.
What we saw during Carolina's 48-33 road loss to Atlanta on Sunday wasn’t a mighty team that simply lost its way against a division rival. It was a dethroning...While some are worried about how Newton can recover from his concussion, the real concern is Carolina's complacency.....The defensive dominance up front is gone, badly exposing a much weaker back end. The Panthers are getting manhandled on both lines of scrimmage. The hunger and swagger has been replaced with the heaviest of hangovers. The thing about losing intangibles is they’re hard to get back.
Rohan Nadkarni, Sports Illustrated
The glitch in the Panthers defense? Their young secondary. Carolina fans should rightly demand answers from management after Sunday’s performance, with the decision to let go of Josh Norman in the off-season now looming larger than ever. Not helping matters is an injury to Cam Newton, who left Sunday’s game to undergo concussion testing. (NFL be damned, Cam’s almost certainly suffered multiple concussions this season after what happened in Denver in Week 1.) Even with Newton, the Panthers offense wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring against Atlanta. Derek Anderson provided the typical backup boost until two interceptions dashed any faint comeback hopes in the fourth quarter.
By Schuyler Dixon, Associated Press
There’s a pretty good chance the Atlanta loss offered a preview of what Anderson would bring – a couple of touchdown passes, a chance for a late drive to tie but ultimately a second interception that was returned for a touchdown, ending Carolina’s hopes. But it’s probably worth remembering 2014, when Carolina rallied from 3-8-1 with four straight victories to make the playoffs, even winning a wild-card game.
Ken Belson, New York Times
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who absorbed several eyebrow-raising hits to the head in the season-opening game against the Denver Broncos, sustained a concussion on Sunday and left the game against the Falcons in Atlanta.....In the first game of the season, Newton was hit in the head four times by Broncos defenders. Only one of those hits resulted in a penalty, though the league said the next day that more penalties should have been called. The NFL later fined two Denver Broncos defenders, Darian Stewart and Brandon Marshall, who had hit Newton. The hits renewed a debate about whether the league was doing enough to reduce head trauma. Despite the introduction of penalties against teams that keep players in the game after a head hit when they ought to be examined, Newton was never taken off the field for examination during the game against the Broncos.
This story was originally published October 3, 2016 at 7:48 AM with the headline "National writers rip Carolina Panthers in devastating Atlanta performance."