Key to Panthers’ comeback victory over Eagles? Big plays, new fourth-quarter tactic

The football gods were fast asleep through the majority of Carolina’s game at Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon.

But in the fourth quarter, they woke up.

The Panthers scored 21 unanswered points to beat the Eagles 21-17 and improve to 4-2. It was their first road win of the season. It was against the defending Super Bowl champions.

And except for the result, it was very weirdly similar to the Panthers’ gut-check loss at Washington last week.

Call it what you want: Karma, a little voodoo, the power of positive thinking or just give a nod to the big man upstairs, like quarterback Cam Newton did after Sunday’s game.

“God works in mysterious ways,” Newton said. “I believe in putting good energy in the Earth, and knowing that when that opportunity presents itself again, you better be ready for it.

“We’re lucky to be on this side. Because it’s the difference between two or three plays, in every single close game.”

He’s not wrong.

Like last week, mistakes put the Panthers in an early hole.

The Panthers turned the ball over three times against Washington in the first half, had a 17-point deficit and then almost came back. The effort fell short after three consecutive incomplete passes to the end zone.

The team stared down the same 17-0 barrel on Sunday. Three consecutive penalties pushed Carolina out of field goal range on back-to-back drives. Carolina’s pass defense was like a paper towel against the Mississippi River. And the Panthers’ offense simply couldn’t get going.

“It’s very interesting how parallel the last two games were,” tight end Greg Olsen said. “And how much better we feel about today than a week ago, when we were talking at this minute. There were a lot of ‘coulda-wouldas.’”

Achieving a different result this time around actually started in the week leading up to Sunday’s game, when a ticked-off Newton went to work last Monday with his similarly rankled teammates.

“Last week ... I don’t always do good with losing, but I just took that one personal,” Newton said. “There were so many things that were against us as far as starting slow, turnovers. I thought that we had an opportunity to win. And I told myself while preparing all week that if we ever get in that position again, I very well better hold up my end of the bargain.”

He did. Of his 269 total passing yards, 201 came in the fourth quarter, during which time he was 16 for 22 and also threw two touchdowns.

But like Newton said, a few explosive plays made all of the difference on offense on Sunday.

Difference-makers

Second-year receiver Curtis Samuel scored Carolina’s first touchdown, on a slick play in which running backs C.J. Anderson and Christian McCaffrey were decoys on an option fake. Samuel then got the ball on a reverse for a 14-yard touchdown with 10:41 to play

On the next drive, with 4:13 to play, Newton hit receiver Jarius Wright for a 28-yard catch over the top. It was Newton’s second completion of a pass over 20 yards since the season began.

That set up 18-yard touchdown catch by Devin Funchess and a two-point conversion to Wright cut the deficit to three with 4:08 left.

After the defense forced a three-and out, the Panthers faced fourth and 10 at the Carolina 31 just ahead of the two-minute warning.

With the Panthers, to use Newton’s word, “desperate,” Carolina needed a spark, but Newton had overthrown Funchess on the previous play.

“Pardon my English, but it was a (expletive) throw the play before,” Newton said. “I knew I had to come back and put my team in the best situation as possible.”

Newton said he saw Smith’s defender slip and fall, and knew he had to get the ball in his hands. He did so while wrapped by an Eagles’ defensive lineman. Smith’s catch and run gained 35 yards.

“I honestly don’t know how (Cam) got (the throw) off, he muscled it out,” Smith said. “I knew we had a two-minute coming up, so I didn’t have to try to run out of bounds. I knew if I caught it, I could fight for the extra yards because (the incoming two-minute warning) is like an extra time out.”

Because Newton hit Wright on a long ball earlier in the game, and then was able to bite off another chunk play with Smith, it did something that helped Carolina even more — backed the Eagles defense off the line of scrimmage a little bit, a change from earlier in the game.

That allowed Newton to hit a wide-open McCaffrey in the flat for an 8-yard gain. When McCaffrey caught the ball he was so wide-open that there was an audible gasp in the Eagles’ press box.

A pass to McCaffrey in the opposite flat gained 22 yards to the Philadelphia 4, setting up a tidy 1-yard touchdown catch by Greg Olsen on third down for the go-ahead score with 1:26 to play.

The design of the touchdown play, and the call, were both gorgeous. Philadelphia expected a run with Carolina at the 1-yard line. The Panthers rolled out fullback Alex Armah, and scrunched in the offensive line. Newton then hit the Eagles with a play-action fake and tossed the ball to a wide-open Olsen.

A strip-sack by Wes Horton sealed the win on the other side of the ball a minute later.

“I think everyone felt that if we got the ball back, we were probably going to win,” said Olsen. “And we did. ... I’m glad we got another shot at last week. It felt like a re-do. It’s kind of weird how that works in this league.”

And the Panthers got a little karmic satisfaction.

“It felt like early on we couldn’t do anything right,” Newton said. “Second half, it felt like we couldn’t do anything wrong.”

A difference in scheme

But Carolina also adjusted its scheme at halftime, and decided to run more no-huddle.

They only did that five times throughout the game against Washington, and entered the game having run 15 no-huddle plays the entire season, although Newton’s highest yards per pass attempt and second-highest quarterback rating actually comes out of no-huddle formations.

He just loves to play fast.

On Sunday, the series that led to Funchess’ 18-yard score was nearly all no-huddle.

“Our edge at some particular times is being in the hurry-up,” said Newton. “Coach always says that being in the hurry-up doesn’t mean panic, doesn’t mean rush, doesn’t mean mayhem. It’s just controlled tempo, where we’re in control of that. When we got into the second half, things started to change for us ...

“We know in this league, giving defenses wrinkles is what it’s all about. Making in-game adjustments. And that’s what we did at halftime.”

A statement win?

Rivera said beating Philadelphia on the road could be a statement win for the Panthers.

“I think every win is a statement win,” Newton said. “But I think we were against the ropes, to a degree. We didn’t have a good performance in the first half. We understand that, we know that. Especially versus a good team like this. But moving forward, this is a confidence booster for us. Something that we can accelerate production, offensively, defensively as well as special teams.”

It also is an identity-builder.

“When you talk about good teams, and the development and DNA of good teams, winning on the road, winning close games is something you have to do,” Newton said. “And we did that today.”

When they were down 17-0, the Panthers had a 1.8 percent chance of coming back to win, according to ESPN’s probability tracker.

“We didn’t win the Super Bowl,” Olsen said. “But what we just did, (win after being) down 17 on the road to the world champs with one of the top defenses in the league is pretty hard to do.

“So we’re going to enjoy this one, that’s for sure.”

This story was originally published October 21, 2018 at 7:41 PM.