Instant analysis: Panthers win behind Cam Newton, dazzling young playmakers

Instant analysis from the Carolina Panthers’ 36-21 victory against Baltimore.

When offense plays fast, young players capitalize

Carolina came out of the gate quickly on offense, using no-huddle on its first three plays before settling in. If not for a Jarius Wright drop on third down, Carolina looked poised to score on its first drive.

The Panthers heavily utilized their young players early. With veteran Torrey Smith out with a knee injury Curtis Samuel and DJ Moore both started, and both had an impact.

Moore caught all five of his first five targets for a career-high 90 yards. He also had 39 yards from scrimmage, including a 28-yard pitch reverse in which he actually fumbled the ball and recovered it before streaking downfield.

Samuel caught both of his first-half targets for 20 yards and made two huge special teams plays, downing punts inside the 5.

Christian McCaffrey also had a career day by halftime, with both a receiving and a rushing touchdown. He tied the franchise season record for receiving touchdowns by a running back, with seven.

Quarterback Cam Newton played a stellar game, finishing 21 of 29 for 219 and two touchdowns, plus 10 carries for 52 yards and another score.

Baltimore entered the game as the league’s No. 2 passing defense.

Defense disruptive after slow start.

Carolina’s defense started poorly, allowing Baltimore to score on a 14-yard touchdown run on the opening drive after safety Eric Reid and cornerback Captain Munnerlyn missed a tackle apiece. Baltimore scored despite three penalties on the drive, and Panthers defensive tackle Dontari Poe was also flagged for a personal foul penalty even though he was on the sideline.

But in the second quarter, Carolina’s defense woke up. Defensive tackle Kyle Love forced a fumble, the second of his career, and defensive tackle Vernon Butler recovered it. The Panthers scored off of the takeaway.

Then, rookie cornerback Donte Jackson provided a second big spark for the Panthers with a second-down sack on Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco that set up a third and 18. It was the first sack of Jackson’s career. After forcing the Ravens to punt, the Panthers scored again.

Panthers veteran safety Mike Adams recorded his 30th career interception late in the first half, his third of the year. Carolina led 21-7 at halftime, with seven of those points scored off turnovers.

Veteran cornerback Captain Munnerlyn recorded his first pick since 2015 in the third quarter, with the Panthers up 24-7.

A brilliant first-half call

Thanks to Adams’ interception, Carolina got the ball back with 52 seconds left in the half. The Panthers burned their last time out with 11 seconds left, and wanted to stop the clock again while also advancing the ball to try to set up a field goal.

Newton had to throw the ball away on the next play, leaving Carolina with five seconds and no time outs - and a lot of field to cover.

The coaches wanted to try a Hail Mary, but Newton told them he did not want to attempt the pass, saying postgame that it was a “feel” thing. So the staff put in backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke.

The Panthers took a delay of game penalty to get a little more time to discuss their options with no timeouts left, and then Heinicke took the field and called for the snap. The Ravens decided to send extra rushers against the backup.

But Heinicke, instead of throwing the deep ball, checked down to Greg Olsen. Olsen got out of bounds with two seconds left, well within field goal range. Graham Gano nailed the kick, putting Carolina up 24-7 at halftime.

It was a long, long way from the games in which the Panthers, out of time outs at the half, would simply let the clock run down and jog into the locker room.

This story was originally published October 28, 2018 at 4:10 PM.