Analysis: Vernon Butler, Carolina Panthers go from bad to embarrassing
Vernon Butler hadn’t practiced all week because of an illness.
And with the Panthers down 21-3 in the third quarter to the Indianapolis Colts, things weren’t going much better on the football field.
Somehow, in the middle of a forgettably bad season with a six-game losing streak minutes away from stretching to seven in a 38-6 loss, Butler made this game even worse for Carolina.
Off to the side of a third-down run play that the Colts successfully converted, Butler was in a shoving match with guard Mark Glowinski. Both fell to the ground. Butler then got up and proceeded to punch Colts tight end Jack Doyle, a bystander, in the face. That was apparently an accident.
“It was a bang bang play. A little extra going on, it wasn’t the guy that I intended to hit,” Butler said after the game. “I shouldn’t have hit anybody in the first place. That’s not me, my character. I want to apologize to this organization for one (and) to my teammates.”
He was, of course, ejected with a chorus of boos following every step of his long walk to the locker room. On the way, he waved mockingly to the fans and even flipped them the bird, something he also apologized for later (but he did say he had been provoked).
The head scratching that followed could have symbolized so many aspects of the Panthers’ season. Or of this game in particular. Whichever you choose. Once again, an early deficit and mistakes doomed Carolina. Winning, however, almost never seemed like an option. This team is too dejected, too incohesive. The fate of this game was decided far too early.
For a second straight week, the Panthers got behind by double-digits in the first quarter. But all game the Panthers were dragged down by bad special teams plays, including allowing two punt returns for touchdowns in a single game for just the second time in franchise history (vs. Broncos in 1997).
“I think (the early scores) put pressure on the team and instead of staying focused, we probably panicked a little bit,” interim head coach Perry Fewell said. “You want to come out fast and establish some rhythm, some tempo and obviously we did not do that. Offense, defense and special teams play in accord, play in harmony of each other, and we did not accomplish that today, and that was the most disappointing thing because that was one of the goals of the game.”
On the Panthers’ first punt, following a three-and-out, Nyheim Hines returned it for 40 yards setting up the Colts at the Carolina 36. Indianapolis went on to score its first touchdown on a 1-yard run by quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Both Hines and Brissett played at NC State.
The Panthers went three-and-out on their second drive and Hines took advantage on the ensuing punt again. He burst off for an 84-yard punt return touchdown that gave Indianapolis a two-score lead.
Hines again took advantage in the fourth quarter, taking it to the house for 71 yards this time. He is the first player in the NFL to have multiple punt return touchdowns in a game since 2012.
“We’re all disappointed in our product. Our product doesn’t look like that in the course of the week,” Fewell said. “I’ve got to find a way to make sure our product looks better on gameday, I’m searching for answers. We’ve got to do a better job of staying focused throughout the game.”
Carolina even tried switching things up some to get new energy. Rookie quarterback Will Grier made his first NFL start and had a decent performance, some good moments and some questionable decisions. He finished 27 of 44 for 224 yards, three interceptions and five sacks. He found running back Christian McCaffrey often and should have taken even more advantage of him, often looking downfield for bigger plays that didn’t pan out. It didn’t help the offense, of course, that DJ Moore, in the midst of a stellar season, went out of the game in the first quarter with a concussion.
Cornerback Donte Jackson, the team’s 2018 second-round pick, appeared to not play a single defensive snap, benched in favor of defensive back Ross Cockrell, who didn’t fare significantly better. Jackson has struggled over the past couple games.
“(Jackson) had had a poor couple weeks in performance and so we felt we need to make a change and have someone else play instead of Donte today,” Fewell said. Jackson declined comment after the game.
Outside of their embarrassing special teams performance, not including Michael Palardy’s successful fake punt pass to DeAndrew White, the Panthers piled on to their woes that have been leaving them in historic territory. The five sacks leave the Panthers with 56 (second-most in a single year in franchise history). The defense allowed 218 rushing yards (third game giving up 200-plus this year) and have now allowed 29 rushing touchdowns. The last team to do that was the 2008 Lions, who finished 0-16 (31 rushing touchdowns).
“There was one thing that was always true (in previous seasons) that regardless of record, if there were 16 games, those 16 games were going to be respectable, they were going to be played,” tight end Greg Olsen said. “Obviously that’s not been the case this year. It’s a tough way to finish.”
The seven-game losing streak has made the end of the season tough indeed and unwatchable at times.
The only eye-catching part of this team continues to be McCaffrey, who continued setting records vs. the Colts, surpassing his own record for the most receptions by a running back in NFL history (108). He finished with 119 receiving yards, 67 yards short of becoming the third player in NFL history with 1,000 receiving yards and 1,000 rushing yards in a season.
And that’s all good and great, but as McCaffrey himself has said week after week, it doesn’t mean a whole lot when you drop to 5-10.
Instead what will be remembered is the middle fingers in the air and the frustrations of a team that could never get into the game.
“I think it’s right now a very collective failure, organizational failure,” Olsen said. “Fans deserve better. A lot of guys in this locker room deserve better. Coaches that have been around here deserve better. It’s just been an overall failure, I think is the best way to put it.”
This story was originally published December 22, 2019 at 4:13 PM.
