Grading the Carolina Panthers in a season-closing loss to New Orleans Saints

A dreary day of rain. A defense that looked toothless. Another Carolina Panthers loss that was nowhere close to competitive, even in the first quarter.

Grading the Panthers’ 42-10 loss against the New Orleans Saints in what was (thankfully) the last game of the 2019 season:

Passing offense

D-minus: It felt almost merciful that rookie quarterback Will Grier (one completion in eight attempts, and an interception) left the game in the second quarter with a foot injury, because he was overwhelmed — seemingly locking in on one receiver rather than working through progressions, and certainly getting poor protection from his offensive line. If Cam Newton isn’t back next season, is there a quarterback on this roster worth focusing on in a rebuild?

Rushing offense

Incomplete: The Panthers only ran the ball nine times in the first half because they were quickly in severe catch-up mode chasing the Saints’ explosive offense. Four of those rushes were scrambles by quarterbacks Grier and Kyle Allen. For obvious reasons, the Saints’ first objective was containing running back Christian McCaffrey; a 2-yard average on his first-half runs says plenty about that. Who wouldn’t prioritize limiting McCaffrey and daring Grier to beat them?

Passing defense

F: The Panthers were one of the NFL’s top pass-rush teams weeks ago. It just seems like a decade ago. Saints quarterback Drew Brees hardly ever felt pressure in building a 35-0 lead. Five different New Orleans receivers had catches of 14 or more yards in the first half.

Rushing defense

F: The ease of Alvin Kamara’s 15-yard touchdown run for the Saints’ first score was nothing new. The Panthers’ run defense is among the worst in NFL history, giving up two more touchdowns in the first quarter. Sitting linebacker Luke Kuechly midway through the second quarter seemed a symbolic “What’s the point?” statement. The Panthers gave up 31 rushing touchdowns this season, which ties the worst mark in NFL history since the merger.

Special teams

C: No horrible mistakes similar to the loss to the Indianapolis Colts when the Panthers gave up crushing punt returns. It seemed pointless to send Joey Slye out for a field-goal try late in the first half, but he made the 23-yard attempt.

Coaching

C-minus. Perry Fewell’s performance as interim coach felt like a substitute-teacher experience. At least Sunday there were no silly breeches of discipline, like when Vernon Butler flipped off the crowd in Indianapolis last week.

This story was originally published December 29, 2019 at 4:08 PM.