Carolina’s defense is a struggle in Sunday’s loss to the Las Vegas Raiders
Raise your hand if you thought the Panthers defense, with all the new faces, was going to be dominant Sunday in a 34-30 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Panthers’ defense looked porous, particularly in the secondary, but Carolina made some opportunistic stops, like on a key third down in the fourth quarter.
That gave Carolina the ball back, which later turned into a long touchdown pass from new QB Teddy Bridgewater to receiver Robby Anderson.
That was the sixth lead change of the day, and Anderson’s two-point conversion catch from Bridgewater gave Carolina a 30-27 lead with 8 minutes, 29 seconds left.
Yes, we said “six” lead changes.
Will Carolina games feel like Big 12 college football this season? Yes, possibly.
So, of course after the Panthers’ heroic score, the Raiders come right back to score to retake the lead. That was seven lead changes, and there was only one 2019 NFL game with that many.
For the game, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr was 22-for-30 for 239 yards and a touchdown. The Raiders ran 31 times for 133 yards and three touchdowns. Joshua Jacobs ran 25 times for 93 yards and all three scores. And it wasn’t just the numbers. Watching the game, you never got the feeling that Carolina could really stop the Raiders from scoring too often.
So if you’re not looking forward to Carolina playing Tom Brady next week, you’re probably not alone.
Biggest play of the game
On fourth down at the Raiders 46, with 71 seconds left, the Panthers didn’t give the ball to Christian McCaffrey but instead handed it to Alex Armah. Armah was stopped short. The Raiders ran out the clock and won by four.
The game announcer -- and the fans -- were perplexed by the call.
After the game, new Panthers coach Matt Rhule talked about the call.
“When you write up who to blame for that,” he said, “the only person you can blame is the head coach.”
Panthers opening drive
After the defense got off the field in three plays (surprise), new QB Teddy Bridgewater led a nice drive before the Panthers got a 47-yard field goal from Joey Slye. Bridgewater was 3-for-4 on the drive for 21 yards on the drive.
Later in the quarter, Bridgewater led the Panthers on another drive capped off by Christian McCaffrey’s first touchdown of the season.
Early on at least, Panthers fans were enjoying the view -- and Joe Brady’s new offense.
Cindy Gruden Tiger Woods
Sunday’s Las Vegas Raiders-Carolina Panthers NFL season opener quickly showed the type of things you will hear with no fans in the stands.
On his team’s second possession, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr called an audible. Without fans, it was very easy to hear.
Carr twice yelled “Cindy Gruden-Tiger Woods,” before a run play crashed into the left side of the Panthers defensive line. Cindy Gruden is Raiders’ coach Jon Gruden’s wife. Tiger Woods is the best golfer who ever lived.
Color analyst Rich Gannon, a forrmer NFL quarterback, tried to explain.
“Cindy’s at home in Las Vegas watching, we know that in Las Vegas, enjoying this one as her husband is calling the plays,” Gannon said. “What they’ll typically have is a number of different names. Names mean certain things. Maybe professional athlete mean one thing. Maybe golfers mean something. They have cities. East coast cities may mean we will run to the right maybe, west coast cities mean we’re going to run to the left.”
About that piped in crowd noise
The game announcers noted several times that the crowd noise piped into Sunday’s game was a little off. Short rushes got big cheers or the cheer came too early or too late -- too often.
With no fans, the Panthers could play artificial crowd noise up to 70 decibels. IAC Acoustics, which manufactures sound-deadening products, says 70 decibels is as loud as a vacuum cleaner or about 20 decibels lower than the average NFL game. The New York Times reported that TV viewers will hear live sounds from the stadium but also crowd noise recorded by NFL Films over the past four years. This sound is unique to each home field. According to the Times, NFL Films grouped sounds into different volumes and categories, so engineers can cue up boos, cheers and team chants.
According to many of y’all, in many NFL markets, the sounds need some work.
Bridgewater’s solid first half debut
In the first half, he came. He passed. He scrambled.
New Carolina Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had a decent start to his career in Charlotte, don’t you think?
Bridgewater, who took a knee during the national anthem, was one of 10 black starting quarterbacks Week 1 in the NFL, a record high. He joined Dwayne Haskins, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Cam Newton, Dak Prescott, Tyrod Taylor, Deshaun Watson and Russell Wilson.
And despite not having any preseason games under his belt, Bridgewater looked comfortable in the first two quarters.
He completed 12-of-19 passes for 119 yards, didn’t turn it over and ran four times for 26 yards, several times avoiding sacks and turning those into positive gains. After the Raiders scored a touchdown to take a 17-12 lead, Bridgewater drove the Panthers down the field late in the half for another Slye field goal. The Panthers trailed 17-15 at half.
Of course, not everyone was impressed.
For the game, Bridgewater was 22-of-34 for 270 yards and a touchdown. He ran four times for 26 yards. He did not turn the ball over.
This story was originally published September 13, 2020 at 4:04 PM.
