Grading the Carolina Panthers in Week 7 loss to New Orleans Saints

Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had arguably his best game of the 2020 season. He threw for 170 yards in the first half and two touchdowns, including a 74-yard toss to a wide-open DJ Moore.

But even that was not enough, as the Panthers’ defense struggled to stop the Saints sans their best player, All-Pro wide receiver Michael Thomas.

Drew Brees and the Saints’ two running backs, Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray, were just too good Sunday, and the Saints beat the Panthers 27-24.

The Panthers (3-4) have lost two consecutive games.

Here are the grades:

Passing offense

A-minus: The Panthers defense, as well as their inability to establish a running game Sunday, put Bridgewater in the impossible position to be nearly perfect Sunday. And Bridgewater nearly was. He threw for 170 yards, two touchdowns and completed 23-of-28 passes for 254 yards against a Saints defense that has struggled to keep teams out of the end zone.

The Saints entered Sunday’s game giving away the second-most passing touchdowns in the league with 15.

Most of the offensive line played well. “Most,” because starting left guard Chris Reed struggled. But despite that, the offensive line didn’t give up a sack until the fourth quarter. Wide receivers Moore, Robby Anderson and Curtis Samuel all had big moments in Sunday’s game.

Bridgewater threw a 74-yard touchdown pass to Moore, who was somehow wide open in the middle of the field. Samuel and Anderson had a few catches on third down.

Bridgewater did almost everything you could ask for. The one mistake he did make was taking a sack on third down deep in the Panthers territory.

Rushing offense

D-minus: The Panthers struggled to establish their running game. Part of it can be attributed to the Saints, who have one of the best rushing defenses in the league.

Opposing running backs averaged just 3.6 yards per carry entering Sunday’s game. But the Panthers couldn’t get anything going. There were few holes for Mike Davis to run through.

Samuel had a 5-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. But Davis had only 12 yards on seven carries. It was the second consecutive game in which the running game has struggled.

The Panthers needed Christian McCaffrey, who has missed the past five weeks with a high ankle sprain.

Passing defense

F-plus: This was easily Panthers worst performance against the pass this season. Defensive end Brian Burns had a strip sack in the second quarter, causing a turnover. It was arguably the most important play of the game, because the Saints were about to go up by two possessions.

Instead, Bridgewater and the offense scored, and took a brief lead.

But Brees had his way with the Panthers’ zone defense. And this was without the Saints best player in wide receiver Michael Thomas, who was out with a hamstring injury. The Panthers were without starting cornerback Rasul Douglas, but even without him, the Panthers shouldn’t have struggled as badly as they did on Sunday.

The Saints were 12-of-14 on third downs, largely because the Saints had short distances on third downs, and Brees was able to find open receivers.

Rushing defense

D-plus: The Saints’ rushing offense was a huge reason why the passing offense had manageable second and third downs. Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray had their way with Panthers early in the game. They combined for 98 first-half yards and averaged 6.6 yards per carry.

But the Panthers had a much better game plan against the Saints in the second half. They got timely stops and forced the Saints to kick a field goal in the fourth quarter.

The Saints, though, still averaged 4.8 yards per carry for the game. Kamara and Murray combined for 130 yards rushing on 25 carries.

Special teams

B: It wasn’t until Sunday that the Panthers knew kicker Joey Slye would be available. He was placed on the COVID-19/reserve list on Wednesday, but tested negative all week. He came off the list Friday, and played.

He made 1-of-2 field-goal attempts and was 3-of-3 on extra points. His one miss was a 65-yard prayer at the end that was just short.

The chance that Slye would make that field goal were slim.

Coaching

C: It wasn’t the best game plan defensively by the Panthers. But the Panthers did make adjustments in the second half, holding the Saints to only six points after halftime.

On a third down play in the fourth quarter, the Saints brought multiple defenders on a blitz. Bridgewater was sacked for a loss, and the Panthers had a fourth-and-19 from the Saints’ 47.

While going for it on fourth-and-19 is an impossible task, the odds of Slye making a 65-yard attempt was equally as unlikely.

This story was originally published October 25, 2020 at 4:04 PM.

Jonathan M. Alexander

The Charlotte Observer

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Jonathan M. Alexander is a native of Charlotte. He began covering the Carolina Panthers for the Observer in July 2020 after working at the N&O for seven years, where he covered a variety of beats, including UNC basketball and football, Duke basketball, recruiting, K-12 schools, public safety and town government. Support my work with a digital subscription