How did the Panthers let Drew Lock throw 4 touchdowns against them? A lot of mistakes
For much of 2020, the focus has been on the Panthers’ offense and its lack of efficiency in late-game situations. And rightfully so. The Panthers lost their seventh game this season by one possession.
But in Sunday’s 32-27 loss to the Broncos, defense was a problem, too.
When the Panthers (4-9) cut the Broncos’ lead to 25-20 with 5:15 left after a Joey Slye field goal, they gave up a 49-yard touchdown just a minute later.
The Broncos’ drive lasted 1 minute and 18 seconds, and took only three plays to give them a 32-20 lead. Panthers cornerback Rasul Douglas appeared to get beat deep on a post route by KJ Hamler, who had a step on Douglas. Broncos quarterback Drew Lock threw a perfect pass to Hamler in stride for the touchdown.
Douglas should have had help over the top. The Panthers were in Cover-3, but there was no safety in sight.
Douglas appeared frustrated with his teammates on that play. Panthers coach Matt Rhule confirmed it in his postgame press conference.
“That last deep one, that’s Cover-3,” Rhule said. “The deep safety should be in the middle of the field. Sometimes on TV, it makes it look like a guy gets beat.
“I think Rasul, like all of us, this wasn’t our best day.”
It was the second time he had been beaten on a long touchdown pass. The other was a 37-yard touchdown pass to Hamler with 11:10 left in the third quarter.
On that particular play, Hamler ran a stutter step and took off on a go route. Douglas stumbled and Hamler was wide open for the touchdown.
The two long touchdown passes weren’t the only issues. The Panthers also committed bad penalties in crucial situations. In the second quarter on third-and-8, defensive end Brian Burns was called for a roughing-the-passer penalty, which gave the Broncos a first down.
Had Burns not committed the penalty, the Panthers would have gotten the ball back trailing by one.
On that same drive, deep in Carolina territory, linebacker Jermaine Carter tackled Melvin Gordon for no gain on second-and-4. It would have brought up third-and-4, but Carter stood over Gordon and flexed his muscles after making the tackle. He was then called for taunting penalty, which gave the Broncos another first down at the Carolina 2-yard line.
The Broncos eventually scored and took a 13-7 lead with little more than a minute left before halftime.
“Defensively, we made some mistakes,” rookie linebacker Jeremy Chinn said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times.”
Lock completed 21-of-27 passes for 280 yards and a career-high four touchdowns.
When asked about Lock’s performance, cornerback Donte Jackson said part of it was that the referees, “got some good calls for him on third down.”
“All of their drives were stopped, but they got calls on third down that helped them extend plays,” Jackson said. “He did a good job of finding guys who were open. I don’t think it was really nothing they did. It was really just us.”
Before Sunday’s game, the Panthers had allowed only one quarterback to throw for four touchdowns against them, and that was Kansas City Chief’s Patrick Mahomes.
But the difference between Mahomes and Lock are vast. Mahomes is an All-Pro, a former MVP, and the MVP of last year’s Super Bowl. Lock has struggled in two seasons and had thrown an interception in all but two games this season.
It was one of the worst performances by the Panthers defense this season.
“We knew he was a great fade ball thrower, so we decided not to play any press today,” Rhule said of Lock. “We didn’t do a great job of keeping him in the pocket. We pressured him, he got the ball out. ... But really he hurt us today with screens and two deep balls.
“Both of those deep balls, to be quite honest, if we execute they don’t happen.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2020 at 6:14 PM.
