Grading the Carolina Panthers in their 24-16 loss to the Green Bay Packers
The Panthers fell to 4-10 in the 2020 season after their 24-16 loss to the Packers.
And after Saturday night’s failed fourth-quarter comeback attempt, Carolina is 2-8 in games decided by eight points or less. The Panthers entered Saturday’s game as big underdogs. The Packers have the NFC’s best record, while the Panthers are in contention for a top-five draft pick.
But the Panthers had a chance Saturday.
Here is this week’s report card:
Passing offense
C-minus: Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had one of his best weapons back in receiver DJ Moore, who missed last week’s game because he was on the COVID/reserve list.
He went to Moore early, connecting with him on 37-yard catch and a 20-yard catch. But Bridgewater did not get many passes into the end zone.
The Packers defense, which entered Saturday with the 12th-best passing defense, did a good job of preventing the deep throw. Leading receiver Robby Anderson went the entire first half without a target.
Anderson leads the Panthers in targets, receptions and receiving yards. Anderson didn’t catch his first pass until 6:12 left in the third quarter.
Bridgewater got going in the second half. He helped the Panthers pull within one possession in the fourth quarter.
But it wasn’t enough.
Bridgewater completed 20-of-31 passes for 247 yards.
Rushing offense
C: Running back Mike Davis started again for Christian McCaffrey, who missed his 11th game this season with an injury.
Davis was OK. He wasn’t great, but he wasn’t bad either. He held on to the football, and he picked up some first downs. Davis finished with 59 yards on 14 carries and averaged 4.2 yards per carry.
The Packers have the 11th best run defense in the league.
Bridgewater was responsible for the team’s lone rushing touchdown, when he scrambled for a 13-yard score in the third quarter. The touchdown cut the Packers’ lead to 21-10 with 5:22 left in the third.
In the second half, they abandoned the run. Part of it was because they had to. The Panthers got down 21-3 in the first half and needed to pass to get out of a deep hole.
Passing defense
B-plus: Aaron Rodgers, at 37, is having a MVP-caliber season this year. He had 39 touchdowns passing and only four interceptions entering Saturday’s game. He had thrown at least three touchdowns in each of the past four games.
But the Panthers were able to get pressure on Rodgers and made him get the ball out quickly. The Panthers were coming off a game against the Broncos where they allowed Drew Lock to pass for four touchdowns. It appeared they learned from their mistakes.
After allowing the Packers to go ahead 21-3 with 4:04 left in the second quarter, the Panthers forced Green Bay to punt on five consecutive possessions.
The Panthers’ defensive line sacked Rodgers five times for minus-47 yards.
That allowed the Panthers to at least make it a manageable game late.
Rodgers completed 20-of-29 passes for 143 yards and one touchdown.
Rushing defense
F-plus: It started out terribly for the Panthers’ rushing defense.
Packers running back Aaron Jones had 114 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown in the first half. He had a 46-yard run in the first quarter, which led to the Packers’ opening score.
But the Panthers eventually settled down and held Jones to 31 yards in the second half.
The Panthers hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher since Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when Ronald Jones II ran for 192 yards.
Special teams
B: Panthers kicker Joe Charlton had two punts land inside the 20, and kicker Joey Slye made all three of his field-goal attempts.
One of Slye’s field goals came in the fourth quarter and cut the Packers’ lead to a one-possession game.
Coaching
C: There were two questionable decisions that may have affected the outcome of Saturday’s game.
The Panthers trailed the Packers 24-13 with 2:17 left and had just picked up a first down at the Green Bay 15.
But instead of trying to get the ball in the end zone, Panthers coach Matt Rhule made the decision to kick the field goal and make it a 24-16 with 2:08 left.
That meant the defense needed to force a three-and-out or a turnover to give the offense the ball back to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion.
The Panthers defense got the stop it needed, and the offense got the ball back with 55 seconds left. But the Panthers offense could not get it done.
The other was a quarterback sneak on first-and-goal at the 1-yard line in the first quarter, which resulted in a Teddy Bridgewater fumble.
This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 11:23 PM.
