Panthers report card: Defense shows up, but Baker Mayfield, offense crumble vs. Ravens
Down 6-3 in the middle of the fourth quarter on Sunday, Carolina Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield — starting for the first time since Matt Rhule was fired in Week 6 — needed to make something happen against the Baltimore Ravens’ defense at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Panthers’ defense had held Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore offense in check to that point, but the Carolina offense had yet to really reward that effort. Mayfield, with backup quarterback Sam Darnold lingering on the sideline, needed to make the most of Carolina’s next drive.
The offense returned to the field at the Carolina 25-yard line and Mayfield immediately threw an incompletion. On the very next play, he completed a 4-yard toss to wideout Shi Smith, but the receiver was stripped of the ball before he was down. The Ravens recovered in Panthers territory.
Initially, the referees were going to bail the Panthers (3-8) out with a dead ball on an early whistle, but they eventually met in a huddle and changed the ruling on the field, giving possession to the Ravens (7-3) in the red zone.
The turnover almost immediately led the Ravens’ first and only touchdown on the afternoon. That score, which gave the Ravens a 10-point lead, essentially locked up the 13-3 win for Baltimore in a listless performance by both offenses.
Here’s how we graded the Panthers in Sunday’s road loss to the Ravens:
Rushing offense
F: After serving as the anchor of the Panthers’ offense through the first five games under interim coach Steve Wilks, the running attack got off to a rough start against the Ravens’ third-ranked rushing defense. While D’Onta Foreman was able to pick up 10 yards on his first carry of the game, he finished the first half with just 16 yards on seven carries, as he was repeatedly stopped at or behind the line. Backup Chuba Hubbard didn’t help alleviate those struggles with his two carries for 2 yards in the first quarters.
The Panthers were held just 26 yards on 10 carries in the first half. Mayfield picked up 8 of those yards on a scramble in the second quarter.
Despite playing in a close game deep into the fourth quarter, Foreman finished with 11 carries for 24 yards against the Ravens. The Panthers picked up 36 total rushing yards on 17 combined carries.
Passing offense
D-: Mayfield came out firing. Panthers offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo tried to design plays to Mayfield’s strengths by rolling him out of the pocket. Mayfield rewarded an opening roll-out call with a pass for a 12-yard connection with wideout DJ Moore for a new set of downs. He completed his first three passes for 15 yards, but he eventually fell pray to the Ravens’ defense tightening up.
Mayfield was forced to work the short game, and while he was accurate, he averaged just 4.6 yards per throw in the first half. He completed 8 of 10 passes for 46 yards but failed to put points on the board in the first half.
Mayfield righted that scoreless wrong with the second drive of the second half. Set up with excellent field position at the Carolina 46-yard line, Mayfield led a field-goal scoring drive that tied the game at 3. Mayfield’s highlight of the drive came on a 25-yard heave down the field to wideout Terrace Marshall Jr. The drive ended with a 32-yard field goal by kicker Eddy Piñeiro.
The passing game’s biggest letdown of the game came on a fourth-quarter completion between Mayfield and Smith. The pass gained 4 yards, but Smith fumbled the ball after the catch. Cornerback Marcus Peters forced the fumble and fellow defensive back Marlon Humphrey recovered the ball. Smith was initially ruled down by contact before the fumble, but the referees changed the ruling on the field.
Even with the Ravens playing prevent defense, Mayfield struggled to move the ball with the Panthers down by 10 points. He threw a pick to Humphrey in a last-ditch effort to the move the ball on the Ravens. He would throw another interception on the next series as well, as the ball was deflected by defensive lineman Broderick Washington and caught by pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul.
Mayfield completed 21 of 33 passes for 196 yards and two interceptions. He led one scoring drive and was sacked four times.
Marshall was Mayfield’s top weapon with three catches for 76 yards on six targets.
Rushing defense
B-: The Panthers’ front did an excellent job containing Jackson and the Ravens’ rushing offense in the first half. Defensive end Brian Burns and linebacker Shaq Thompson were repeatedly in the backfield, either taking runners down or forcing shorter carries. Jackson tried to use his elusiveness, but his biggest rushing play in the first half went for just 10 yards.
The Ravens’ backfield, which was without Gus Edwards (knee) for a second consecutive game, did next to nothing against the Panthers’ defense in the first half, gaining just 10 yards on eight carries. Jackson contributed 27 yards on five carries ahead of halftime.
Unfortunately for the Panthers — after regularly stopping the run throughout the first three quarters — Ravens running back Kenyan Drake busted open for a 29-yard gain following a fumble recovery by the Ravens’ defense. Baltimore scored two plays later on a 1-yard carry by Jackson, who finished the game with 10 carries for 32 yards and a touchdown.
The Ravens’ offense picked up 116 yards and a touchdown on 29 total rushing attempts. The Ravens’ running game averaged 4 yards per carry.
Passing defense
B+: With special teams ace Sam Franklin playing on defense for the first time this season, the Panthers’ secondary — which also saw the return of safety Jeremy Chinn — did a nice job of mitigating big plays in the passing game throughout most of the game.
While wideout Demarcus Robinson had a 31-yard gain on a crossing route in the late second quarter, the Panthers’ defense rarely gave up anything more than small-chunk completions. Jackson completed 14 of 20 passes for 120 yards (6 yards per pass attempt) and an interception in the first half.
The pick came off a brilliant play by defensive tackle Bravvion Roy, who leaped in the air to intercept the pass. The 6-foot-1, 330-pound lineman was somehow able to get high enough to make the clean interception after a hands-up grab. While the offense was unable to capitalize with a score off the pick, the turnover did create a momentum shift in the first half that stunted the Ravens’ pace.
Although the Ravens were able to push the ball down the field in the third quarter after the Panthers’ first score of the game, a 15-yard facemask penalty by offensive tackle Morgan Moses and a sack by Burns pushed Baltimore out of field-goal range. Burns’ eighth sack of the season came after a handful of pressures in the first half.
Fill-in outside cornerback Keith Taylor had his struggles against Robinson, a veteran wideout, in coverage. Taylor gave up the 31-yard gain to Robinson in the first half, and he later gave up a third-down catch to the receiver near the sideline. Robinson caught all nine of his targets for 128 yards, though not all of those grabs came against Taylor.
The Panthers finished with three sacks, a pass breakup and an interception in the passing game. Jackson finished 24 of 33 for 209 yards and an interception on the afternoon.
Special Teams
A: Punter Johnny Hekker counted to be a consistent field-flipper for the Panthers. In a tight game, Hekker punted six times for 265 yards and had an average of 44.2 per attempt. Four of Hekker’s punts were downed within the 20-yard line.
The Panthers also did a really nice job of limiting wideout Devin Duvernay’s return ability. Duvernay, a top-three punt returner, produced 5 yards off two punt returns.
Piñeiro converted his only field-goal attempt on Sunday. Both of his kickoffs were downed in the end zone.
This story was originally published November 20, 2022 at 4:34 PM.
