Five things learned in Panthers’ loss to Cowboys: Carolina’s scrappy goodwill says goodbye
Well, there goes the goodwill.
After looking like the scrappy-but-striving underdogs in a trio of close defeats during a three-game losing streak, the Carolina Panthers finally got back to their miserable ways against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, losing, 30-14, in a game they were favored to win at Bank of America Stadium.
From poor execution to turnovers to missed opportunities, the Panthers filled their bag of embarrassment with blunders. While close losses can sometimes lead to moral victories, Week 15’s defeat was simply bad news for a team that looked like it was starting to find its footing over the past month.
Outside of an explosive touchdown toss from QB Bryce Young to rookie wideout Jalen Coker at the end of the second quarter, the Panthers’ highlight reel was largely dry. On defense, the unit continued to give up big runs and huge passes to Dallas.
The Panthers aren’t good. But on Sunday, they played down to their competition, a badly beaten-up Cowboys squad with no shot at the playoffs. At 3-11, Carolina needs to finish the story to feel some sense of hope heading into the offseason.
After losing like this, there’s little to cling to.
Here are five things learned in the Panthers’ loss to the Cowboys:
1. A salvaged first half saved the game from being a complete shellacking
Despite some pretty sound play calling from head coach Dave Canales and defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero in the first half, Carolina trailed 10-0 heading into the final minute of the second quarter. However, a botched handoff by Cowboys QB Cooper Rush in the red zone led to a loose ball that was recovered by much-maligned pass rusher D.J. Johnson.
The offense rewarded that gift with an 83-yard touchdown completion from Young to Coker on the very next play. After a successful extra-point attempt by kicker Eddy Piñeiro, the Dallas lead was cut to three points before halftime. It was a 10-point swing before the half, with Carolina receiving the ball back at halftime.
To that point, both sides of the ball had failed to execute. But the back-to-back splash plays kept the Panthers in the game.
Young finished the first half with a pair of turnovers (a lost fumble and an interception). Still, he completed his first seven passes for 42 yards and finished the second quarter with a 10-of-13 completion ratio for 134 yards and a passing touchdown. Obviously, most of the positive vibes were accomplished off the extra-possession, 83-yard strike to Coker. But hey, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
Instead of going into the locker room with a 17- or 13-point deficit, the Panthers trailed 10-7 to start the second half. And they got the ball back to begin the third quarter, but Young lost a second fumble, which led to a touchdown for Dallas.
2. Turnovers kill mediocre teams
The Panthers had three turnovers in the first 33 minutes of the game. Young lost a pair of fumbles and had a tipped pass turn into an interception. Those turnovers led to 10 points and massive momentum swings.
Young tied a personal record for turnovers in a game by the 14-minute mark in the third quarter. While his fault in the tipped-pass interception will be up for debate, the 5-foot-10, 204-pound QB put the Panthers behind the Cowboys with his unprotected turnovers.
After playing relatively cleanly through the past five games, Young was a turnover machine, putting the defense in a bind. From there, the offense had to press to make up ground, which led to even more mistakes.
The Panthers, while playing better, aren’t good enough to make up for huge gaps in the turnover battle. Young deserves a fair share of criticism for his inability to protect the ball against Dallas.
The Cowboys’ defense wasn’t lauded coming into this game and won’t be after it. The Panthers, namely Young, simply dropped the ball on offense. That’s why they lost to a middling backup QB.
Young completed 19 of 28 passes for 219 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He also had two lost fumbles and a rushing touchdown, which came with the Panthers down by three scores in the fourth quarter. That’s simply not a good enough performance, especially against an injury-riddled squad like the Cowboys.
To be fair, the offensive line, which had been extremely effective all season, gave up 10 QB hits — including six sacks — on the day. Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer schemed up his unit with blitzes and that strategy was clearly effective.
3. The Panthers need a lot of offseason work at safety
The Panthers’ safety group appeared to be a strength early in the summer during training camp. Unfortunately for Carolina, the group has come up short for the most part this season.
While veteran safety Xavier Woods leads the team with three interceptions, he has seemingly been one of the more inconsistent aspects of the defense’s coverage unit this year. On Sunday, he allowed wideout Jalen Tolbert to get behind him in the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter. Fellow starter Jordan Fuller, who actually played well against the run early, gave up a pair of huge gains to Cowboys Pro Bowl wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, including a first-half touchdown.
Nick Scott, who was activated off injured reserve Friday, was evidently a healthy scratch in Week 15. Jammie Robinson, last year’s fifth-round pick, was cut before the game in a corresponding move.
Promising undrafted rookie Demani Richardson is barely used on defense, while the same can be said for special teams ace Sam Franklin, who had a pretty ridiculous personal foul penalty in the fourth quarter.
Woods, Scott, Fuller and Franklin are all set to be free agents this offseason. Of that group, at least two won’t be back, if not more.
While Richardson has upside, the Panthers badly need to rework the depth chart in the offseason. Woods is fine, but the team might want to get younger in his spot.
Rush threw for 214 passing yards and three touchdowns for a 119.0 QB rating. The safeties, namely Woods and Fuller, seemed to be at least partially to blame for several explosive strikes.
4. The run defense is bad and it’s not going to be fixed this season
Carolina’s run defense has more holes in it than SpongeBob SquarePants. Every week, running backs gash the front seven for massive gains. That problem isn’t going away anytime soon.
On Sunday, Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle picked up 149 yards — a career high — on the ground. Dallas, as a team, had 211 rushing yards. The Cowboys came into the game averaging just 91.2 rushing yards per game.
Obviously, the Panthers have been terrible against the run all year. Losing Pro Bowl defensive end Derrick Brown has been a death sentence for that phase of the defense. Also, losing linebacker Shaq Thompson in the first month didn’t help. The unit came into Week 15 giving up 170.1 rushing yards per game.
There is no in-season answer to fix this problem now, obviously.
5. Jalen Coker is a legitimate NFL player, and Carolina is lucky to have him
The undrafted wideout from Holy Cross was badly missed over the past three games. Sidelined with a quad injury, Coker’s dependability void was felt, even as Adam Thielen continued to play at a high level in his return to the lineup in Week 13.
On a rare positive note, Coker made a couple of impressive catches before he streaked 83 yards to the end zone at the end of the second quarter for his second career touchdown. He also surpassed Corey “Philly” Brown for the most receiving yards by an undrafted rookie wideout in Panthers history with that explosive touchdown play. He finished the game with four catches for 110 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Through eight games, Coker has 21 catches for 373 yards and two touchdowns. To put that in perspective, Xavier Legette — the team’s first-round pick — has 41 catches for 439 yards and four touchdowns in 14 games. Legette left Sunday’s game early with a groin injury after catching two passes for 7 yards.
Not bad for an undrafted rookie from a small school.
This story was originally published December 15, 2024 at 4:34 PM.
