Why the Panthers’ offense was on the field when Washington’s D was in the locker room

With 4 seconds showing on a stopped clock at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday, almost every Carolina and Washington player and staff member cleared the sidelines and headed toward their respective locker rooms for halftime.

The holdouts? Eleven members of the Panthers’ offense who stood over the ball ready to take one final snap.

What was going on? Not even the referees, who had an extended meeting before making a ruling, seemed sure.

The previous play was a field-goal attempt by Washington’s Dustin Hopkins with 0:10 remaining in the second quarter, but the try was blocked by Carolina’s Kyle Love. Generally, a missed field goal results in a change of possession, but because this kick came on third down, it created confusion for everyone.

According to Rule 11, Section 4, Article 2, Exception 2 of the NFL rule book, “If a field-goal attempt from anywhere on the field is blocked, and the ball has not been beyond the line, general rules for scrimmage kicks apply ... ”

Basically, it was a live ball recovered by Washington, and D.C.’s team would have had another opportunity to try a field goal on fourth down had it had any remaining timeouts. The clock should have kept running and expired, but by error it stopped, creating confusion for at least 11 players on the field.

How you feeling, coach?

Panthers coach Ron Rivera was asked about he feels about his job security following Sunday’s 29-21 loss to Washington. Here’s what he had to say:

“No, I’m not worried about my future. I’m worried about this football team’s future.”

Required reading

+ Analysis: The Panthers trusted Kyle Allen more than Christian McCaffrey — and paid the price

+ Fowler: For these slipshod Panthers, there’s a lot of stuff that just needs to be thrown away

+ Putting how bad the Panthers’ run defense was vs. Washington into context

+ Report card: Grading the Panthers in their fourth straight loss

+ Scott Says: Carolina was ransacked by Washington

This story was originally published December 1, 2019 at 3:43 PM.

Matt L. Stephens

The Charlotte Observer

Matt L. Stephens is the Senior Sports Editor for The Charlotte Observer and oversees sports coverage for the Raleigh News & Observer, The State in Columbia, S.C., and McClatchy’s other properties across the Southeast. Before coming to Charlotte in July 2019, Matt was an award-winning editor, columnist and investigative reporter at The Denver Post and Fort Collins Coloradoan.