Christian McCaffrey made a difference in every way but one in Panthers loss to Chiefs
Christian McCaffrey came back Sunday in Carolina’s 33-31 loss to Kansas City Sunday, and he made a difference in every way but one.
McCaffrey made the Panthers’ offense more potent. More exciting. More versatile. He scored on a 9-yard reception and a 1-yard run, as well as making one of the best catches you’ll ever see for a 24-yard gain.
But when Panthers placekicker Joey Slye couldn’t convert on a 67-yard field goal on the game’s last play for what would have been a miraculous win, No. 22 couldn’t get the Carolina Panthers across the finish line. And victories, to McCaffrey, are the most important statistic of all.
There also was some question after the game as to whether McCaffrey had been injured again. He came out during the Panthers’ final drive after being tackled hard after a catch, flexing his right shoulder/collarbone area and grimacing.
Trainers worked on McCaffrey briefly, and he returned to play again during the drive before leaving once more before Carolina’s final offensive snap. Panthers head coach Matt Rhule had no injury update on McCaffrey after the game. McCaffrey didn’t speak to the media but is expected to be available to answer questions Monday, the Panthers said.
The Panthers led the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs 17-13 at halftime and played a remarkably aggressive game, including a fake punt, two onside kicks and three fourth-down conversions. Still, they weren’t able to hold off a Kansas City surge in the second half led by dazzling quarterback Patrick Mahomes (four TD passes).
McCaffrey had 151 total yards — 69 rushing, 82 receiving — on 28 touches. He scored two touchdowns to give him six TDs for the season in only three games. The running back caught all 10 balls thrown to him.
It was a ton of production, and yet it still wasn’t quite enough.
And so the weirdest streak for the Panthers continues. McCaffrey is obviously their best player, an All-Pro at two positions in 2019. And yet Carolina is 0-11 with McCaffrey in the lineup in their past 17 games and 3-3 without him. Unexplainable, really, but true.
Christian McCaffrey is ‘a great player’
Still, this was improvement. The Panthers scored only 17 points the entire game against lowly Atlanta in an upset loss at home the week before. This time they had 17 points by halftime against the Chiefs, on the road. And they had one fourth-quarter drive that was absolutely spectacular — picking up a fourth-and-14 on a leaping scramble by quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
Panthers coach Matt Rhule had praise for McCaffrey afterward. “He’s a great player, and great players show up in in crucial areas and crucial times,” Rhule said. “Third down. Red zone. Two-minute (drills). He showed up in those areas today.”
There was an obvious difference between how McCaffrey was used pre-injury and post-injury. He had played 97% of the team’s offensive snaps against the Las Vegas Raiders in the season opener, and he played in 93.4% of the offensive snaps during his record-setting 2019 season. Snap counts weren’t available immediately after the game, but I’d wager McCaffrey was in about 70-80% of the time.
This was McCaffrey’s first game back since he sustained a high ankle sprain in Week 2 against Tampa Bay. Then came a six-week stretch of missed games after the first serious injury of McCaffrey’s NFL career (he had played in 50 out of a possible 50 career games before that).
The Panthers split six games in McCaffrey’s absence, as Mike Davis became important to the offense as a battering ram and surprisingly good pass-catcher. Curtis Samuel also started getting a few significant carries each game at tailback, a position he played occasionally at Ohio State.
Panthers red zone improvement
Still, McCaffrey was missed during those six games, especially near the goal line where Carolina settled for too many field goals.
In the first quarter, the Panthers made no secret that they would be using McCaffrey early and often and showed that the red zone offense would also be better (the Panthers were 4-for-4 scoring TDs in the red zone Sunday).
On Carolina’s first drive, a beauty that lasted almost nine minutes, McCaffrey got the ball on the very first play — a 7-yard swing pass. But within a couple of plays, McCaffrey had been subbed out and Davis was in, catching a 12-yard pass for a first down on his second play.
Quickly, McCaffrey was back in, and he helped move the ball steadily down the field, albeit without an explosive play of more than 10 yards. Curtis Samuel came in once to run the ball at tailback, which meant that three different Panther players lined up at tailback and had a touch on the first drive.
Then came fourth-and-3 from the Kansas City 9, when many coaches would routinely take a field goal. Rhule, understanding how many points he needed to have a chance at the upset, instead said to go for it. That showcased McCaffrey at his best, as he got to the flat, caught the pass from Bridgewater and jogged in for the game’s first touchdown. He would end up with six touches for 34 yards in the march.
By halftime, McCaffrey had 14 touches for 91 yards, with no play longer than 13 yards but almost all of them netting positive yardage. By the end, he had those 151 total yards, those two TDs — and, somehow, his 11th straight loss while in a Panther uniform.
This story was originally published November 8, 2020 at 4:34 PM.
