Five things I liked about Carolina's 34-10 win over Atlanta, which improved the Panthers to 5-3 at the season's midpoint:
1. The defense. Because it's so good, the Panthers can win even when the offense is sometimes struggling. The D allowed only 10 points and scored seven on its own on Drayton Florence's 38-yard interception return that cinched it. Luke Kuechly's early INT also set up the Panthers' first TD.
2. It wasn't just No.1. Cam Newton was extraordinary for the first three games of this four-game winning streak, but he fell to earth Sunday. Newton had two interceptions -- the first ones he had thrown since Oct.6th -- and overthrew a number of other passes, especially when targeting Steve Smith. But Newton was good enough -- one TD throw and another TD run -- and the Panthers showed they are a good enough team to win without him at his absolute best. Also, a shout-out to offensive coordinator Mike Shula for a heckuva call on fourth-and-1 from the Falcon 14, when he called a play-action pass for a TD to a wide-open Greg Olsen (shown above, celebrating with Newton).
3. Brandon LaFell. LaFell made several big catches in traffic, holding on when he got drilled. But his best play was almost his worst. He had a 30-yard catch-and-run to convert a key third down with Carolina clinging to a 17-10 lead. But then he lost a fumble. And then the ball got knocked right back to him -- while he was on the ground! -- and he recovered at the Atlanta 8. It was a huge play -- and very lucky -- as Newton scored one play later.
4. Graham Gano. Ridiculously good all year, Gano hit from 55 yards this time on his most significant kick to stretch a 14-10 lead to 17-10. He also made four extra points, which means he is now 36-for-36 on the year on kicks (24 XP, 12 FG).
5. Panther fans. It was loud at Bank of America Stadium, and for once the people trying to buy tickets outside outnumbered the ones trying to sell them. A month-long winning streak will do that for you.
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24 comments:
I think the Panthers have finally found the formula for winning: play teams that have at least twice as many losses as wins.
Why so negative.....I guess you complain because Santa is fat too!!! GO Panthers!!! We need to be excited it has been a while since we were still in the playoff discussions this late in the season. I think this team lacked confidence and winning regardless of records creates momentum.
How do you not put Rivera's 4th and 1 call on this list? That should have been #1 by far. For two simple reasons: 1. It gave us a net 4 points and 2. more importantly, it demonstrated that we have the play call creativity of the other powerhouse teams.
That was an unbelievable gutsy call to go for it when you are within chipshot FG range but Riverboat continues to double down.
The play action pass call in itself is noteworthy because it demonstrates to other teams that this is no longer the tentative and predictable cats of old. You will not stack the box against us on 3rd and 4th and short because we can now burn you.
Newton still needs to grow up when he gets a first down, or scores a TD. Try to act like a pro.
Anonymous... you've obviously never played a sport and have been fired up when making a play. Hope your wine and cheese was good today at the game. Maybe when they score or make a first down next time they should walk over to the opponents side and say "great job".
We shall see next week when we play a team that actually knows how to play football. Are we still only one of the better losers or have we really figured out how to play? Since we have only beaten the poor and down trodden we can't tell yet. It is a lot easier to look like world class defense when your playing JV teams. I hope they are for real because I'm sick of investing my heart in loosers.
What I liked:
- Newton didn't have his best game yet we still won. Not something the Panthers have done in the past.
- Newton didn't have his best game and he didn't pull into his shell and either try to do too much or sulk. That is a huge step in maturity and shows that he is learning how to deal with adversity.
- Panthers beat a team they were supposed to beat... something that they have frequently failed to do in past seasons.
- Panthers finally learn how to finish a close game... yeah, it ended up as a blowout but it was close going into the 4th quarter and they pulled away instead of losing their lead!
Anonymous 7:13 - What is your opinion of the undefeated Chiefs? Of their 9 wins, only Dallas is above 500 at 5-4. Their other opponents are 0-8, 4-5, 2-6, 4-4, 3-5, 2-5, 3-5, 3-6. They may very well play the "JV" right into a first round bye! Nobody talks about them just beating bad teams!
Great team win, Enjoy it but tomorrow start studing how to beat the 49ers, Look I watched the game today and Cam missed a lot of throws especially medium and long yardage,Shula I dont understand your non effort in having Cam practice the deep ball with Ginn, Cam is out of sink with ginns down field speed its easy to see,He under throws him.Then you try a medium pass to steve who easily gets burnt and atlanta gets an interception.Youve got to get Ginn in the game early for us to have a chance next 2 weeks,Steve is a good underneath route runner but Ginn will stretch the field and give steve and olsen opertunities,Lafell missed one that he dove for if that was ginn with his speed he may have taken it to the house,Bottom line is you know that the next 2 games have QBs that will air it out and the score could get out of hand quickly,I think youve done a good job up to this point but Cam needs to be shown the film footage of his mistakes so he can learn from them he missed a lot of throws and keep the falcons in the game until 3rd quarter I dont think will have that luxury playing 49ers or Patriots.The Int. in the end zone was Steve suppose to keep running or was Cam throwing it away? Cam please don`t do the first down celebration on the 49ers unless its the 4th quarter and we have the game in hand.
Anyone see Armanti Edwards in Cleveland today? Or for that matter, Gary Barnridge caught a TD! Who knew either was in the league?
I don't care about the Cheifs. They have never broken my heart because they are not my team.
I've read all of the comments and I think everyone is missing the point. For the first time in the Ron Rivera era the Panthers are playing 'meaningful' football after the first eight games of the season. Carolina is 5-3, one game behind 6-2 New Orleans in the NFC South, and tied with Detroit for the final Wildcard playoff spot in the NFC. Carolina next has a road game against defending NFC champ San Francisco followed by a home Monday Night Football showcase against the New England Patriots. If you want big time NFL football, it doesn't get any better than that. Go Panthers!!!
Panther fans are still the worst in the NFL.. I really wish we could get rid of the wine and cheese crowd. Can't wait for a generation of real fans to take over. Yes Cam shows off it shows confidence, the same way Jake would do and everyone called him enthusiastic. Get over your self.. Yes we have a black quarterback.. Yes he's cocky... Yes he makes questionable plays, but atleast we're winning and that's more than anyone can say about past seasons. Turn up real panther fans.. This is our time
Can't understand all those long passes in 3rd and short situations. But good that Newton does not have to be perfect for the team to win a game...guys like Brady or Manning have picks and such and nobody mentions it because their teams are good enough to make up for it. Panthers are still just on the "edge" of being a good team.
Some of you must live a miserable life, never seeing the positive things the Panthers an Cam or doing...not true fans, just sports critics is what your are...Go Panthers
The negativity from some of you so called "fans" is completely unreal. We can only play who is on the schedule, true the last 4 games have been against teams with a losing records.. what point are you trying to make? The fact that they have losing records has not a thing to do with us. Are we supposed to just not play those games? "Oh well guys, there's no point in coming out to play today because Atlanta is only 2-5 so let's just worry about next week." I'm sure that's the discussion in the locker room. It's not like we barely squeaked by these teams, we've blown em out. Got some tough games coming up, and glad I can say we've got a winning record and the confidence needed to go in with a winning attitude. Those of you with such a salty attitude don't deserve to be called a fan when we do well.
Fans, please stop leaving the stadium in the 4th quarter during a win. There is no traffic to beat in charlotte.
Was good to see them come out in the second half fired up! Cam is doing a lot better but still some really bad throws and too long in the pocket. The guy needs practice, practice, practice with his accuracy.
But great game now comes the hard teams next week then beat the Saints--gotta beat the Saints and they can do it. Keep up the momentum.
My only concern was the coaches response to Cam's overthrows. It was obvious Cam was having a off day and I didn't like how the playcalling continued to ask him to throw downfield. I would really like to seem them work better with Cam when he's having a rough day passing to keep him calm and get into a rhythm. I liked the nice mix of running backs and the defensive adjustments in the second half.
People chill out. The last four games have been against teams with a losing record but the Panthers are blowing them out like they should. They have outscored their opponents 130-48 over the last four games and lost to the Bills by 1point and Seahawks by 5points.
Rivera has changed his mindset on play calling and Cam is making better decisions. Defense is playing lights out.
I cant wait till the little ones that Cam is giving the footballs to grow up so we can have some true fans.....
It is true that the Panthers D is superb against pocket passers. If Carolina can pull off a victory against a read option QB next week, the D will gain the "elite" status they already deserve. Panthers can win this game.
If Ron Rivera can keep the team from believing the press and getting cocky, they can come out of the rest of the season and into the playoffs with no problem. Two wins out of the next three games will make missing the playoffs a bitter disappointment for everyone the Panthers don't make it. Three wins will keep Shaun Peyton up nights past Christmas. My only worry is will Carolina or New Orleans have anybody healthy enough to make any headway in the playoffs. Those two December games, not to mention the last game with Atlanta, will be brutal.
Okay... gotta say it... "Gano", how GREAAT to have such a replacement for Kasay!
Kasay - "Mr Automatic" - made his legacy here in Carolina as a "must have" for this team. Gano is Awesome! What a great "next".
You go Gano! Keep hammering it home!
You know it's not wine and cheese to want your star Quarterback to take his maturity to a new level and act like a pro's pro. You so called fans whine about everything and anything, rather than support a team that is winning( yes against losing teams)by large margins which is hard to do in the NFL no matter who you play. There is a reason for the saying "any given Sunday". My hat is off to this team that started off a little shaky and instead of folding the tent they have fought their tales off and become a scary football team. So if all you want to do is focus on the negatives become a Falcon's fan, they are wanting Matt Ryan benched after he pretty much single handedly turned that franchise around. I'm sure they will welcome you with open arms. Go Panthers!!!!
Ron this game is huge against the 49ers coming up, If you and your entire coaching staff could pull off this victory it would push this organization into Elite status and Jerry and Gettleman would be esstatic. This Game could be a job savor for the entire coaching staff....
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