Sam Darnold was putrid once again and the Panthers fell to 4-5 on the season.
The Panthers came into this game with the hope of winning their second straight game after a Week 8 win over the Falcons to even their 2021 record to 4-4.
The first half was not exactly what the Panthers hoped it would be. They were gifted with two turnovers that started drives on the Patriots’ side of the 50-yard line, and came away with just two field goals. To make matters worse, the defense gave up two touchdown drives to allow the Patriots to take a 14-6 lead into the half.
To make matters even worse than that, the Panthers lost two offensive linemen — Matt Paradis (ankle) and Cam Erving (calf) — in the first half to injury and had to rely on backups for the remainder of the first half. The offense looked noticeably different after both players went down, and the Panthers struggled to move the ball on offense while the defense struggled to contain the Patriots’ ground attack.
The second half wasn’t any better as Sam Darnold threw three interceptions — including a pick-six to J.C. Jackson — and the Panthers offense completely fell apart and allowed the Patriots to build a 24-6 lead that was enough to seal Carolina’s fate.
The Panthers are now 4-5 and are on a sinking ship as Darnold continues to implode. With a Week 10 game on the road against the Cardinals coming next Sunday, it’s not looking good for the Panthers’ chances of getting back to .500 on the season.
I don’t know what to say to make any of this better, because this is a badly coached football team who doesn’t know how to execute on offense, and right now we’re staring down the barrel of another top-10 pick in the upcoming draft if things don’t turn around.
If you’re interested you can read a more in-depth recap of the game below, broken down by quarter.
First quarter
The Panthers won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half. The defense allowed the Patriots to pick up a first down, but penalties derailed the drive and the Panthers were able to force a punt near midfield. The Panthers quickly went three-and-out on their first series, and in more serious news Matt Paradis went down on the Panthers’ second down play with a left leg injury. He was replaced by Sam Tecklenburg.
The Panthers defense clamped down after allowing one first down on the Patriots’ following drive and forced a punt on fourth-and-12 around midfield. Shaq Thompson came up big on second and third down to force the Patriots to punt. The Panthers started their second drive on offense from their own 5-yard line after a solid punt by the Patriots. The Panthers picked up a first down, but mirrored the Patriots’ first drive and let penalties force them to punt on fourth-and-long from deep within their own territory.
The Panthers defense made a huge play on third-and-5 when Brian Burns hit Mac Jones and forced a fumble that was recovered by Frankie Luvu to give the Panthers excellent field position with less than a minute left in the quarter. The Panthers ran one play before time expired with the scored tied at 0-0.
Second quarter
The Panthers continued their drive and were able to get into field goal range but had to settle for a 39-yard field goal attempt on fourth-and 9. Zane Gonzalez was good from that distance and the Panthers took a 3-0 lead with 12:07 left in the half.
The Panthers defense allowed the Patriots to march down the field with ease on their following drive, and the Patriots used an 8-play, 75-yard drive to take the lead with a 3-yard touchdown run by Damien Harris to go up 7-3 with 8:19 left in the half. The Panthers followed with a quick series on offense that ended in a punt to give possession back to the Patriots.
The Panthers grabbed their second turnover of the day when Stephon Gilmore picked off a Mac Jones pass and returned it to the Patriots’ 33-yard line to give the Panthers excellent field position. Cam Erving limped off the field with a left leg injury during the early part of the drive, and the drive fell apart after a 15-yard taunting penalty on Ian Thomas put them in a second-and-23 position. The Panthers failed to pick up a first down after that play, but Zane Gonzalez was able to pull the Panthers to within one point with a 49-yard field goal to make the score 7-6 with 4:28 left in the half.
The Panthers defense allowed the Patriots to drive down the field and score a touchdown to extend their lead to 14-6 with 0:24 left in the half. The Patriots ran an efficient 10-play drive and left the Panthers with little time to add to their score before the halftime break. The Panthers ran one play and then let time expire to go into halftime down 14-6 to the Patriots.
Third quarter
The Panthers started the second half on offense but went three-and-out again and had to punt on fourth-and-6 after Darnold couldn’t connect with his receiver on third down. The Panthers defense did a good job to force the Patriots to punt to get the ball back into the hands of the offense.
The Panthers were finally putting something together on their next drive thanks to a big 33-yard gain from Chuba Hubbard on a checkdown pass, but when the Panthers found their way into the red zone Sam Darnold threw an 88-yard pick-six to J.C. Jackson that extended the Patriots’ lead to 21-6.
The Panthers had a little bit of something going on their next drive, but then Darnold threw another interception. This time, linebacker Jamie Collins was the one to make the play to give the Patriots possession with good field position. The defense clamped down just enough to force the Patriots to attempt a field goal, however, and the Patriots extended their lead to 24-6 with 2:20 left in the quarter.
The Panthers started their next drive and ran out the remainder of time in the quarter without changing the score.
Fourth quarter
The Panthers continued their drive and managed to get into the red zone, but Darnold threw an interception — his third of the day — to J.C. Jackson in the end zone to give the Patriots possession at their own 20-yard line with 13:31 left in regulation.
The Patriots drained a lot of time off the clock before the Panthers managed to regain possession, and Carolina began their next drive with just over six minutes left in regulation down 18 points without much hope of making a comeback. They were unable to add points to the board and had to give the ball back to the Patriots, who were in ‘run out the clock’ mode at the two-minute warning with an 18-point lead. After the two minute warning the Patriots kneeled out the clock and ended the Panthers’ misery, putting them back under .500 at 4-5 on the year.