Kalil,Kuechly less Panthers loss at Oakland

Carolina Panthers (4-7) started their west trip earlier today going against the Oakland Raiders (9-2). This game was a tale of two halves for the Panthers, the first half was horrendous on both side of the ball. Cam Newton only completed 3 out of 12 passes for 18 yards and an interception. He did have the Panthers only touchdown of the first half with a 4-yard rushing touchdown. While the Raiders offense went to town on the defense, scoring four times, including three touchdowns. Derek Carr started out 8-8 which was a personal best. Then under a minute left in the half, Khalil Mack picked off Cam Newton and ran it in for the touchdown to make the score 24-7 at the half.

The second half was completely different for the Panthers, on the Raiders first drive Carr fumbled the snap and the Panthers recovered which later lead to a Jonathan Stewart touchdown. With Derek Carr out for one series the Panthers capitalized and forced the Raiders to punt, three plays later Cam connected with Ted Ginn Jr. for an 88- yard touchdown. The very next series for the Raiders Tomas Davis picked up Carr and five plays later Jonathan Stewart scored his second touchdown of the day. The Panthers held the Raiders to a three and out and on their next offensive series for the Panthers, Cam connected to Kelvin Benjamin for a 44-yard touchdown. Which gave the Panthers an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter. The Raiders drove down the field and scored a touchdown and got the two-point conversion to tie the ball game at 32 all. Four plays later the Panthers punted the ball, the Raiders drove down the field and got the ball down to the 5-yard line and Janikowski kicked a 23-yard field goal to give the Raiders the lead back under two minutes left in the game. The Panthers did get the ball into Raiders territory but stalled out and Khalil Mack ended the game with a strip sack on fourth and ten.

Initial Thoughts about this game was that the Panthers didn’t give up, they could’ve easily turned over on the pick six at the end of the first half, but they fought back forced some turnovers and took the lead back late in the game. The defense at times looked good but our weak secondary hurt us once again late in the game. The offense line looked good for having three players injured and having our third string center in the fourth quarter. The Panthers are 0-5 on games decided by a field goal or less. This is a tale of two years for the Panthers; last year they found ways to win close games just like today, this year they haven’t. There playoff chances look all but gone after today lost. With next four out five teams having a winning record the Panthers need to find a way to close out in close games fast to have a chance of making it back in playoffs.