In what has become the theme of the 2025 season for the Carolina Panthers, they followed up a monumental win with a baffling loss the next game.
After upsetting the Los Angeles Rams before heading into their bye week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost their next two games, propelling the Panthers to first place in the NFC South. The Buccaneers’ loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday made the Panthers’ path to the division title clear: Beat the New Orleans Saints and Buccaneers the next two weeks, and the division is yours.
That reality didn’t come to fruition, as the Panthers lost to the Saints on the road, 20-17, on a field goal in the final seconds. Now the Panthers are no longer in first place, and while they had some tough calls against them, they have nobody but themselves to blame.
Costly Penalties
Two of the biggest plays of the game involved personal fouls on Saints quarterback Tyler Shough as a runner. The first of these penalties involved Panthers star defensive lineman Derrick Brown in the third quarter.
Shough was starting to slide just as Brown came in for the tackle, and despite Brown’s attempt not to drive his full body weight into Shough, he was still called for the penalty.
Kassidy Hill of Panthers.com, in her December 14 article, wrote that while Brown is frustrated with the rigid interpretation of the rule, he knows the quarterback will get extra protection.
“I mean, we know how it is,” concluded Brown. “They’re going to protect the quarterback at all costs, so I mean it is what it is on that end, but you got to just play the game.”
The penalty moved the ball to the Panthers’ 20-yard line and led to a Saints field goal that cut the Panthers’ lead to one possession.
However, the most costly penalty came on the Saints’ final drive of the fourth quarter, with the game tied 17-17, the ball at the Panthers’ 48-yard line on second-and-10 with 12 seconds left, and the Saints having no timeouts. Safety Lathan Ransom flew in to tackle a simultaneously sliding Shough on a run up the middle and drew a flag.
Brown was more confused on the call on Ransom than on the call on himself in the third quarter.
“I think it was a BS call. It’s one of those ones where he did it all day, he’s sliding late, so I mean, I don’t know what they want us to do for it. It is what it is on that end.”
While the calls were certainly questionable, the Panthers had plenty of opportunities to put the Saints away before the game reached that point.
Gamble Doesn’t Pay Off
With the prospect of being one step closer to winning the division in their sights, Panthers head coach Dave Canales decided to go all in. The Panthers are the NFL’s leaders in both fourth-down conversions and attempts, going 23-of-33 on the season, but this time against the Saints, it just didn’t work out.
Hanging onto a 17-10 lead and the ball on the Saints’ 35-yard line, Canales decided not to go for a Ryan Fitzgerald 53-yard field goal and instead attempted to pick up the first down on fourth-and-1.
Chuba Hubbard couldn’t convert, and the Panthers missed an opportunity to make the game a two-possession lead.
Darin Gantt of Panthers.com wrote in his December 15 article that Canales doesn’t regret the decision, which was strengthened by the Panthers’ success both in the season and on two other fourth-down attempts.
“You know, with inches to go, I felt confident in our guys,” Canales said. “I wanted to give Chuba the ball on that play, make that first down and continue that drive right there. So, I made that decision. It didn’t work out for us.”
Canales added that he trusts his guys in that situation and couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
“I couldn’t pass up on fourth and inches right there,” Canales said. “And I trust my guys to get that done and we’ve been really successful in those situations and the Saints beat us on that play.”
Canales will once again need to trust in his team’s resilience after tough losses this season, as this week’s game against Tampa Bay is the most important in almost a decade for the Panthers franchise, with a chance to gain control of the NFC South.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Self-Inflicted Wounds Squander Panthers Golden Opportunity appeared first on Heavy Sports.