The Panthers finished out their 2019 season in appropriate fashion with another blowout loss, this time against the Saints, 42-10.
Here are four takeaways from the last game of the year.
Will Grier got beat up
Put a rookie quarterback behind a bad offensive line and you’re often going to see some ugliness. Grier took a number of hard hits from late-blitzing Saints defenders early in the game. His line couldn’t protect him, the coaches didn’t adjust and Grier took some violent shots. They took their toll and Grier had to leave the game in the second quarter with a foot injury after taking a sack. Kyle Allen subbed in and performed admirably, as he always seems to do against the Saints. Allen posted 295 passing yards on 41 attempts. He did throw another end zone pick, though.
Christian McCaffrey made history
The yards didn’t come easy against a tough Saints defense, but McCaffrey reached his milestone. Late in the third quarter, he caught a pass from Kyle Allen and took it for 17 yards, bringing his total for the season to 1,000. That accolade makes him just the third player in league history to post 1,000 receiving and 1,000 rushing yards in a year. McCaffrey also scored his 19th touchdown. He finishes the season with the third most yards from scrimmage in league history. As they said on the broadcast, for a player on a losing team to post those kinds of numbers is simply astonishing. Hats off for a remarkable year.
The wrong kind of record
The Panthers also made history in the wrong kind of way today. By allowing two rushing touchdowns in the first half by Alvin Kamara, they reached 31 allowed for the season. That ties the most for any NFL team since the merger. Whatever else the next head coach does, he has to find a way to fix this team’s back-breaking issues defending the run.
Major changes are coming
The head coaching position is far from the only one that’s going to turnover this offseason, though. If anything, today’s loss was a clear message about just how far behind these Panthers are from competing with contenders like the Saints. Tight end Greg Olsen might have played his last game in a Carolina uniform and he won’t be the only veteran who does not return in 2020 if there’s a major rebuild like we’re expecting.
