MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — All week, Matt Rhule and the Panthers talked about holding each other accountable after a poor showing against Washington.
They vowed to be better in their next game.
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But against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, the Panthers might have been worse.
Their offense, which was coming off one of its better games, was horrendous in their 33-10 loss. They played uninspired; the offensive line committed unnecessary penalties on first downs; receivers were rarely open, and when they were, quarterback Cam Newton missed them.
Yes, Newton, who had provided a jolt of energy for the Panthers’ fan base since his signing two weeks ago, looked Sam Darnold-like.
He was 5-of-21 passing for 92 yards and threw two costly interceptions. He had a 5.8 passer rating before he was replaced by P.J Walker in the fourth quarter.
Rhule said he made the decision to pull Newton in the fourth quarter because Walker had a better grasp of the two-minute offense. He also said he didn’t anticipate making any changes at starting quarterback.
“At the end of the day, we weren’t protecting the quarterback worthwhile at all,” Rhule said. “It didn’t seem fair to keep Cam in there to keep getting hit ... At the same time, Cam hasn’t had a lot of experience at that part of the game that, unfortunately, we were in.”
Panthers star Christian McCaffrey also didn’t play in the fourth quarter after injuring his ankle.
The Panthers were playing from behind for much of Sunday’s game because of their mistakes on offense.
Carolina made the Dolphins’ defense look like the 1985 Chicago Bears, but these kinds of struggles are nothing new. The Panthers’ biggest hindrance this season has been the offense.
In Weeks 4-9, Darnold threw 10 interceptions. Their offensive line had been among the worst in football, and had allowed 40 quarterback hits over that period. McCaffrey was hurt. And outside of DJ Moore, wide receivers struggled.
The Panthers gave the illusion they were improving with Newton at quarterback in recent weeks. He threw three touchdowns and ran for two more scores in his first two games back with the team against Arizona and Washington.
But they took another step back this week, making more difficult what were already slim playoff hopes.
“Personally, I don’t even think about the playoffs anymore,” Panthers defensive end Brian Burns said. “It’s more about pride in my gut. I’m fighting for pride out there.”
Sunday’s performance showed a few things.
One, the Panthers (5-7) are not a playoff team. The Panthers are far too inconsistent and commit far too many penalties. And, two, while Darnold was part of the problem, Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Rhule are part of it, too.
The plays Carolina ran Sunday fooled only its new quarterback. Newton completed three passes in the first half and two in the second. The Panthers had only 18 rushing attempts all game. And though, they were playing from behind for most of the game, they could have done a better job of establishing the run when their passing game was struggling.
The Panthers signed Newton a little more than two weeks ago after tests revealed Darnold had a shoulder blade injury and would need to go on injured reserve.
Since then, Newton has had to learn the playbook and the two-minute offense, whereas most players have had the entire offseason to learn. Newton addressed as much after last week’s loss, but nothing the Panthers did Sunday showed an expanded knowledge of what to do on offense.
“I will take this time to really dive into the whole offense,” Newton said Sunday. “Today, it really got exposed because of the situation and not having a full grasp (of the playbook). It’s not really anybody to blame, except the situation I came into.”
The Panthers have some of the best players in the NFL at their own positions in Moore and McCaffrey. Anderson showed last year that he can be dangerous, too.
And even against a surging yet pedestrian Miami Dolphins team, the Panthers had only 122 yards of offense in the first half. Half of those yards came on one play — a 64-yard pass from Newton to Moore.
They finished with 243 yards of total offense, three turnovers and one touchdown.
The offensive line didn’t protect Newton well. Both he and Walker were hit a combined 11 times, and were sacked five times (Newton once, Walker four times).
Newton was so bad, at one point, he missed nine of 10 passes. He had multiple passes tipped at the line of scrimmage and his two first-half interceptions on back-to-back possessions were both passes thrown to players who were well covered.
“Offensively, we wore our defense down today,” Newton said.
Newton’s first interception occurred with 12:53 left in the second quarter on a pass intended for Robby Anderson. His eyes never left Anderson from the time he received the ball to the time he threw it. Dolphins safety Jevon Holland was there to step in front of Anderson and intercept the pass.
The second pick was thrown slightly behind Moore and intercepted by Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard, who returned it 16 yards to the Panthers’ 9-yard line.
When Newton was pulled, the Panthers trailed 30-10.
Walker didn’t fare much better. He was sacked twice and threw an interception to Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips on his first drive. He finished 5 of 10 for 87 yards and the interception.
The Panthers’ loss to the Dolphins might have been their worst of the season — worse than 25-3 defeat to the New York Giants. They didn’t even pass midfield in the second half until 3:03 left in the game.
That’s how bad the offense was.
“We didn’t have games like this last year,” Rhule said.
