This needs more love...
BY JOURDAN RODRIGUE
jrodrigue@charlotteobserver.com
October 28, 2018 08:14 PM
Updated October 28, 2018 08:14 PM
The second-quarter play sequence by the Carolina Panthers, which led to a field goal with two seconds left in the half during Sunday’s 36-21 victory over Baltimore, was brilliant and revolutionary.
Or it was a complete chaotic mess that somehow the Panthers pulled out of with three points.
It depends on whom you ask. So I’ll let you decide.
The Panthers led 21-7 and, thanks to an interception by safety Mike Adams, had the ball back with 52 seconds to play in the half. Quarterback Cam Newton got Carolina to the Baltimore 44 with 11 seconds left, then had to throw it away on third down.
Head coach Ron Rivera and offensive coordinator Norv Turner wanted to try a Hail Mary pass instead of sending out kicker Graham Gano for the long field goal attempt. Gano had made 37 consecutive field goals at home, including a 63-yard game-winner against the Giants in Week 5.
“Crosswind,” explained Rivera after the game, when asked why the Panthers didn’t try the kick. “(Coordinator Chase Blackburn) and Gano had come and explained to me where they thought the ball needed to be.”
So the Panthers opted for the Hail Mary.
Except ... Newton didn’t want to throw it.
(Note: Newton was limited in two practices this week with a little shoulder soreness after throwing for 201 yards and two touchdowns in a fourth-quarter comeback win against Philadelphia last week. He wasn’t limited at all to start Sunday’s game, completing 14 of 18 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns to that point, including a 33-yard long.)
“He didn’t want to strain himself out there, in all honesty,” Rivera said during his pregame press conference.
Rivera told the Observer in the locker room a few minutes later that Newton felt really good about his shoulder to that point in the game and didn’t want to risk it.
“Obviously he’s had a lot going on, and to throw the ball 65 yards for whatever fraction of a percentage (of success), it’s just not smart,” said tight end Greg Olsen after the game.
So quarterbacks coach Scott Turner turned to Rivera and suggested that backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke attempt the deep shot.
“Oh my God,” laughed Heinicke after the game. “It was chaotic. Scott and Rivera just look at me real quick and go, ‘Go swing it.’
“I looked at the play clock and it’s at like, 15 seconds.’”
Heinicke was about to attempt the 65-yard pass with a cold arm.
“They just threw me in there, I was like ‘here we go,” he laughed. “It could have been pretty ugly.”
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The Panthers then had a delay of game penalty. With no timeouts remaining, the flag gave them a little extra time to get lined up, decide upon the correct call, and projected confusion that in turn muddled Baltimore’s defense. On the outside, it looked like a brilliant and creative call.
Was it just drawing the right straw in the chaos?
“We didn’t have any timeouts, and we were in between. ... There was some discussion on the sideline about what was best — throw, kick,” Olsen said. “So there was (some discussion) about, at the very least, take the 5-yard penalty with five seconds left. It was really irrelevant. And kind of funny, because at the end it worked out.”
After all of that, the Panthers had to get lined up.
“We had to scramble because we had taken the delay, and we had to get out there,” Olsen said. “And then we just kind of lined up.”
Olsen saw veteran Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs start to step toward the ball pre-snap, indicating a blitz. So he started yelling at Heinicke to change the play, and as the ball was snapped he stemmed off his route to a short slant outside, in order to get out of bounds and stop the clock again.
“I just started screaming for Taylor. ... I don’t know, it was just wide open. I don’t know if Taylor heard me or if he saw the same thing,” laughed Olsen.
Oh, he heard him. And Heinicke saw the rushers, too. So he switched the play, just as Olsen had, to a checkdown — which is kind of the exact opposite of a Hail Mary.
“I look up and I see eight guys running at me,” Heinicke said. “And (Olsen) is screaming at the top of his lungs. So I gave it to him.”
Olsen scampered out of bounds after a 13-yard gain, leaving two seconds on the clock. Gano booted in the 54-yard field goal and put the Panthers up 24-7 at the half.
“Credit to Taylor,” Olsen said. “He drew the short straw. ... You go from standing around the entire first half to getting a big fourth-down conversion that gave Graham a more realistic chance at a field goal.”
Heinicke couldn’t stop giggling after the game.
“That’s something you really can’t coach or prepare for,” he said. “We’re glad it happened. ... I was ready to just throw it as far as I could and hopefully someone came down with it in the end zone. But it kind of worked out better. Because the chances of that were slim.”
So was it a brilliant series of calls and adjustments, or Carolina pinwheeling into the right direction in a whirlwind of chaos?
Maybe both.
Read more here:
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article220607710.html#storylink=cpy