By Dan Zaksheske – Dan Z.
Updated Oct. 27, 2021.
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First off, let me just give a big thank you to WalterFootball.com for giving me a platform to share my thoughts and experience. I’ve been a big fan of this site for a long time, and to be able to actually contribute content is an incredible honor.
Quick background on me: I spent nearly a decade working at ESPN producing audio content, mainly focused on college and NFL football. After leaving ESPN, I joined a sports research company called STAT Factor, where I am the Director of NFL Content and the creator of the “STAT Stack,” where you can find more of my work.
The idea behind the drive-by-drive breakdown was to take an in-depth look at rookie quarterbacks. I realized that the public gets less exposure to the full-pictures of these guys because they don’t get the number of national games that other teams do. Obviously, a quarterback who is taken highly in the first round is often going to a bad team; bad teams don’t get the same number of Sunday Night games, Monday Night games, etc.
But this was a tough week to look at the rookies. Zach Wilson got hurt in the first half against the Patriots and will miss the next two weeks, at least. On the other side, Mac Jones’ Patriots dominated the game so thoroughly that I don’t believe it serves as a strong game for analysis. We’ve already looked at Justin Fields, and the Bears were so overmatched against Tampa Bay that it didn’t make sense to dive into that contest, either. Trevor Lawrence’s Jaguars were on their bye this week.
So, I decided break down Sam Darnold and the Carolina Panthers offense. After a 3-0 start to the season, the Panthers have lost four straight, and Sam Darnold was benched late in the game in favor of P.J. Walker. Was it all Darnold’s fault? Can he turn it around? Should Carolina roll the dice on a Deshaun Watson trade? Let’s dive into the tape …
First Drive: Starting on own 27, 14:56 left in 1st quarter, tied 0-0
The Panthers start the game with tempo; the first play is a quick screen to WR Robby Anderson, who coaches have said they need to get more involved. They go no-huddle on second down – a short run – and third down. Darnold escapes a sack and finds his outlet in Chuba Hubbard, who comes up just shy of the first-down marker. The Panthers continue no-huddle, leave the offense on the field, make it look as though they’re just trying draw the Giants offsides and they hand it to Hubbard who picks up the first down. Early aggression by Matt Rhule, going for a fourth-down in Panthers’ territory, shows some confidence in his offense.
Four straight runs move the ball into Giants territory, eventually setting up a 3rd-and-6 from the New York 39. Darnold has time and finds his TE Tommy Tremble over the middle for the conversion. Unfortunately for Carolina, the drive stalls thanks to an off-the-mark throw on first down to D.J. Moore, a short run, and a short completion. The Panthers connect on a 45-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
First drive notes: Tempo worked well for the Panthers, though they came out of it later in the drive. Darnold made a great play to avoid a sack and set up a short fourth down. But he missed D.J. Moore on an easy first-down throw later that put them behind the chains. Darnold was 4-of-5 passing on the open drive, but none of the throws were more than five yards down the field and went for a total of 16 yards.
Second Drive: Starting on own 12, 5:07 left in the first quarter, Panthers lead 3-0
After the Giants’ punt, the Panthers start their second drive deep in their own territory. They quickly go three-and-out. Darnold attempted two passes on the drive, and neither traveled more than five yards past the line of scrimmage.
Third Drive: Starting on own 2, 36 seconds left in the first quarter, Panthers lead 3-0
The Giants drove deep into Panthers territory but failed on a fourth-and-goal, giving Darnold and the Carolina offense the ball in the shadow of their own goal posts. After a short Hubbard run and an incomplete pass to Hubbard – another poor throw by Darnold, and it was an easy, short throw to his checkdown – the Panthers have 3rd-and-9 from the 3. The Giants run a stunt on the DL and get pressure on Darnold right up the middle, and he panics and throws the ball into the ground. Intentional grounding is called, and the Giants are awarded a safety to make it a 3-2 game.
Fourth Drive: Starting on own 16, 12:51 left in the second quarter, Giants lead 5-3
The Giants kick a field goal on their drive following the safety free-kick, and the Panthers start inside their own 20, now trailing 5-3. It’s another three-and-out, their third-straight drive running only three offensive plays. They start with Hubbard on the ground, then a quick swing pass to Robby Anderson, followed by an incomplete pass to Anderson across the middle, who was well-covered, but had a chance to make the catch for a first down. Darnold had time and surveyed several options, but the downfield coverage was good. Carolina punts again.
Fourth-drive notes: Carolina returned to the no-huddle, and it was a rough drive for Anderson. The Panthers are making a concerted effort to get him the ball, but he had some room on the swing pass but ran into his teammate D.J. Moore, who was engaged in a block, and then he dropped a catchable ball on third down. To this point, Darnold is 5-9 passing for just 19 yards. The third-down throw to Anderson traveled six yards in the air beyond the line of scrimmage, his longest attempted pass of the game.
Fifth Drive: Starting on own 23, 8:13 left in the second quarter, Giants lead 5-3
Giants quickly punt, and Carolina begins in its own territory again. On a 3rd-and-1 from the 32, Darnold finally pushes the ball down the field. He rolls out to his left, throws a little bit across his body and hits D.J. Moore in stride for 12 yards, and the defender had decent coverage. It’s the first pass of the day to travel at least 10 yards in the air beyond the line of scrimmage. On the next play, Darnold uses a pump fake to get a blitzer off his feet and open a window downfield and he hits Moore again, another ball traveling past the sticks, and Moore breaks a tackle to pick up 21 yards.
Now in Giants territory, a run and a short swing pass pick up another first down, this at New York’s 23-yard line. A quick pass to Hubbard on play-action gets the ball inside the 15, but a 4-yard loss on a rush and a holding penalty on an incomplete pass set up a 2nd-and-24 from the 25-yard line. Darnold makes a terrible decision and a terrible throw, and he’s intercepted for the seventh time in the past four games. It is unclear what he was even looking at, as the ball was right into James Bradberry’s chest, and the nearest Carolina receiver was at least three yards away.
Sixth Drive: Starting on own 20, 55 seconds left in the half, Giants lead 5-3
Darnold gets sacked on first down, and the Panthers take a timeout, still thinking about scoring before the half. But a short completion followed by an incompletion end any hopes of that. Carolina punts and the game goes to halftime. Darnold’s first-half numbers: 12-18, 85 yards, 1 INT
Seventh Drive: Starting on own 37, 13:38 left in the third quarter, Giants lead 5-3
Giants get the ball to start the second half but go three-and-out. The Panthers don’t do much better, though they pick up one first down before punting it right back. The first down came on a nice, quick throw to hit D.J. Moore on a slant for 13 yards. On a 3rd-and-2 from inside Giants’ territory (NYG 42), Darnold takes a sack. Not much he could do, as another DL stunt by the Giants confuses the Panthers’ offensive line.
Eighth and Ninth Drives: I’m going to put these drives together because the results are the same: Carolina goes three-and-out in both. On drive No. 8, Darnold misses an open receiver for an easy first down. He doesn’t set his feet and short-arms the throw, succumbing to phantom pressure. On drive No. #9, which comes after the Giants finally get into the endzone to take a 12-3 lead toward the end of the third quarter, Darnold makes a bad throw on first down despite no pressure. Then, a “pop pass” goes nowhere and Darnold fails to find anyone open on third down and runs out of bounds. Another punt.
That would be the last we would see of Sam Darnold, as P.J. Walker would take over after the Giants kick a field goal to make it 15-3. Panthers’ third-quarter recap: three drives, one first down, three punts, two three-and-outs, 22 yards. Darnold’s final numbers: 16-25 passing, 111 yards (4.4 yards per attempt), 1 INT and 3 sacks. He finishes with a 57.3 rating and a 10.7 QBR.
Remaining Drives: P.J. Walker takes over and I’ll quickly summarize what we saw from him: not much better. His first two drives netted -22 yards and led to one punt and one turnover-on-downs. His final drive came with the game essentially over, but the Panthers did at least gain 42 yards on 11 plays before another turnover-on-downs.
Final thoughts: Sam Darnold did not look good, but the Panthers’ offense desperately misses Christian McCaffrey, and they need rookie WR Terrace Marshall to get healthy as well. D.J. Moore is the only legitimate playmaker on that side of the ball, and teams are starting to key into him. The Panthers tried to get Robby Anderson more involved, but he played poorly. The team was also without its starting left tackle, Cam Erving, and starting guard John Miller suffered an ankle sprain in the third quarter that will keep him out for a few weeks, at least.
Sam Darnold can be effective enough with playmakers around him, where he isn’t asked to do much except protect the ball and get it into their hands. However, in a game like this where guys aren’t winning at the line of scrimmage and the offensive line is struggling and banged-up, Darnold is not good enough to put the team on his back and go out and make plays. He had some chances to make plays, but didn’t come through, and he threw a terrible interception when the team should have at least come away with three points. After feeling some pressure early, Darnold definitely started to get “happy feet,” and it conjured up thoughts about his “seeing ghosts” game against the Patriots. Interestingly, that game also happened about a week before Halloween, so maybe Darnold actually does see ghosts on the field in October. That’s bad news for the Panthers because they play on Halloween next Sunday in Atlanta.
Dan Z. is a writer for STAT Factor, a dedicated sports research company that provides many high-profile broadcasters with detailed information on some of the biggest events in sports. To read more of Dan’s work, please subscribe to STAT Stack here.
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