Panthers back to drawing board after loss

The Carolina Panthers need to see why they were unable to check the boxes versus the Atlanta Falcons

Sunday was a tough day for the Carolina Panthers against the Atlanta Falcons.

Dec 27, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) celebrates after throwing his 200th touchdown pass to Julio Jones (not pictured) against the Carolina Panthers in the third quarter at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off of a 38-0 victory two weeks ago against this same Falcons’ team, the Panthers looked as if they came into the game on Sunday unprepared and fell to 14-1 on the season.

The offense was out of sorts, the defense looked like they stayed home in Charlotte, it was not the Panthers team that has been there all year.

Two weeks ago, all of the factors going into the game against the Falcons, the Panthers accomplished.  This time, the Panthers went 0-3.

So how bad were these factors not accomplished by the Panthers?

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Well, the first factor was the matchup between Panthers cornerback Josh Norman and Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones.  After essentially shutting down Jones in Charlotte, Norman appeared to have stayed in Charlotte.

For the game, Jones had nine receptions on eleven targets, with the two times he did not catch the ball, they were on his own dropped passes.

Although Jones did not have all of his receptions on Norman, including a 70 yard touchdown reception, Jones finished the day with 178 yards receiving with a touchdown.

The second factor was Cam Newton’s play.  On the streak of his best seven games of his career, Cam hit aroad bump on Sunday.  Starting out strong, it appeared as if he would continue the streak, as he scored a rushing touchdown on the Panthers first possession.

But that was the end of it.  For the day, Cam only finished with 142 yards passing with no touchdown passes.  His rushing touchdown came with 46 yards on the ground.

The last factor was the play of Devonta Freeman.  Freeman opened the scoring for the Falcons by almost walking into the end zone for the Falcons.  On the day, he only finished with 73 yards rushing, but he had 22 attempts, which allowed for the running game of the Falcons to be established.

Panthers = drawing board.