4 big Panthers disappointments in Week 8 loss vs. the Falcons
By Dean Jones
Third down conversions
How the Carolina Panthers have performed in third-down situations has been a major disappointment in recent weeks. This is something that is being felt on both sides of the ball and it is causing some substantial complications to their ability to pick up positive results.
The offense just couldn’t seem to come up with the necessary plays to move the chains. Carolina converted just two of 10 third-down attempts throughout the contest, which is never going to win them many football games.
This was coupled by the defense, who did a nice job of getting the Falcons into third-down situations without ever getting themselves off the field consistently.
Atlanta’s quarterback Matt Ryan was able to pick apart the zone-coverage schemes in a similar fashion to what Drew Brees achieved in Week 7, and the signal-caller was even managed to get some notable yardage on the move which further added to the Panthers’ frustrations.
The Falcons were just 3-9 on third-down themselves. But considering just how much time they were on the field, this wasn’t something that was needed in their pursuit of victory.
This disappointing element to Carolina’s game has been evident during their three-game losing run and it is going to be a long afternoon if they cannot rectify this in Kansas City.