10 quick thoughts from the Panthers loss at Ravens in Week 11

Jeremy Chinn’s successful comeback

The Carolina Panthers haven’t had the benefit of Jeremy Chinn‘s presence since Week 4, so it was a huge boost to have the do-it-all safety back in the lineup versus the Baltimore Ravens. And all things considered, it was a successful comeback.

Chinn looked explosive and was around the football a lot. More importantly, there didn’t seem to be any conditioning issues or lingering effects following an extended spell on the sidelines.

Carolina Panthers were in the game at halftime

Despite the Panthers being 13.0-point underdogs in Week 11, the game was much closer than many anticipated. This was especially evident in the first half, which ended up being a stalemate until Ravens kicker Justin Tucker nailed a field goal with time expiring to put Carolina down 3-0 at the break.

This was thanks in no small part to an exceptional defensive display. The offense wasn’t much to write home about, but they played turnover-free, which was probably the only positive on that side of the football.

Carolina Panthers couldn’t get the run game going

Establishing the run has been a focal point for the Panthers since Matt Rhule was fired. However, this was always going to be extremely difficult against the NFL’s No. 3 ranked defense on the ground in this one.

This turned out to be the case almost from start to finish. Carolina mustered just 36 rushing yards on 17 carries on the ground, which left them in multiple third and long situations and made things more difficult to generate any offensive momentum.