Here they go again.
The Carolina Panthers, who came into Sunday having not won a game in 10 months, had all sorts of chances to finally do so. Instead, they lapsed into sad and familiar territory, losing 19-16 to the New York Giants.
Against the Giants, the Panthers overcame two turnovers in the first five minutes with a strong early defensive effort. They were in a close contest the entire way — the game was tied at 6-all, 13-all and 16-all.
But the Panthers were 0-8 over their past eight real games coming into this one for a reason — actually, multiple reasons. And enough of those reared their ugly heads Sunday that the Panthers lost again, unable to score the necessary points in the final four minutes to win or tie the game.
Carolina dropped to 0-2 on the season, and #FireMattRhule is undoubtedly trending again on social media. The Panthers apparently are just good enough this season to repeatedly break their fans’ hearts. Under Rhule, the team is now 10-25 in two-plus seasons and has lost nine consecutive games dating back to 2021.
The question must now be asked: How much more rope is owner David Tepper going to give Rhule? Tepper said in late April, the last time he answered football-oriented questions from the media: “I believe in Matt and he has my full support.” But that was before the team re-started its losing ways.
After the game, Rhule said the defeat was his fault before anyone else’s.
“That’s two games in a row where we’ve come down to the very end with a chance to win the game and come up short both times,” Rhule said. “And you know, I take full responsibility for that, and that’s my job. That falls on me. And I have to help these guys find a way to just make one more play and win the game.”
Is it time to fire Rhule right now? As much as many fans would like it because it would give them a short-term burst of hope, or at least of schadenfreude, in fact it would mostly serve to jumble up the coaching staff without a lot of immediate purpose. Firing Rhule after a 40-0 loss in Week 8 is one thing; firing him after two losses by a total of five points is quite another. I’d give him a little more rope myself, because there are no great alternatives. But not much.
“The takeaway for us is we are right there,” Rhule said. “But we’ve got to find a way to win. ... It’s my job as a leader to say, ‘Hey, it all falls on me.’ ”
How did this latest loss happen?
This time, with the game tied at 16 in the fourth quarter, the Giants (2-0) embarked on a steady drive that took up a large swath of the fourth quarter. It stalled at the Carolina 38, leaving former Carolina kicker Graham Gano to attempt a 56-yard field goal with 3:38 to go. He made it — his fourth field goal of the afternoon, in four tries, with two of them over 50 yards — to put the Panthers behind, 19-16. This, of course, after Carolina got beaten in the final seconds at home last week on Cleveland kicker Cade York’s 58-yard field goal.
Carolina got the ball back, trailing by three, with plenty of time. But Mayfield was sacked on third-and-6, putting the Panthers at 2-for-12 on third-down conversions. The Panthers punted just before the two-minute warning rather than go for it on fourth-and-16 from their own 36.
Needing two first downs to end the game, the Giants got one when defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis jumped offside. And then quarterback Daniel Jones got the second on a third-and-6 on an 11-yard scramble, and that was that. The Panthers walked off another football field with their heads down, the victim of their own mistakes and some very iffy coaching, again.
Running back Christian McCaffrey, who rushed for 102 yards on 15 carries, said the only answer was to keep grinding.
“Getting emotional is not sustainable in this league,” McCaffrey said. “It’s about working every single day and that’s about it. You show up every day. You put in work.”
The game was within one score or less for the entire 60 minutes.
After a 6-6 halftime tie that featured no touchdowns, both teams found the end zone in the first six minutes of the third quarter. The Panthers struck first to take their first lead of the game, on a 16-yard pass from Mayfield to DJ Moore. Moore had already had a 29-yard reception on the first play of the drive, one in which he made a nice adjustment on the ball. The entire march took only 60 seconds and went 67 yards, with Mayfield also showcasing his feet with a 17-yard scramble.
The Giants roared back, though, as quarterback Jones suddenly got hot. It was the defense’s first series of costly mistakes, as Jones found several receivers open and then hit tight end Daniel Bellinger for a 16-yard touchdown. That tied the game at 13-all entering the fourth quarter.
The Panthers’ defense — which didn’t force a turnover for the second straight game — dominated the Giants for much of the first half and twice bailed out the team after turnovers. Chuba Hubbard fumbled the opening kickoff in one of those slap-your-forehead moments, leading to a Giants’ recovery eight seconds into the game at the Carolina 22.
But Carolina’s defense held the Giants — directed by Jones, who grew up in Charlotte — to a three-and-out series. Gano made a 36-yard field goal, and the Giants were up, 3-0.
The next time Carolina didn’t fumble the kickoff, but it went nearly as badly. Wide receiver Robbie Anderson had the ball stripped away from him after a short gain on a third-and-22, sending the Giants back onto the field at the Carolina 40.
But again, Carolina’s defense held. After Jones moved the Giants into a first-and-goal at the Carolina 5 and then Saquon Barkley ran it to the 2 on the next play, Frankie Luvu sped into the backfield to knock Jones down for a 6-yard loss and then Brian Burns sacked Jones on third down, the Pro Bowler’s first sack of the season. Gano’s second field goal made it 6-0, Giants.
Carolina’s offense got a little better after that, but not a lot. It managed two second-quarter field goals by Eddy Pineiro — one from 31 and one from 32 — after Mayfield completed a handful of passes on drives only to see them short-circuit in the red zone. A handful of missed opportunities also plagued the Panthers: Shi Smith dropped a shallow crossing route on third down, and Luvu dropped a sure interception late in the second quarter.
“I was disappointed in that,” Luvu said.
Mayfield also had two passes batted down after having five passes tipped in Week 1. The score was knotted, 6-6, at half. But then the Panthers disintegrated, again, in the final minutes, often having trouble handling the Giants’ frequent blitzes.
“We’ve just got to be able to handle the pressure,” Mayfield said.
And so far, just like the second half of last season, the Panthers haven’t.
