Week 12: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Carolina's rollercoaster loss against the Minnesota Vikings may have been devastating for fans to watch, but there were some positives that can be analyzed as well. Unfortunately, there were also negatives from the game that were addressed by players, coaches, fans, and the media. This may have been an embarrassing loss because of the way the Panthers gave the game to Minnesota, but it wasn't as bad as it seemed in hindsight. Nonetheless, last week was full of good, bad, and ugly.
The GOOD: Jeremy Chinn, duh!
Did any other name really come to mind when it came to the positives from this game? Jeremy Chinn performed with brilliance and tenacity, just as he does every week. He led the team with 13 tackles, which was a career high, and two fumble recovery touchdowns. Chinn broke records with his performance and added two critical scores that gave the Panthers all the momentum they could possibly ask for. Unfortunately, the momentum did not last for long.
The BAD: Kirk Cousins looked unstoppable.
Kirk Cousins looked like an elite quarterback against the Carolina defense. He played well for the Vikings and deserves the credit for doing what he was supposed to do against a vulnerable secondary. With that being said, the Panthers' back end did not do what it was supposed to do in order to maintain a multiple possession lead. Cousins threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns this past Sunday. He had one of his best performances of the season due to the fact that the secondary was completely unable to cover Justin Jefferson, Bisi Johnson, Kyle Rudolph, and Chad Beebe, who all had seven receptions each. Cousins did all of this without Adam Thielen or Irv Smith Jr. This doesn't take away from Chinn's performance, because he did everything he could. Unfortunately, it seemed like he was the only defender in the secondary who made a significant impact.
The UGLY: The fourth quarter...
It would be easy to place the blame on Teddy Bridgewater, who made some poor throws in crucial situations (most notably, his missed touchdown pass to a wide open D.J. Moore, which would have arguably put the game out of reach), but there were more pieces to the disaster that occurred late in the game than just him. The Panthers' poor clock management with the lead also significantly affected the outcome of this game. Let's not forget how porous the defense was in Kirk Cousins' game-winning drive. He surgically sliced through the secondary like Tom Brady in his prime. (Sorry for those who still have nightmares about Super Bowl XXXVIII...) The bottom line is that there were multiple components that resulted in the ugly. Everyone who allowed this mediocre Vikings team to come back from a 24-13 deficit should be held accountable.
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