What Matt Rhule Said Following the Panthers' Loss to Philadelphia
Opening comments
Disappointed about today. Really disappointed in the second half. Credit goes to them. I thought Coach Sirianni did a nice job getting his team ready. They played four quarters and we did not. Really not much to say other than that. We couldn’t control the line of scrimmage. Gave up big plays late in the game. Couldn’t protect the football. The quarterback was under duress. Couldn’t make plays that we needed down in the red zone and all those areas to make touchdowns instead of field goals. Couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities that we had. We did a nice job in the first half building a lead and could not sustain it. The football team that we want to be is a team that when they have the lead can run the football and control the line of scrimmage. We have not been able to do that. We were not able to do it today, and that’s why we ended up with the loss.
RE: What happened on the blocked punt
They ran a pick stunt. [inaudible] came in and blocked one. The other guy came around J.J. (Jansen). He came free and blocked it. We practice that a lot. We have to make those blocks. We didn’t make those blocks. They made the play. We had a fake field goal punt to pin them down there. I thought our defense was playing great. We didn’t make that play. Today at the end of the day when you really look at it, they made a bunch of plays. We had some opportunities to make plays. At the end of the day, we still had the ball down three at about the 50-yard line or 45, whatever it was, with 2:30 (remaining) and then couldn’t get off the field at the end. We still had the chance to get the ball back with 1:30 and couldn’t stop them. But yeah, they came around, we block that, and we just didn’t make the block.
RE: If the play before the blocked punt was a dropped pass by wide receiver Robby Anderson or bad throw by quarterback Sam Darnold
That was a bad ball. I think Robby came up. We have to throw and catch. We had a bunch of plays today where we had a chance. We had drops. I can’t throw this on any one guy. It’s on us, so I start with me and work backwards. We had a lot of chances to make plays and didn’t make plays, and they did to be honest with you.
RE: Why the Panthers are struggling in the third quarter
I don’t know. I thought we went down the field. At the end of the day, I don’t look at the third quarter. We should have scored more points in the first half. When the quarterback gets sacked three, four or five times, getting under duress, we just have to do a better job. We have to play better football. That wasn’t good enough football right there. We came in knowing that we had to limit the deep balls, we had to protect their guys up front, we were going to have to win third down on offense and hold them to field goals in the red zone. Even at the end we had a chance to hold them to a field goal. We’ve just got to be better.
RE: The primary issue with the pass protection
It’s always hard until I watch it, but I think we got edged inside by (Javon) Hargrave. He had five sacks; now he has six. We had two holding calls that got us out of whack. It wasn’t that they blitzed us. It was just a four-man rush, sometimes a five-man rush. At times they won, and when they didn’t win, they pushed us out of the pocket and the quarterback was running around. We’ve got to get to the point where the quarterback feels good about his protection and can stay in the pocket. Credit to them. They played man, like we said that they probably would, and we didn’t hurt them enough with it.
RE: How much about what happened was about not protecting quarterback Sam Darnold
Certainly, the tale of this week and last week is our inability to protect the quarterback. I thought we ran the ball well. I don’t know what Chuba (Hubbard) finished rushing-wise. And they also got us with the penalties. We had the ball there just needing a field goal, having to go about 15 or 20 yards, and we get a holding call. It’s just where we’re struggling right now.
RE: What happened on Darnold’s last interception
It’s hard for me to say without seeing it. We’re throwing comebacks to the sideline. When you’re in two-minute (offense), you’re throwing enough of those. Last week, the guy broke on it and almost picked it off. They made a good play. Certainly, maybe go to the next progression. I’ll have to watch the tape to be honest with you. But we have to attack, maybe, the middle of the field a little bit more. We did a nice job of hitting Robby on the in cut, so we have to do a better job of it.
RE: What went into determining the starting offensive line
Brady (Christensen) was the next guy up. T-Mo (Taylor Moton) has got reps at left tackle, so we moved him over there. We knew it would take both those guys a little bit of time to get comfortable. I just felt like that was the best chance we had to win.
RE: If the zone read runs by Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts late in the game were a surprise since those plays had not been run early in the game
Yes. Early on it was a lot of zone read pullers, throw the ball outside. I think we knocked a lot of those out. Then it kind of went to more of a two-minute game, so we’re playing more man, we’re rushing up the field, and he hurt us with a couple of those. It was a nice job by them. It was things that they have that we prepared for. I think kind of where the game was, we thought it would be more of a drop back game, and they would mix it in on third downs. It was good. One of the guys who was responsible for the quarterback chases the guy down. We just have to be a little bit more disciplined about everybody doing their job. Even at the end where they’re running the ball, we have an edge set, and the ball is run around the left-right edge. This is one of those games, as I said, I can’t point to anybody. We’ve (coaches and players) got to be better.
RE: Darnold’s overall performance
Just like everybody else. We’ve all got to be better. There are guys that are open. We’ve got to make those throws. You guys have heard me say a hundred times. We’re going to try to push the game in the fourth quarter. We’re going to try to make one more play than the other team. They made one more play. They blocked a punt. We have a chance to stop them; they score. They get the two-point conversion. At some point, we have to make one of those plays to win a game. That was my challenge at halftime. I told them the plays are there to be made. You have a lead. Anything from falling on the fumble in the end zone to making a tackle to catching a ball to throwing a ball. We’ve got to make a play. Play within the scheme but make a play. I’m sure if you ask the guys in the locker room, I’m sure they’re disappointed. We had chances to sack the quarterback. We didn’t sack him. We missed a sack. We said we had to keep him in the pocket (or) he would escape to his right (and) he did that a lot today. This is one that when we watch the tape it should bother us. They didn’t do anything. We prepared for this. It’s got to bother us, and it’s got to spur us on to be better.
RE: If running back Chuba Hubbard was a bright spot
I thought Chuba was excellent. It looked like a couple of times he was going to break it for a big one. I thought he caught the ball. He caught screens, ran the ball. I was pleased with him.
RE: The status of cornerback Donte Jackson
I don’t have anything.
You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:
Facebook - @PanthersOnSI
Twitter - @SI_Panthers and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_.
