Panthers' offense must get back to sustaining drives

[Sir Purr]

On third down, the Panthers were bailed out with a defensive pass interference penalty en route to scoring a touchdown on their opening drive. But then Bridgewater was sacked to take them out of field-goal range at the end of the first quarter.


The Panthers' only successful third-down conversions on 10 attempts came on a 3-yard pass to wide receiver Curtis Samuel on third-and-2 in the second quarter and wide receiver DJ Moore's 42-yard catch down the right side on third-and-18 with 1:47 left in the contest.


"Those guys had a good game plan," Bridgwater said. "They knew some of the things that we wanted to do, and they had answers for it."


Some of the issues stemmed from the offensive line. Starting in place of left tackle Russell Okung, Greg Little was replaced in the second half by Trent Scott.


"(Little) just gave up a couple pressures and (we) put Trent in and went with Trent. That being said, he's not the only guy that gave up pressures," Rhule said. "Sometimes, when you're a left tackle, it just stands out a little bit more."


It also didn't help that the Panthers lost Bridgewater for six plays after sustaining an illegal hit from Falcons defensive end Charles Harris. Like the players who spoke after the game, Rhule appreciated that Bridgewater returned in the fourth quarter.


"I was prepared to play the rest of the game without him," Rhule said. "But credit to him for wanting to go back out there and finish the game."


But when the Panthers begin preparing to visit the Chiefs next week, sustaining drives will have to be a focus. Carolina needs to score touchdowns inside the 20 because field goals won't beat Kansas City's explosive offense. But to address the red-zone offense, the Panthers have to get inside the 20 first. That means sustaining drives and converting critical third and fourth downs.