Panthers dig deep hole with punt coverage breakdowns against Colts

[Sir Purr]

Following another three-and-out, Michael Palardy hit a 56-yard punt to the Indianapolis 16-yard line. Gunner DeAndrew White got sealed off, creating a big lane for Hines to exploit down the left sideline. That left Palardy one-on-one with Hines, and the Carolina punter is always going to have a hard time surviving that battle.


“He got vertical,” Palardy said, “and the rest was history.”


Hines blew past Palardy and celebrated an 84-yard return to give the Colts a 14-0 lead with the game just a few minutes old.


“It put pressure on the entire team,” interim head coach Perry Fewell said of the failures in coverage. “Instead of staying focused, we probably panicked a little bit.”


Instead, rookie quarterback Will Grier – making his first career start – was forced to play from behind. The Panthers never were able to settle into the game, and the deficit steadily grew as it wore on.


And it was Hines who delivered the knockout punch midway through the fourth quarter.


Fewell wanted to punt the ball out of bounds, but Palardy didn’t hit it cleanly and his 53-yard effort was fielded at the Colts’ 29.


“Hindsight is always 20-20, and yeah, of course you’d love it to be out of bounds,” Palardy said.


Hines found space to maneuver and members of the coverage team were left in his wake as he again sprinted down the sideline and high-stepped into the end zone for a 71-yard score.