The Carolina Panthers had a victory within grasp as their defense handled the Seattle Seahawks, but Cam Newton's squad couldn't muster an offensive touchdown, falling 16-12.
Seahawks Vs. Panthers, Week 5: ‘I am a little speechless’
A poor offensive performance by Cam Newton led to a loss, as the Carolina Panthers fell 16-12 to the Seattle Seahawks.
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The Panthers forced three turnovers, but the offense only accounted for three of the team’s points: seven came off an interception returned for a touchdown by Captain Munnerlyn, while two came on a last-minute safety. Newton completed under 50 percent of his passes, going 12-for-29 for only 141 yards. Cat Scratch Reader deemed the game the worst of the 2011 No. 1 draft pick’s career:
Newton has no touch on the short pass and kept trying to flick the long passes. With the chance to pull a victory out when it was not deserved, Newton engineered the best drive of the day only to throw his worst pass on 4th and goal. How he completed 12 passes all day I’m not sure.
The rest of the offense didn't help Newton out: the quarterback had 42 of the team's 82 rushing yards, with Jonathan Stewart leading the rest of the team with 16. Carolina only had 190 yards of total offense while converting a mere two of 10 third downs. The loss led to some questions about the gameplan of second-year offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski:
I’m still not sure how much blame to place on OC Rob Chudzinski. It would seem the thing that we initially loved about Chud is now the thing we hate the most. He is so creative and diverse in his game plan that the offense has no identity.
The Panthers have lost three straight, but they'll have a bye week to regroup before taking on the Dallas Cowboys in two weeks.
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