Cardinals vs. Panthers 2015 final score: 3 things we learned from Carolina’s wild card win
The Cardinals gave a valiant effort, but couldn’t overcome the fact that Ryan Lindley was their starting quarterback.
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The Arizona Cardinals held tough, capitalizing on several Carolina Panthers miscues, but ultimately couldn't overcome an atrocious offensive performance. The Cardinals gained just 78 total yards, the fewest ever obtained in a playoff game, in a 27-16 loss to open the 2015 NFL Playoffs.
Ryan Lindley looked like a third-/fourth-string quarterback, going 16-for-28 passing for 82 yards. He threw an early touchdown pass, but also two costly interceptions, including one deep in Carolina territory off a turnover that could have flipped momentum back in favor of the Cardinals in the second half.
Despite the offensive ineptitude, the Cardinals actually carried a 14-13 lead into halftime. A litany of Panther mistakes kept Arizona in the game, including a muffed punt, a badly missed field goal, and miscommunication between Cam Newton and Jerricho Cotchery that led to a pick.
The Panthers righted the ship quickly in the second half, however. Fozzy Whittaker turned a pass to the flat into a 39-yard touchdown that gave the Panthers the lead for good in the third quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, Ted Ginn fumbled to set up another quick Panthers score.
Three things we learned:
1) The Panthers need to cut down mistakes
The Panthers made a laundry list of mistakes, particularly in the first half:
- Brenton Bersin muffed the Cardinals' third punt of the first quarter, giving Arizona the ball on the Carolina 30-yard line, which led to the Cardinals' first touchdown.
- Kelvin Benjamin dropped a third-and-5 pass for what would have been a first down on the Panthers' ensuing drive, and Carolina settled for a 43-yard field goal attempt, which Graham Gano hooked left.
- Cam Newton and Jerricho Cotchery got their signals crossed, resulting in a Newton interception to Antonio Cromartie. He took the ball 50 yards to the Carolina 17-yard line to set up the Cardinals' second touchdown late in the first half.
All of those mistakes were avoidable. Together, they made the score closer than it should have been, nearly spoiling a tremendous effort by Luke Kuechly and company. The Panthers gained 208 yards of offense in the first half to the Cardinals' 65 yards, yet the Cardinals led 14-13 at intermission. The Panthers were able to flip momentum in the second half, thanks in large part to the big Fozzy Whittaker catch-and-run and the Ted Ginn fumble, but Carolina can't expect to play as sloppily as it did in the first half and get away with it going forward in the playoffs.
2) Cam Newton should be better
Newton was clearly the best quarterback in this game, but the difference between him and Ryan Lindley wasn’t as stark as it ought to have been. Even giving him the benefit of the doubt on his two turnovers -- the first an interception that may have been caused by a bad route, and the second a fumble in the face of immense pressure -- Newton wasn’t sharp. He completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes at 6.2 yards per attempt. He failed to find his open receivers several times in the first half.
Sure, Newton played well enough to vanquish the NFC South and a beat-up Cardinals squad. He’ll need to be much better if he is going to win duels in a playoff bracket stacked with the league’s best passers.
3) The Cardinals can be happy
There are bad teams, and then there a good teams who have Ryan Lindley as their quarterback. Arizona's 11-5 record and run to the playoffs are remarkable given the context. The Cardinals were without their No. 1 quarterback for 10 games. Lindley and/or Logan Thomas appeared in five games due to extenuating circumstances. It is an immense credit to head coach Bruce Arians, defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and the defense itself that Arizona was able to compete as well as it did.
The Cardinals hung in tough on Sunday, the same way they did all season -- by being hyper-aggressive on defense, and as efficient as humanly possible on offense given what the team had to work with. Arizona posted a valiant effort for most of the game. Next season could be bright.
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