With the 1st batted down pass of CJ, I had a bad feeling. When it got to 2, I was praying that the running game would start working. I even told my wife that if they are going to be able to bat passes at the line either CJ needs to somehow start throwing upwards more in a hurry or we need to be running the ball and tire out the defense. If we can't, then they will have a decent chance to get a win.
IMO what cost us, great goal line stuff for our defense on the FG drive. Was our inability to get the Panthers off the feild on 3rd down. Young was average for the whole game. But, the run game pulled them out of 3rd and 5 type situations too often. We need a DT or 2 to really clog up any run lanes in situations like that. And with Stingley out, we needed better tackling from the DBs. Better yet, Young threw about 3 INT passes that the DB or LB just couldn't get. Had we picked of the pass when the WR had it bounce out of his hands late in the game, and we had 2 players right there, we could have just played run the ball and maybe got a FG or TD. Either way even if we didn't, we would have won the game. They would have had say 1min to even try to get yards. Instead we didn't get the pick and then penalty after penalty got them in FG range. And Perryman being off side 3 times, on 2 got called cost us the game.
Bottom line is our secondary played decent until the 3rd. And then, it showed we need to both get a DT to clog some running lanes and another CB or 2 that are better than what we have. That would likely have been a difference maker. I think the loss falls on the back end of the D near the end of the game. I only mention a DT because more pressure would have also caused Young to likely not scramble right and hit Thesin(SP) to prolong the drive. We got pressure but it was more from the middle of the line not the edges. A DT taking up the middle more would have allowed our DE's and LBs to flow to Young to in theory stop his rollout or sack him outside the pocket.
