Carolina's Dud Finish Puts Everything on the Table in 2018

In what should have been the final game of a successful 11-5 playoff-bound season, the Panthers 22-10 loss to the Falcons was one of the ugliest games of the Cam Newton/Ron Rivera era. Carolina, entering the game, had an outside chance at winning the division if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pulled off an unlikely win over the New Orleans Saints, which they did. The unlikely became an opportunity that Carolina squandered.

It was a putrid performance. Cam Newton was awful, completing 41% for 180 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions. He started bad and found a way to finish worse. After eight attempts, Newton finally completed his first pass with less than eight minutes left in the 2nd quarter.…