Panthers loss to Seattle came down to 4 plays — all of them tied to the secondary

Remember when Carolina Panthers rookie Donte Jackson shut down one of the NFL’s premier deep threats in Baltimore’s John Brown? Or when James Bradberry held Tampa Bay star Mike Evans to a single catch on 10 targets?

As long as these past three weeks have been for the Panthers, both those performances happened less than a month ago. Since then, they’ve allowed three 100-yard receivers, two 90-yard receivers and at least seven “big” plays through the air, depending on your definition of the word.

Four of them made a world’s difference in Sunday’s 30-27 loss to the Seahawks.

“That’s football. The game’s going to boil down to three or four plays,” Panthers cornerback Captain Munnerlyn said. “I’ve been taught that since I was a little kid. We can’t tell you when those plays are going to happen but it’s going to boil down to three or four plays.

“When those plays come, you’ve just got to win your share. We haven’t been doing that.”

The first of those four plays was the first play of the game, which certainly didn’t work out in Carolina’s favor.

Jackson took a helmet to the quad while making a tackle, left the game and never returned. In his stead came second-year cornerback Corn Elder, who had played all of 23 snaps entering Sunday’s game, and the veteran Munnerlyn. Carolina did what it could to offset its newfound frailty at corner, but ultimately Seattle found its cracks.

“We had three corners that were left up. We did the best we could,” Carolina coach Ron Rivera said. “We ended up playing a little bit more of our big nickel package to try and take some of the pressure off those guys, but unfortunately you get down to crunch time and you want to do certain things, you’ve got to leave them out there.

“Hopefully, they can do their best and try to make something happen.”

For the most part, Elder and Munnerlyn held their own. Seattle receiver Tyler Lockett beat his coverage for a 27-yard gain on third down in the second quarter — eventually leading to a touchdown and Seattle’s first lead of the game — but Carolina tied the game on its next series. No harm, no foul.

David Moore’s 54-yard reception on third-and-12 in the third quarter, however, was a punch to the gut of a Panthers team that had just squandered its own redzone opportunity four plays prior. But Moore didn’t beat Elder or Munnerlyn on the play — he beat Carolina’s No. 1 cornerback, Bradberry.

“We were in a Cover 3 but I was pretty much by myself on my side of the field because it was one receiver,” Bradberry said. “I was expecting the ball to come out quick but it didn’t, I got caught sitting at the sticks and (Moore) ran an out route and got by me.”

The play set up a Lockett touchdown, which gave Seattle a three-point lead.

Moore struck again two drives later, beating Elder for a 35-yard score on fourth-and-3. In all reality, it wasn’t bad coverage from Elder save one catastrophic error — he never turned around to find the ball. Moore found it easily.

“We were in man-to-man coverage,” he said. “I felt like I was in good coverage, I’ve just got to turn around and make a play on the ball. Russell Wilson threw a perfect ball.”

A perfect ball and a perfect play call. Elder said he didn’t feel like Seattle targeted him much following Jackson’s exit.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll disagreed.

“It’s a great job by (offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer) and then Russ to make sure that we went after the new guy,” Carroll said. “That’s always important. It’s always about matchups and they were on it.”

Still, Carolina found itself in position to win the game. Cam Newton and company went 45 yards in eight plays immediately following Moore’s touchdown but Graham Gano missed a go-ahead 52-yard field goal.

The Panthers forced Seattle into third-and-5 but Wilson connected with Lockett for 43 yards, setting up Sebastian Janikowski’s game-winning field goal. Lockett beat Munnerlyn on the play after running crossing routes with Doug Baldwin.

The second of confusion between Munnerlyn and Elder was all Wilson needed to find a wide-open Lockett.

Sunday’s loss proved a few things. Carolina’s secondary isn’t quite solidified, Donte Jackson is far more important to its success than previously thought, and its depth at cornerback could use bolstering. Jackson’s bruised quadriceps is something to watch this coming week as the Panthers prepare for a Tampa Bay team averaging 355 passing yards per game.

If these past few weeks are any indication, there will be three or four plays that define that contest, as well. As the 2018 season winds down, if the Panthers don’t win their share of those game-defining plays, they could lose the game and their postseason hopes.

“We’ve just got to keep going,” Elder said. “Next game, come out and play and just leave this game in the past. Watch film, correct what we can correct and keep going.”

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