Other shoe drops
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It took a while, but the Panthers finally missed the presence of goto wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin.
The timing couldn’t have been worse, either, as drops, misplays and one very conspicuous disappearing act by Cam Newton’s cast of targets played a huge role in Carolina’s ugly, 2410 loss to the Broncos in Super Bowl 50 on Sunday night.
The Panthers had done a terrific job in compensating for the seasonending knee injury Benjamin suffered in August, but all of that work by Carolina’s other receivers in building a 171 record went right out the window on a picturesque evening at Levi’s Stadium.
It was in keeping with a horribly sloppy performance overall by the Panthers, who looked nothing like the confident team that had rolled the Cardinals in the NFC Championship game.
Carolina committed a seasonhigh four turnovers, including three lost fumbles, and was penalized an unsightly 12 times for minus102 yards.
Normally surehanded former Jet Jerricho Cotchery was the most notable goat in the receiving department for the Panthers, dropping all three passes Newton threw his way in the first half.
Cotchery caught both throws in the second half, but for just 17 yards in what was hardly the type of performance Cotchery had in mind after finally making the Super Bowl in his 12th NFL season.
Then there was Ted Ginn Jr., who after a remarkable career turnaround in Benjamin’s absence this season suddenly reverted to the thoroughly maddening player who wore out his welcome with three other teams.
After raising the Panthers’ hopes with a 45yard catch on the second play of the third quarter, Ginn then killed what looked like a certain scoring drive later in the period by misplaying a Newton throw that led to an interception by Broncos safety T.J. Ward deep in Denver territory.
Ginn ended up catching just four of his 10 targets, finishing with 74 yards.
At least Ginn’s struggles weren’t entirely out of character. That’s more than Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen could say after the Broncos’ defense made Newton’s seasonlong security blanket all but invisible.
Denver blanketed Olsen with a mix of physical defenders, and the result was Olsen’s worst outing of the season. The player who led Carolina with 77 catches for 1,104 yards in the regular season managed just four receptions (on nine targets) for 41 yards with the Lombardi Trophy on the line.
Even when the Panthers’ receivers had some success, it proved agonizingly shortlived.
Veteran Corey Brown got off to a hot start with four catches for 80 yards, continuing his string of strong postseason play, then was lost for good in the second half with a concussion.