SuperCam and Panthers Hold Off Patriots On Controversial Play

Pass Interference or Good No Call? 

That is the big debate after these two teams played an excellent game Monday night. Ill get more into that in a little while, first off lets look into everything else that happened during the Panthers win over the Patriots.


3rd year QB Cam Newton played one of his most games throwing for 19 passes on 28 attempts for 209 yards and throwing for 3 TD's, as well as scrambling on the ground and gaining 62 yards on 7 carries (Newton rushed for the most yards out of any player on the field Monday night). Newton played an all around great game, causing no turnovers while the Panthers defense was able to cause a forced fumble on RB Stevan Ridley as well as picking off Tom Brady on that controversial last play of the game. Carolina and New England both were the victims of great defenses in the running game with neither team having a RB rush for more than 49 yards.





Tom Brady had a below par game compared to his standards, throwing for 296 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT* (Controversial). The Patriots ran 13 more plays than the Panthers, but only had the ball for a little over a minute more than Carolina in time of possession (30:46, 29:14 respectively). Both teams had 7 drives each the entire game for a combined total of 14, which is the fewest in a game since 2008 which also included Tom Brady but this time he was facing Peyton Manning, who coincidentally he happens to be playing next week.


The Panthers started the scoring first, putting up 10 points on a Brandon Lafell TD pass from Cam Newton as well as a Graham Gano field goal before the Patriots could get anything going although they did finally put some points on the board on a Stephen Gostkowski field goal to make it 10-3 going into halftime. In the 3rd quarter both teams were able to break paydirt on passes to their TE's with Panthers' Greg Olsen and Patriots Rob Gronkowski bringing in a TD to make it a 7 point game going into the final quarter (17-10). The Patriots got the ball rolling in the 4th when RB Stevan Ridley capped a 80 yard drive with a 1 yard TD run. The Panthers followed with quick 3-n-out that the Patriots were able to convert into a field goal to give the Patriots the lead 20-17. Cam Newton responded to that with a 13 play, 83 yard drive that ended with a 25 yard TD pass to WR Ted Ginn Jr, that left Tom Brady with 0:59 seconds to do what he does best.

This is where the controversy starts;
Brady put together a last minute drive, literally and brought the Patriots to the Panthers' 18 yard line with about 3-5 seconds left. As time expired Brady threw a pass towards TE Rob Gronkowski, who was being snatched up by LB Luke Kuechly, that caused a rookie Safety, Robert Lester, to intercept the pass. A flag was thrown at first after Gronkowski was held and it looked as if their was going to be a pass interference call and Brady would get one last shot, but the referee's huddled together and picked the flag back up, stating there was no pass interference on the play to end the game.

Prediction:
CAR over NE 20-16
Final Score:
CAR over NE 24-20

I have posted the video below so you can see for yourself.




My personal opinion is that the refs missed a call. I thought Carolina was going to win anyways but I don't think they should have won like that. The Panthers and Newton did have a better overall game than their New England counterparts and that was just one missed opportunity, but because it was the last play of the game it embeds itself into your head to make you believe that was the reason the Patriots lost. Well it wasn't and the Patriots will have to deal with that. Up next for (7-3)Carolina Panthers will be a trip to South Beach to take on the (5-5)Miami Dolphins. The (7-3)Patriots will have the (9-1)Denver Broncos with Peyton Manning and the rest of the gang coming into town for what is sure to be the game of the week, or at least the major networks will have you believing it.

I hope you enjoyed my recap of the Monday Night Showdown between the Patriots and Panthers. Pass this along to all your friends who missed out on the game or just want a little more info on it.

Thank you for reading and be sure to come back often for more Sports News & Analysis. If you need any Fantasy Football help check back later in the week for all of my Week 12 Fantasy Football Who's Hot/Who's Not.