Norman-Beckham fallout, weight of undefeated season caught up to Panthers
While the champagne corks will pop Sunday night for the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the bubble began to burst for the Carolina Panthers well before their quest for a perfect season ended with a 20-13 loss at Atlanta.
Not to take anything away from the Falcons and their strong effort in knocking the Panthers (14-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten. But the seeds for Carolina's first loss were planted during last Sunday's victory over the New York Giants.
There simply wasn't the same caliber of performance from the Panthers against Atlanta that we have seen throughout this season against other opponents. Some of that is surely connected to Carolina's pre-game focus being affected by the major controversy surrounding the team stemming from their antics against the Giants.
Panthers players were forced to defend themselves against allegations of pregame threats and homophobic slurs directed toward Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. that continued to receive major media attention well into the week.
If the New England Patriots were in the same position, head coach Bill Belichick would certainly have defused the topic in his locker room and done his best to help his charges avoid the trap of dwelling in the past. But the heavy scrutiny the Panthers came under is something the franchise hadn't experienced in its recent history.
There were other elements that made this a trap game, as well. The Panthers could easily feel overconfident after a 38-0 home shutout of Atlanta just two weeks ago. The selection of an NFL-high 10 players to the Pro Bowl on Tuesday is another outside distraction that can cause players to feel a little too good about themselves. Plus, all the outside talk about finishing the regular season with a 16-0 record can cause a squad to start looking ahead.
With their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, the Falcons (8-7) didn't have to deal with the same kind of issues. A week of sharp practices paid dividends Sunday inside the Georgia Dome. FOX Sports has learned that Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn relied heavily on the leadership of Roddy White to keep his team motivated and on-point during practice, including the wide receiver being chosen to deliver positive messages when breaking the team huddle.
White, who was slighted as being described as Atlanta's "fifth receiver" last week by Panthers cornerback Josh Norman, stepped up with his best performance since the season-opener against Philadelphia by catching five passes for 67 yards. Norman also was shown up by Atlanta wide receiver Julio Jones, who finished with nine receptions for 178 yards and one touchdown.
The snapping of Carolina's 18-game regular-season winning streak probably isn't a harbinger of what's to come in the playoffs. It actually may be better for the Panthers in the long run. The only thing Carolina need worry about now is correcting the mistakes made against Atlanta in what will essentially be a tune-up game for the postseason next Sunday against visiting Tampa Bay (6-9).
Carolina still has the inside track to represent the NFC in Super Bowl 50. Doing so would be worthy of a massive celebration from one of 13 franchises that has yet to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
But after Sunday, the only thing guaranteed is Don Shula and Co. once again getting to toast an accomplishment no NFL team has duplicated for 43 seasons and counting.
