Traveling to Charlotte as 13-point underdogs, Chip Kelly’s San Francisco 49ers fought hard but were overwhelmed in a 46-27 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
After jumping out of the gates, the 49ers’ offense stalled and found themselves down 31-10 in the third quarter. But the team momentarily capitalized on a string of Panthers turnovers, before falling apart late on offense.
Blaine Gabbert threw a quick pass to Vance McDonald, who sprinted 75 yards into the end zone, cutting the Panthers’ lead to 34-27 with 7:51 to play. But Gabbert fired an interception directly into the hands of Luke Kuechly on his next possession, ending the 49ers’ comeback attempt. He tossed another one later in the fourth quarter and ended the day 17/36, 243 passing yards, 3 total touchdowns and two interceptions.
In the end, Newton returned to MVP form and finished with four touchdowns and 353 yards passing. It was a reminder how luxurious it is to have a functioning franchise quarterback on your roster.
Because on the other side, it was quintessential Gabbert for the 49ers against the Panthers: nothing awful, but not nearly enough to win you the game. Gabbert threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Torrey Smith in the second quarter and made a couple of other nice passes — Chip Kelly mentioned some drops by receivers post-game, too. But Gabbert missed multiple third-down throws that halted drives, couldn’t respond soon enough when Newton started slinging the rock and turned the ball over twice.
Blaine Gabbert is 14-for-33. That's a completion percentage of 42.2. You can't win games that way
— Kevin Jones (@Mr_KevinJones) September 18, 2016
Despite forcing three turnovers, the 49ers had trouble rushing the passer (one sack) or stopping the run (176 yards allowed). Jonathan Stewart injured his hamstring early in the game and did not return but Fozzy Whittaker carried the torch on 16 carries for 100 yards. Kelvin Benjamin caught two touchdown passes and Greg Olsen slipped past Antoine Bethea for a 78-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The Panthers returned a Carlos Hyde fumble for a touchdown in the first quarter, which didn’t help the defenses cause.
The rushing attack did little to help Gabbert in the passing game. Hyde had 34 yards on 14 carries, while Shaun Draughn added 21 yards on nine touches.
The exciting nature of the game had much to do with Carolina’s mistakes. Early in the fourth quarter, Newton fumbled while scrambling and a Tedd Ginn botched kickoff returned was recovered by Draughn. San Francisco turned those Carolina miscues into 10 points, the latter coming on a Gabbert 2-yard quarterback keeper for a touchdown. The Panthers were shooting themselves in the foot, but at least the 49ers were capitalizing.
Again, turnovers weren’t the problem, they just weren’t enough. Antoine Bethea picked off Newton’s first pass from scrimmage and forced a fumble on Whittaker. In the third quarter, Gerald Hodges poked the ball out of Cam’s hands and Eli Harold rumbled down the sideline for an 18-yard return.
Kelly’s offense slowed the tempo down in Week 2. Whether that was to avoid a shootout with Newton or because of the 90 degree temperatures is up for debate, but the tempo changed arguably kept the 49ers in the game. Gabbert would still line the 49ers up quickly, but would often look at the sidelines for hand signals.
Carolina posted 529 total yards, just the third team they’ve done that in team history. The Panthers played like the defending NFC champions. The final result was a lot closer than many expected, and for that reason, the 49ers can hope to build upon some early season momentum.