The Carolina Panthers traveled to Philadelphia with a chance to reclaim first place in the NFC South, but right from the start things went horribly wrong and the Panthers left town with a 45-21 loss and one of the more embarrassing defeats in franchise history on Monday night.
Here are four observations from the game:
Just how bad was it for the Panthers in the opening 30 minutes? Bad enough that it would have been difficult for it to have gone any worse.
Carolina had two turnovers in its first three plays to start the game and finished with four in the opening half as quarterback Cam Newton threw three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
And for good measure, Newton was sacked five times and Darren Sproles returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown.
To recap, that's five sacks, four turnovers, a pick-six and a punt return for a touchdown all in the first half.
Things got no better in the second half, either.
The final damage was nine sacks, which is tied for the most in a game in team history and is the most against Newton, five turnovers, an interception for a score and a punt return for a score.
There literally wasn't one aspect of the game where Carolina can look for a silver lining.
The Panthers allowed the second fewest points in the NFL last season, but they are near the other end of the spectrum this year. And Monday night was another example of that.
Philadelphia's 45 points marked the fifth time out of 10 games this year the Panthers have allowed at least 37 points.
To put that in perspective, the Panthers allowed more than 30 points just once in all of last season and only more than 20 points five times.
There are two major issues with the defense this season compared to last year.
First, the secondary is completely brand new from head to toe and the defensive front is getting little to no pressure on opposing quarterbacks. If that wasn't bad enough, Carolina ranks near the bottom of the NFL in yards allowed per carry.
Literally, just about everything that worked so well last season for the Panthers defensively has been a major issue this year, and there's no sign of things getting better anytime soon.
It's not exactly a secret the Panthers have struggled on the offensive line this year. Going all the way back into preseason, most knew it had the potential to be subpar. However, probably not very many thought it was going to be this bad.
Carolina entered Monday night's game ranked analytically as one of the worst pass blocking offensive lines in the NFL. It will only get worse after the performance against the Eagles.
Newton was sacked nine times, which tied a Panthers single game record. The last time Carolina allowed that many in a game came against Atlanta in 1995, which was the Panthers' inaugural season.
But while the offensive line was bad from beginning to end, Newton has to take some of the blame.
Many times he locked onto one receiver and never saw or felt the pass rush from the other side, or he held onto the ball waiting for receivers to get open as opposed to either throwing it away or throwing to a check-down receiver.
Ironically, the recent poor play of the line had been blamed by team members as a result of injuries to the front five. However, all five normal starters played Monday night. Where the Panthers turn from here is anybody's guess.
Even though the Panthers sit at a woeful 3-6-1 and only have six games remaining in the season, they are still very much in playoff contention. For that matter, everybody minus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South is.
That's because division leader New Orleans is only 4-5 while Atlanta is 3-6. That means statistically speaking, Carolina is only a half of a game behind the Saints, while a half of a game ahead of the Falcons, respectively.
The division has a combined record of 11-25-1. And it's that reason why the division winner may have only eight wins. It's even conceivable the winner may have just seven wins overall.
The Panthers have a relatively favorable schedule the remainder of the season, while New Orleans has a rather difficult one. It's that reason why Carolina still has a realistic and fighting chance of making the playoffs.
And just like Seattle did in 2010 after it won the NFC West with seven victories, Carolina would get a home game in the playoffs for being the division winner. The year Seattle hosted a playoff game with seven wins, it defeated defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans.
Follow Brett Jensen on Twitter at @BrettJensenFOX
