Carolina Panthers: 3 takeaways from Sunday’s loss

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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 24: Joey Slye #4 of the Carolina Panthers reacts after missing a field goal during a NFL game against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes Benz Superdome on November 24, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /

The kicking woes weren’t a random occurrence

While fans certainly will blame Sunday’s loss on Joey Slye, his terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day shouldn’t come as a huge surprise–he had been far from automatic prior to his Week 12 meltdown. Entering the Saints game, he had already missed six field goals and two PATs. Sunday, he missed two more PATs and most importantly, the go-ahead 28-yard field goal with less than two minutes to play.

On the season, Slye has made just 19 of 26 field-goal attempts, and has missed four of his 26 PATs. His 73.1% field-goal percentage ranks 24th in the league, and would mark the lowest for a Panthers kicker since Shayne Graham made 72.2% in 2002. Statistics aside, the problem on Sunday wasn’t percentages, it was the fact that Slye left five points on the board, and possibly more if you account for the failed two-point conversion that was prompted by his first missed PAT.

If Slye continues to miss kicks over the last five games of the season, Graham Gano could very well have his job back come next season. Regardless, the last month of the season will be huge for Slye’s future, whether that be with the Panthers or another organization. He’s got a great story if you haven’t followed it, but at the end of the day, the NFL is a performance-based league and you have to produce. Right now, he simply isn’t doing that.

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