Visitors to the NFL’s official website have to scroll through five pages of receiving stats before finding Robby Anderson’s name. The 28-year-old wideout has 12 catches through five games, which puts the Panthers’ third-highest-paid player in a tie for 119th, alongside (among others) Carolina rookie running back Chuba Hubbard and Titans receiver Julio Jones, who’s missed the past two weeks with a hamstring injury.
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That’s not what anyone envisioned when the Panthers signed Anderson to a two-year, $29.5 million contract extension in August.
Plenty went wrong for the Panthers on Sunday as they coughed up a 12-point lead to Philadelphia and lost for the second week in a row. But the most lasting image of the 21-18 defeat was of an animated Anderson yelling at receivers coach Frisman Jackson following Sam Darnold’s third interception of the game and fifth in two weeks.
Darnold’s sideline pass with two minutes left was intended for Anderson, but picked off by cornerback Steven Nelson, who said he knew what the Panthers were going to run. That’s apparently what had Anderson ticked off, according to Panthers coach Matt Rhule.
“Someone said he was upset (because) he wanted us to double-move. They were sitting on some routes. He wanted us to double-move, stutter-and-go,” said Rhule, who had not yet talked to Anderson before Rhule’s video conference call with reporters Monday.
“I think everybody just needs to do their job,” he added. “At the end of the day, we have the lead in the fourth quarter. We have chances to catch balls to put the game away (and) blocks to be made.”
In Rhule’s first season in Charlotte, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater spread the ball fairly evenly between Anderson and DJ Moore. Both topped 1,000 receiving yards, although Anderson finished with more targets (136 to Moore’s 118) and catches (95 to 66).
The narrative during the offseason — when Anderson skipped the Panthers’ voluntary OTAs before showing up for the mandatory minicamp — was Anderson’s speed and downfield abilities would be accentuated with the arrival of Darnold, Anderson’s teammate for two seasons with the Jets.
Instead, Darnold is looking to Moore much more frequently and has usually failed to connect on those plays when he’s thrown Anderson’s way. Moore’s 35 catches — which rank fourth in the league — have come on 50 targets, for a 70.0 catch percentage. Anderson has a catch percentage of 41.4, with 12 receptions on 29 targets.
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The Panthers have tried to get Anderson more involved with 18 targets the past two weeks. He had a season-high five catches at Dallas. But Anderson had just two receptions for 30 yards against the Eagles, leaving Rhule at a loss to explain why Anderson and Darnold haven’t clicked.
“I don’t know. It just hasn’t,” Rhule said. “We’ve worked on it. We had routes to go to Robby. I think Sam was out of whack early, passing on the first read, pressure up front. I don’t think it was a very good day. Why? I’m working hard to figure out the whys to create those opportunities.”
With the Panthers leading 18-13 with four minutes left Sunday, Darnold threw low and wide to an open Anderson on third-and-3. Anderson dived and the ball hit him in the hands, but he couldn’t pull it in. On the next play, the Eagles blocked a Joseph Charlton punt in Panthers’ territory and quickly converted with the game-winning score on Jalen Hurts’ 6-yard touchdown run.
After the game, Rhule called the third-down throw a “bad ball” by Darnold. Rhule had changed his view a bit Monday after watching the tape.
“He’s open. We’ve gotta put the ball on him, catch it and get the first down,” he said. “At the same time, the ball’s there, if we lay out and catch the ball.”
Former Panthers tight end Greg Olsen said essentially the same thing on the Fox broadcast. “In a perfect world, you want to put (it) on him,” Olsen told viewers. “But in pro ball, sometimes — you’ve gotta catch that ball.”
The Panthers still had a shot on their final series. But Darnold’s third-down pass to Anderson was intercepted, prompting Anderson’s sideline tirade, which was caught by the Fox cameras.
“Players put a lot into it. There’s gonna be emotions at times. We’re a tough staff. We coach hard. Players are tough,” Rhule said. “I have no issue with a guy (getting upset), as long as it stays within a certain realm. But if it becomes personal — either a coach to a player or a player to coach — that’s not who we are.”
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“Robby’s a good player. He needs to be more involved. At the same time, when he has his opportunities — whether it’s the two third downs we threw to him — we also need to go make those plays, too,” said Rhule, who coached Anderson at Temple.
“Robby knows I love him. I’ve known him a long time. He’s gotta go make those plays and we’ve gotta do a better job of getting him involved. This is one of those pretty disappointing days globally. This isn’t one of those, ‘Hey, it was just one thing.’”
Rhule didn’t disagree with Anderson’s contention that offensive coordinator Joe Brady needed to look deep more often with double moves and the like. But those types of plays take time, which has been in short supply for Darnold behind a porous offensive line.
In two games without All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey, Darnold has been sacked eight times and hit a total of 19 times. For the season, the Panthers have given up 14 sacks and 35 hits on Darnold, both of which are tied for the fourth most in the NFL.
“I think Joe will be the first to say, ‘Hey, I’m gonna stretch the field a little bit more and try to take some more shots.’ It’s hard to take shots when you don’t trust the timing of the protections,” Rhule said. “And at the same time … sometimes we’re just gonna have to beat guys.”
Rhule said most opponents have been playing a Bear scheme against the Panthers, featuring four or five pass rushers with Cover 1 behind it — a man coverage look with a deep safety to help on vertical routes.
Too often the Panthers aren’t winning those man-to-man matchups. According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Anderson is tied for 115th among 128 qualified receivers with an average separation of 2.2 yards. Moore, who generally runs more underneath routes than Anderson, is tied for 89th with an average of 2.7 yards.
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Rookie slot receiver Terrace Marshall Jr. has the Panthers’ best separation average at 3.5 yards, presumably because the second-round pick from LSU is drawing the opponent’s worst cover corner. With 13 catches, Marshall is the Panthers’ third-leading receiver — behind McCaffrey (16 catches) and just ahead of Anderson, whose new contract made him among the top 20 highest-paid receivers with an average annual value of $14.75 million.
A play early in the second quarter against the Eagles symbolized the Panthers’ protection woes and their inability to get Anderson the ball. On second-and-10 from the 50, Brady called a shot play and Anderson had a step on Eagles cornerback Avonte Maddox on a deep post.
But when defensive end Josh Sweat beat rookie right tackle Brady Christensen, Darnold had to step up in the pocket and throw without getting his feet set. His pass drifted just enough to allow Maddox to break it up at the goal line.
“Sam Darnold, this ball needs to be completed on the hash. That’s the landmark. You saw Robby Anderson try to go Willie Mays because the ball brought him back,” Olsen said on the broadcast. “A better ball might be a touchdown, but nonetheless a really good play there by Maddox.”
The Panthers watched the Eagles’ tape Monday. They’ll reconvene Wednesday when they hope to have McCaffrey back from his hamstring injury. As Rhule and Brady try to come up with ways to get Anderson untracked, they also have to make sure Anderson’s frustrations don’t boil over and become a distraction.
Rhule said he hasn’t had any issues with Anderson’s effort level — “not at all.”
Anderson was not among the players requested for interviews after Sunday’s game and was not made available to reporters Monday.
Panthers center Matt Paradis said he didn’t hear about Anderson’s sideline tantrum until Monday. But Paradis, one of eight team captains, isn’t concerned about Anderson’s attitude.
“I don’t even know what was said. I don’t really know about the situation on the sideline,” Paradis said. “But I know Robby, and I know that dude wants to win. And I trust him.”
(Photo: Mike Comer / Getty Images)
