Disastrous 4th quarter leads to another Panthers blow out

By Clark Gerber, WRAL Sports contributor

Dallas Cowboys	33
Carolina Panthers	10
Final

After briefly showing some signs of life, the Carolina Panthers fell apart in the fourth quarter on Sunday. The Dallas Cowboys quickly ripped off 16 straight points, turning a close game into a 33-10 blowout.

"It's very frustrating," said head coach Frank Reich. "When you work hard and you believe in the guys you're doing it with... not getting the results you want is frustrating. I'm frustrated most of all for [the players], but I'm certainly frustrated for the fans as well."

Bryce Young's quick 4-yard toss to Tommy Tremble briefly brought the Panthers within one score in the third quarter. The touchdown capped a 17 play, 70 yard possession, which required three 4th down conversions and took 8:58 off the clock.

However, the wheels came off almost immediately after that.

The Cowboys drove right back down the field, going 75 yards on eight plays. Running back Tony Pollard finished things off with a powerful touchdown run up the middle for 21 yards.

Then, on the very next play from scrimmage, disaster for the Panthers.

Bryce Young was intercepted by diving DaRon Bland, who quickly rose to his feet and sprinted 30 yards back the other way for Dallas' second touchdown in a 10 second span.

It's Young's third pick-six of the season and the fourth for Bland, who has been one of the NFL's premier ball hawks this season. All of a sudden, the Cowboys had a 30-10 lead, and the game was effectively over.

"[I] gotta make a better decision, better throw," said Young. "Good play, but obviously can't make that happen so that's on me."

Carolina did show some promise running the ball against a stingy Dallas defense. As a team, they racked up 111 yards on 22 total carries (excluding a kneel down before the half) -- good for over 5 yards a pop.

However, seven sacks proved to be way too much for this struggling unit to overcome.

Superstar Micah Parsons had 2.5 by himself and force a pair of punts in the first half. DeMarcus Lawrence also ended a Panthers red zone chance with a sack, and forced an Eddy Pineiro field goal instead.

"I thought we would protect better," said Reich. "I thought we had a good protection plan... but we just weren't able to execute."

Meanwhile, penalties on the defensive side marred what could have been a very impressive first half effort.

Dak Prescott's 5-yard strike to CeeDee Lamb with 24 seconds left gave Dallas a 17-3 lead at intermission, aided by a couple of huge Carolina infractions.

Amare Barno was flagged for unnecessary roughness when he hit a sliding Dak Prescott on what would have been fourth down. Then, just a few plays later, it was DeShawn Williams called for another late hit, this time on receiver KaVontae Turpin, negating another potential third down stop.

In all, Carolina has committed eight penalties, for a whopping 90 yards.

Bryce Young ended the day 16/29 for 123 yards, his lowest output of the season.

The Panthers have now lost three in a row and are 1-9 this season. Their next three games will be on the road, starting next week at Tennessee.

Scoring summary

3:20 1st - Luke Schoonmaker Pass From Dak Prescott for 18 Yds. Brandon Aubrey Made XP. 7-0 Cowboys.

11:01 2nd - Brandon Aubrey Made 30 Yd Field Goal. 10-0 Cowboys.

1:56 2nd - Eddy Pineiro Made 42 Yd Field Goal. 10-3 Cowboys.

0:24 2nd - CeeDee Lamb Pass From Dak Prescott for 5 Yds. Brandon Aubrey Made XP. 17-3 Cowboys.

1:59 3rd - Tommy Tremble Pass From Bryce Young for 4 Yds Eddy Pineiro Made XP. 17-10 Cowboys.

13:58 4th - Tony Pollard 21 Yd Rush. Brandon Aubrey Made XP. 24-10 Cowboys.

13:48 4th - DaRon Bland 30 Yd Interception Return. Brandon Aubrey Missed XP. 30-10 Cowboys.

7:18 4th - Brandon Aubrey Made 27 Yd Field Goal. 33-10 Cowboys.