In the wake of the Carolina Panthers 23-22 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday that dropped the Panthers to 1-6 on the season, cornerback Captain Munnerlyn was critical of the defensive play calling on the final drive of the game.
According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, Munnerlyn said the Panthers stayed in the same defense throughout the Bears game-winning drive. It was a decision Munnerlyn was far from pleased with after the game.
“I just play the defense they call, but you gotta switch it up,” Munnerlyn said. “I felt like [Bears quarterback] Jay Cutler, he knew what we were in. So he knew the weakness of the defense and they attacked it.”
According to Cutler, that’s exactly what happened.
“They were playing one coverage, and we just kept hitting them and hitting them and hitting them,” Cutler said. “That’s pretty much it.”
The Bears drove 55 yards in 2:27 to set up a game-winning 41-yard field goal from Robbie Gould as time expired. Cutler connected with Brandon Marshall four times for 36 yards on the drive on the exact same play of their own -- a simple slant -- that the Panthers struggled to handle in their Cover-4 defense.
While Munnerlyn never brought up the name of Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, it’s not too difficult to figure out to whom his criticism was pointed.