CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sure, Case Keenum's first three-turnover game of the season was a factor in the Vikings' tough 31-24 loss to the Panthers on Sunday, but Keenum was also the biggest reason Minnesota even had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter.
Cam Newton went full Superman to save an important victory for the Panthers (9-4) with his 62-yard run late in the fourth quarter that set up the tiebreaking touchdown, but there's no doubt that in a game that was uglier and more defensive-minded than the final score indicates, Keenum was the more efficient quarterback on the field yet again.
The individual numbers say that, despite the mistakes, Keenum (27-of-44 passing, 280 yards, two TDs, two INTs, 40 yards rushing, 94.9 rating) outplayed Newton (13 for 25, 137 yards passing, one TD, one INT, 70 yards rushing, 81.6 rating). Keenum also performed with a much higher degree of difficulty: He needed to lift his team because a lot of the things that usually work for it, didn't.
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The offensive line, missing two key starters — rookie center Pat Elflein and right tackle Mike Remmers, a former Panther — had its worst game of the season. Keenum, under siege, was sacked six times. Minnesota's backfield committee of Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon produced only 60 rushing yards. Keenum's downfield scrambling made him his team's most effective source of rushing production.
The defense, which is used to shutting down the run, was doomed after giving up a 60-yard scoring burst to Jonathan Stewart. It had another huge lapse in letting Newton cut past its front seven in the end. Stewart became the first 100-yard rusher the Vikings have allowed this season as part of Carolina's shocking 216-yard rushing output.
The Vikings had only two penalties accepted against them, but they were consecutive 15-yard facemask calls that facilitated the Panthers' second touchdown drive of the game.
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Keenum's second interception, thrown in the middle of the fourth quarter with the Vikings trailing 24-13, was a real killer, because it wasn't his fault. It was a well-thrown pass that wide receiver Stefon Diggs should have caught and taken into the end zone. Instead, Diggs let it deflect off his hands and land in the hands of Panthers cornerback James Bradberry.
"It's on me. I dropped it," Diggs said. "I dropped the ball, and I gave it to them. It's on us. All the plays we have the opportunity to make, we have to make. We left a lot of plays out there."
The strengths, discipline and fundamentals Minnesota is known for let the team down. Keenum did not.
Everything was caving in on Keenum, but he hung tough and improvised to keep the Vikings in the game. The pressure the Panthers could apply against a one-dimensional attack was just too much to overcome in the end.
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You learn more about a quarterback when he's dealing with adversity on the field and his struggling teammates are more dependent on him to come through, and not the other way around. Keenum kept his calm and kept grinding.
"Those guys hit hard and they do a good job, but that's part of being a good quarterback — you have to have amnesia," Keenum said. "You have to forget about the last play and focus on the next, something that I have learned, continue and try to learn and do today."
That's the thing with Keenum — he does find a way to get better. At this point, with the Vikings 10-3 and just having had an eight-game winning streak snapped, it's hard to remember it wasn't easy for him when he first took over for Sam Bradford early in the season. Keenum failed to make the plays the Vikings needed him to make in their previous two losses, to the Steelers in Week 2 and the Lions in Week 4.
But then he had to rally the team against the Bears in Week 5, in a Monday night game he didn't start, when Bradford reinjured his knee. From that second half on, Keenum has had complete command of the team. It's to the point now that coach Mike Zimmer, even after a loss where Keenum was a bit off, doesn't need to address his starting status.
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Keenum has no reason to hang his head and suddenly not think he's a quarterback capable of carrying the Vikings to Super Bowl LII in their home stadium, navigating through a QB-leaded NFC field where any playoff team can make it to Minnesota in the end.
Keenum was disappointed and frustrated that the Vikings' last-gasp effort to tie Sunday's game after getting the ball back with 1:47 to play turned into a quick four-and-out, but a rare low point for him this season won't keep him down.
"It's positive that we fought back and got into the game. For me as a quarterback, I want to be in that position with the ball in my hand," he said.
The Vikings learned there's absolutely no reason to take the job from Keenum now. He showed them on Sunday that, when everything else unravels, he'll still give them a good shot at winning, especially in the much bigger NFC games that are ahead of them.
