Last Sunday we saw the Carolina Panthers bring out their Wildcat package with Joe Webb at quarterback. Here’s a GIF of the play:

Not that great, right? The Panthers ended up losing one yard on the play, and play-by-play announcer Joe Buck criticized the play design/play call, suggesting the Panthers should "file that play away to the back of the drawer, and then throw the drawer away."

However, this was not a bad play design -- instead it was just another case of certain offensive players failing to execute their specific tasks.

Here’s a closer look at exactly what happened on the play:

The Panthers are in a 3x1 Wildcat formation with three receivers to the bottom of the formation, and Cam Newton as the isolated receiver at the top of the formation.

The Panthers send Ted Ginn in jet motion through the backfield, and fake the handoff to Ginn. This is a designed run for Joe Webb – notice left guard Amini Silatolu pulling into space. This is not an option play of any sort -- the purpose of the fake handoff to Ginn is to distract the secondary into flowing one way, while clearing space and getting a numbers advantage the other way for Webb on the designed run.

Notice how many of the Packers’ linebackers and safeties have fallen for the handoff to Ginn. The play design has worked. Silatolu is pulling in space, and the Panthers should be able to account for all the defenders left to guard the playside.

Unfortunately, left tackle Michael Oher is completely driven back by the Packers' defensive end. As a result, Joe Webb suddenly stops following his lead blocker Silatolu, and tries cutting up the field. This is a terrible decision by Webb. Despite Oher giving up some ground, Webb should have continued running towards the bottom of the formation, following his lead blocker Silatolu. Notice all the space at the bottom of the formation. If Greg Olsen and Philly Brown can hold their blocks, and if Silatolu is able to take out the safety further down the field, this could have been a solid gain, and potentially even a touchdown.

With no blockers up front, Webb is forced to once again move laterally towards the sidelines. No luck. He’s surrounded by six defenders, and tackled for a loss of one yard on the play.

Whenever a play fails, it’s easy to blame the play design or play calling. However, more often than not, it usually comes down to players simply failing to execute their jobs. In this case it was left tackle Michael Oher failing his assignment against the Packers' defensive end, and Joe Webb not running in the designed lane.

Although this particular Wildcat play failed this past Sunday, I hope the Panthers don’t stop utilizing the formation and some of the concepts. I would actually love to see Cam Newton run this exact same play against the Panthers’ future opponents. The Panthers could also introduce additional wrinkles to this play, such as an option run with the same blocking concepts, or even a play action pass to a receiver running down the field.

All GIF’s and images courtesy of NFL.com.