AP

In the macro view, the fact that Panthers quarterback Cam Newton didn’t want to throw a Hail Mary yesterday is probably the bigger deal.

But the play backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke made in a whirlwind of activity before halftime of their win against the Ravens deserves noting, if only because of the sheer volume of stuff he was dealing with.

The Panthers were about to try to heave it to the end zone, with the play clock running, when Newton told coaches he wasn’t confident enough in his right shoulder to try it (after not throwing in practice last week). So Heinicke was called in by coach Ron Rivera and quarterbacks coach Scott Turner, and given instructions to make his second career NFL pass attempt.

“Oh my God, it was chaotic,” Heinicke said, via Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer. “Scott and Rivera just look at me real quick and go, ‘Go swing it.’

“I looked at the play clock and it’s at like, 15 seconds.’ . . .They just threw me in there, I was like ‘here we go.’ It could have been pretty ugly.”

Instead, Heinicke made either an instinctively brilliant play or a lucky one. With the Ravens blitzing to try to disrupt the play, Heinicke found Greg Olsen for a 13-yard gain which put them in position for a Graham Gano field goal. Olsen recognized the blitz when he saw Ravens pass-rusher Terrell Suggs creep toward the line, and started yelling at Heinicke to change the play.

“I look up and I see eight guys running at me,” Heinicke said. “And [Olsen] is screaming at the top of his lungs. So I gave it to him. . . .

“That’s something you really can’t coach or prepare for. We’re glad it happened. . . . I was ready to just throw it as far as I could and hopefully someone came down with it in the end zone. But it kind of worked out better. Because the chances of that were slim.”

The one play he asked out from didn’t detract from a brilliant day by Newton, whose last five quarters have been MVP-level. And the fact they have a backup with enough awareness to make the smart play instead of the heroic one is another good sign for the Panthers.