That Week 1 showing was far from what anyone expected to see out of the Carolina Panthers’ defense to open the regular season, especially with the investment that was made on that side of the ball this offseason.

The Panthers surrendered 59 points and over 550 total yards of offense against the Chicago Bears. It was a true disappointment in front of the home crowd that stings even more considering the offense managed to score 37 points.

“I mean, 59 is an ugly ugly score to put up as a defense,” outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips said after the loss. “It’s embarrassing. But, at the end of the day, I do think it’s a good opportunity for us. It’s a critical moment in the sense that getting beat this badly as a defense is what is going to define us moving forward in terms of the urgency that we have to make adjustments and get better.”

There is no finger pointing going all in Carolina, which is a good sign from a team stability standpoint

From the outside perspective, defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero deserves the bulk of the blame for this performance. He now has his top-talent players in the building to run his scheme and that’s the showing we get? It’s inexcusable at this point. However, the good news, from a stability standpoint, is that the team isn’t turning on him just yet.

“It was an incredible day by the Bears,” head coach Dave Canales told reporters after the game. “Again, I can’t wait to watch the film so I can get to the heart of what that was. What I do know is, 17 points off turnovers doesn’t equal 59 points. We could have helped that. We could have not extended drives due to penalties. There were some things that we gave a really good offense more opportunities, they didn’t need anymore opportunities. They were creating their own. And that’s something that we have to make sure we take care of.”

Were there some things on the field the Panthers could have avoided? Absolutely, especially looking at plays such as Derrick Brown’s roughing the passer that gifted the Bears a free first-down inside the redzone or his neutral zone infraction on the goal line that negated a potential interception.

“With my personal play, I made a lot of mistakes today,” Brown said. “Not normal, won’t happen again, and, as I said, I told these guys in here I’m accountable to each and every single one of them. We get ready to go out here. Work all week and two bonehead plays like that that give us bad situations where they put 14 up on the board, you can’t have it.”

But again, that was only 14 points, out of 59. It wasn’t all Brown’s fault and I appreciate the captain having immediate accountability for himself. But, this was not a player issue.

Just two seasons ago, the Panthers allowed an NFL-record 534 points. After that season, Canales stuck out his neck for his defensive coordinator and did so again after the defense collapse last year in the playoffs. One game into this season, the Panthers have now allowed the most points in a single game in franchise history.

We all know who’s to blame, and why, even if it’s going unsaid in the locker room. And at this point, there’s little belief that anything will get fixed in the way it needs to until a major shakeup takes place.