Dan Morgan’s major offseason investment backfired on the Carolina Panthers, proving one area is still a major concern after Week 1
It’s not something you wanted to see happen again.
In the 2024, the Carolina Panthers fielded arguably the worst defense in the entire league and one of the worst statistical units the franchise has ever seen. Granted a lot of things went into that final outcome and constant performance.
Which is why, during this past offseason, Panthers general manager Dan Morgan made it a point to overhaul the unit and specifically improve one key area, the run defense.
Along with all the new additions added to the roster, the Panthers also were set to get Pro Bowl defensive tackle Derrick Brown back in the fold after missing nearly the entire 2024 season.
All of those signs pointed toward a much stronger unit up-front for the Panthers, and those hopes were quickly extinguished after the first game of the regular season.
Panthers run defense struggles vs. Jaguars
“That falls on us up-front,” Brown said after the 26-10 loss. “We take pride in stopping the run and obviously we didn’t get that done today. You’ll see a different version of us.”
The play that really sucked all of the life out of the Panthers defense came in the second quarter, after returning from the weather delay, when Jaguars running back Travis Etienne broke loose for a 71-yard run. After that, it was all downhill for the Jaguars run game that finished with 200 rushing yards and averaged 6.3 yards per attempt as an offense.
“That hurt,” cornerback Jaycee Horn said. “Whenever a running back breaks like that, it hurts. You don’t want to give those up as a defense.”
After allowing a league-high 3,057 rushing yards in 2024, this kind of performance to open the season is the last thing any Panthers fan wanted to see on Sunday. It’s hard not to look at that final result and think these are the same Panthers once again.
“You gotta look at it. I think some of it is tackling, just fundamentals of football,” head coach Dave Canales said after the game. “And also opportunities… When you give an offense that has talent, that has special players like that, and you give them more opportunities, then we start to expose ourselves.”
The Panthers will have to get these defensive setbacks corrected in a hurry. Next week, Carolina will travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals offense that totaled 146 rushing yards in Week 1 between quarterback Kyler Murray and running backs James Conner and Trey Benson.
All hands need to be on deck to defend against that kind of unit in Week 2.
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