Panthers need to figure out what’s truly holding this team back before the franchise can take any legitimate steps forward
The Carolina Panthers have to go back to the drawing board after Week 10 loss.
The Carolina Panthers were brought back to Earth on Sunday after a 17-7 loss to a previously one-win New Orleans Saints team with a rookie quarterback making his second career start. Not to mention it came one week after beating the NFC-leading team on the road.
Who are the Carolina Panthers? That’s still a question many are asking after a performance like that and it’s worth diving more into the question because it’s time to look into the mirror.
This season, the Panthers have been a much better team as a whole, that much is clear. Carolina is still 5-5 after having only five total wins the season before thanks to a much improved defense and relying on a strong run game.
But in a game like Week 10, when the defense falls apart and the stopping the run game is an emphasis, the Panthers got flustered and found no way to respond. This week, the Panthers need to figure out why.
Is the problem in Carolina with HC Dave Canales or with QB Bryce Young?
What we saw on Sunday was the definition of teach tape for how to beat the Carolina Panthers and until something is fixed, those kind of results should continue to be expected.
Going into the game, the Panthers weren’t thrilled with the week of practice, something that falls squarely onto the shoulders of head coach Dave Canales, who made it a point to celebrate the Victory Monday after last week’s win over the Green Bay Packers.
“We just weren’t locked into the small details,” left tackle Ikem Ekwonu said after the game. “And you know, a couple guys spoke about it. Coach spoke about it throughout the week. And you can’t get days back. If you have a tough day on Thursday, tough day on Friday, or whatever, you can always look forward. But you can’t get that day back. So that preparation, or lack thereof, is going to add up. And unfortunately, that just cultivated to what we saw today.”
At the same time, when the Saints dared quarterback Bryce Young to beat them in Week 10, the team’s young quarterback wasn’t able to make the big plays for his offense with his arm. Again, is that on Young or is that on Canales? Rightfully, Canales fell on the sword after the game.
“I think it’s just timing and rhythm,” Canales told reporters after the game. “But it’s also the choices. The type of passes. That’s something that starts with me. I think (Young’s) throwing the ball great. I think he’ll have some plays that he’ll tell you that he would like to have back. But in general, this is not about Bryce. This is about our group. This is about us taking a step so that we can be a balanced offense.”
The next step of finding a balanced offense is using that successful run game to your advantage. Teams are starting to stack the box against the Panthers’ offense to stop the run game, so start implementing some downfield shots and play-actions into the passing game, and this isn’t something new the Panthers have been struggling with.
Going into Week 10, Young had 64 attempts using play-action (14th in the NFL) and 69 attempts of 10+ air yards (21st in the NFL, falls to 25th when you increase that number to 15+). In Canales’ defense, the success rate isn’t the best on those plays either.
On Sunday, Young had just six attempts using play-action which included the team’s biggest offensive play of the game (a 26-yard completion to WR Tetairoa McMillan). As for downfield looks, Young had just five attempts of 10+ yards.
“It’s just taking advantage of those opportunities one-on-one down the field. It comes down to just me-to-you factor and making plays,” Canales said when asked about the struggles in the passing game. “At the same time, from a game-plan standpoint, I’ve got to make sure we’re putting our guys in the right spots, taking advantage of matchups.”
For now, Canales is the one owning up to the mistakes and a glaring loss like that can start to put some of the issues under more of a microscope. Yet, it’s still worth questioning how much trust Canales has in Young and if that is what is holding his play-calling back.
The lesson has been learned. If teams start crowding the box and forcing Young to beat them, Canales needs to give his quarterback the chance to prove what he can do, or can’t do. We’ve seen that kind of ability is in there with Young but we can’t know for sure until Canales actually lets him off the chain in these kind of games.
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