Panthers showed one major offensive concern in preseason loss to Bills that is going to become even harder to ignore
The Carolina Panthers’ starting offense fell flat on their faces out of the gate in Saturday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills and the main reason why is a conversation that is now hard to ignore.
After such a strong opening to the preseason in the Hall of Fame Game, the Carolina Panthers fell flat on their faces this weekend against the Buffalo Bills, which is even more concerning considering the starting offense was out on the field this time around.
Quarterback Bryce Young and the majority of the first-team offense played a total of nine snaps across three drives, with all three ending in a three-and-out. It was an unacceptable showing and far from the expectations head coach Dave Canales had for his unit.
“My hope was 20-ish plays, but I also had a three-series cap in my mind. We didn’t earn those extra reps,” Canales said after the game. “The first quarter was over, and we had three series—we went three-and-out three times. We gotta do better, we gotta move the chains. We gotta make sure we have more opportunities for those guys.”
The biggest issue with the Carolina Panthers’ offense on Saturday was clear as day
Saturday’s showing from the first-team offense can easily be attributed to one thing: bad OL play. Throughout those nine plays, the Panthers got zero push up-front in the run game and in the pass game, leaving little for Young and running back Jonathon Brooks to work with in the first place.
“It was a big impact,” Canales explained. “That’s something we talked about as a group and just said ‘Look, it starts up-front.’ When you get the run game going, the play-pass game opens up and when you’re not getting it going, they just sit back. They can sit on their heels a little bit and be more patient with stuff. We gotta be better.”
It’s worth noting that the Panthers’ “starting” offense on Saturday was playing without their two starting veteran guards in Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt. In their place, Chandler Zavala and Brady Christensen started the game. Christensen played solid, but the same can’t be said for Zavala.
Zavala played just 10 offensive snaps and ended up with a 58.7 run-blocking grade and a 37.1 pass-blocking grade. It was far different from Zavala’s performance in the Hall of Fame Game the week before, during which he posted a 71.2 run-blocking grade and an 83.0 pass-blocking grade.
Next opportunity to improve is right around the corner
It’s clear Zavala is a player the Panthers desperately need more from, and also clear that they’ll need a healthy Damien Lewis to stay out on the field. Lewis did return to practice last week and ideally will be out there with the starting offense this week ahead of Wednesday’s joint practice against the Jacksonville Jaguars. If not, I’d like to see the Panthers give Ja’Tyre Carter a chance to push Zavala for the backup spot after already moving on from Joshua Gray.
We’ll see what Lewis’ status will look like this week and what this overall means for the next preseason game on Friday. But, what we saw on Saturday from the entire unit simply wasn’t good enough and it should be addressed in a meaningful way this week and it starts up-front.
“I always look at these opportunities in a positive way,” Canales added. “At the same time, yeah, I want to score points. Run the ball better. I want us to find some explosives. We have fantastic players, and I know they’ll take this as a challenge and continue to go forward.”
