The Carolina Panthers sit 0-4 on the year, it feels like they have a head coach that doesn’t believe in his franchise quarterback enough to open up the playbook.
Honestly I thought it was strange for the Panthers to hire a guy that was fired in the middle of last season. David Tepper and co had their man in Steve Wilkes, he was right under their noses and they let him walk. Now he’s reunited with Christian McCaffrey on the best team in the NFL.
I’ve heard talk that Carolina blew it drafting Bryce Young first, while his first round counterparts CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson are off to more promising starts. I was a firm believer CJ Stroud should be the first pick, however it’s also obvious Young can play too.
These are my biggest takeaways from the loss to Minnesota and looking ahead to the Detroit Lions, how the Panthers can turn things around!
Situational awareness & pass protection has to be there
You cannot take a sack on fourth down in the red zone with the game on the line, under no circumstances, you just can’t go out like that.
That’s a situation where you don’t even give your guys a chance to make a play on the ball. The Panthers offensive line hasn’t been healthy and Young has held onto the ball too long at times.
The strip sack, scoop and score shifted the entire momentum of the Vikings game..
Through four games Bryce has shown poise in the pocket when there has been one for the most part, but he’s already been sacked 11 times this season.
Coach Reich needs to open this playbook up for Young like we saw with Andy Dalton, give the kid a fighting chance!
A non rushing team beat them on the ground.
The Minnesota Vikings had the least productive rushing attack in the entire league coming into this game, Carolina proceeded to allow them to gain 135 yards on the ground, the Vikings highest total of the season.
The Panthers defense looked good on paper, wreaking havoc and causing turnovers, but if you watched the game you recall them continuously being gashed up the middle, that can’t happen on a consistent basis.
This was the Panthers best first quarter start
Sam Franklin Jr gave us all hope when he scored the Panthers first, first quarter touchdown of the season when he picked off Kirk Cousins, and took it 99 yards to the crib. The defense came out flying around the ball, they have to keep this same energy and intensity at the start of games.
This group needs contributions from everybody, the secondary is banged up, the defensive line didn’t get a whole lot of push from the stars, not having their general Shaq Thompson is also tough. The unsung heroes have to keep making plays to spark Carolina.
They have to be more disciplined
Franklin’s interception was crucial because a pass interference call on Carolina set the Vikings up in scoring position in the first place. The Panthers rank second in penalties overall, they have 34 penalties costing them a total of 263 yards on the season.
This is on the players and the staff, the coaches have to communicate the right playcalls for the right personnel. It’s on the coaches to put players in position to succeed, it’s on the players to execute and make plays.
Until the entire organization is on the same page they will keep getting the same result.
