The Carolina Panthers just put out one of the most embarrassing season debuts in recent memory—falling to New Orleans Saints in a 47-10 defeat on Sunday.
Head coach Dave Canales and company were smashed from the get-go—seeing the Saints score a long touchdown on their opening possession and their offense immediately give up the rock on theirs. What followed was a thorough beating, one that accounted for the largest season-opening victory in New Orleans franchise history.
So as we try to pick up the pieces of the heavy loss moving forward, let’s go over the three biggest takeaways from the outing . . .
Preseason repetitions matter
The Panthers got off to about as bad of a start as you could draw up, being outmuscled in every phase and finishing the first half down 30-3. Their only productive series in the first 30 minutes came close to the break, as the offense put up the first points in nearly 10 quarters of regular-season play dating back to last season.
Quite simply, it was hard to watch this team. So, it may be relevant to remember how Canales played his starters for one drive this preseason.
Preseason repetitions for starters help with continuity and execution on a down-to-down basis. This is a new-look team with a first-year head coach and plenty of additions on both sides of the ball.
There was a lack of execution, ball security and discipline. Most of this, not all, may have been avoided with more playing time in the summer.
To be fair, Canales’ decision to rest the starters the first two weeks was due to injuries to their depth. Even so, it could have been beneficial if the established talent on the team received that repetition.
Simply put, Carolina looked unprepared against the Saints and it’s more than fair to correlate this to lack of preseason snaps.
Bryce Young had a no good, very bad day
Could we have imagined a worse 2024 debut for Young?
In what may have been the most disappointing performance of his NFL career, the second-year quarterback completed just 13 of his 30 passes for 161 yards and a pair of awful interceptions. He looked overwhelmed for most of the day and was sacked four times—including three times by cornerback Alontae Taylor.
Young needed a steady Week 1 performance to instill some optimism moving forward. Instead, he was jittery with overthrown passes and misfires.
The makings of a consistent offense are there. Rookie receiver Xavier Legette looked to have added an extra element, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him overtake Jonathan Mingo in snaps for next week’s home opener. Canales’ play designs were good for the most part—but the lack of execution was glaring.
Young is a quarterback who will likely need everything to work around him to display his talents. This is not a bad outlook—as all quarterbacks, and even some of the best, have specific needs to succeed. But this is a crucial year in his evaluation as a pro, and it’s off to a terrible start.
Run defense is the biggest issue heading into Week 2
While Young will likely be the most highlighted lowlight from Sunday’s blowout loss, the biggest bust was the Panthers’ run defense.
A run unit that was supposed to look better on paper may have proven to be even worse than last season, allowing 180 yards on the ground. The line was consistently blown off the ball and driven off the line of scrimmage—which is unacceptable for defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.
Evero is known for being a run-first coordinator. The fact that it’s his worst area thus far says a lot about the talent around Pro Bowl lineman Derrick Brown as a player, who admittedly had one of his worst games in quite some time.
In a bit of good news for the unit, the pass defense included a few gems. Cornerback Mike Jackson, who was acquired from Seattle a few weeks ago, made great tackles in space when coming downhill in coverage. Second-year edge rusher Eku Leota had three tackles for a loss, including the team’s lone sack—showing he may be the No. 2 pass rusher opposite of Jadeveon Clowney.
Yet, the Panthers must figure out how to stop the bleeding in the run game. It may come down to running more five-man defensive fronts while sacrificing some players in coverage.
It might not be solved next week. But if Evero can find a way in the coming matchups to limit the damage in the run game, it will help keep this team in weeks down the stretch.
