These losses for the 2023 Carolina Panthers are awfully tough to swallow, especially considering they’re all frighteningly similar in nature. Plus, it doesn’t help that they’ve lost more than any other team this season.
Nonetheless, let’s dissect this latest gut punch—a 28-6 loss to the New Orleans Saints—for some takeaways.
Passing game is as lost as ever
Bryce Young told reporters after the game that the offense was looking to be aggressive through the air this afternoon. But what materialized was an aggressively bad showing.
No, the rookie quarterback didn’t get much help—yet again. In fact, his pass catchers (if we can call them that right now) and offensive line were even less reliable than they usually are.
The No. 1 overall pick, however, certainly isn’t exempt from this pathetic performance—one where he overshot his wideouts on a handful of those tries downfield. He ended up connecting on just 13 of his 36 attempts, bad enough to hit a career-worst and league-low 36.1-percent completion rate, for 137 yards.
While Young has largely been dragged down by his supporting cast throughout this rough campaign, he has not offered up many signs of improvement in recent weeks. So, it’s fair to wonder if the Panthers are doing some long-term damage to their franchise passer.
Rushing game gains more traction
Well, at least they were able to do something on the ground.
Carolina took advantage of a soft New Orleans run defense for a season-high 204 rushing yards. Chuba Hubbard led the way with 87 yards on 23 carries while Miles Sanders, who looked as good as he ever has in 2023, chipped in with 74 yards on 10 totes.
Although the offensive line has struggled to hold up in pass protection, it’s clear that these hog mollies and the dudes running behind them have figured something out under offensive coordinator Thomas Brown. That, though, makes Brown’s insistence to throw in short-yardage situations—particularly on Sunday—extremely questionable.
There is still a lack of complementary football
The Panthers have been through the same old song and dance, in nearly each of their 12 losses.
Once again, the offense dragged enough of their butts to wipe out another commendable effort by the defense. Carolina not only limited New Orleans to just one touchdown over the game’s first 54 minutes, but they even held them down to 207 total yards over the entire 60 minutes.
Props, for the umpteenth time, go to defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero—who is likely on to bigger things very soon.
