Fittingly enough, the Carolina Panthers literally fell short in yet another disappointing offensive showing on Sunday.
Week 12’s visit to see the Tennessee Titans ended in a 17-10 loss for the Panthers, who now move to 1-10 on the difficult campaign. Quarterback Bryce Young briefly spoke about how the latest defeat feels.
“Obviously, it’s difficult,” the rookie said in his postgame presser. “We all don’t feel great. But we just lean on each other in these moments. That’s really all we can do.”
The loss was punctuated on a failed fourth-down attempt with two minutes remaining in the game. Young, on a fourth-and-4, quickly checked down to his left for wide receiver DJ Chark at the line of scrimmage—a play that resulted in no gain and a turnover on downs.
Panthers fail on a 4th down WR screen, Titans win it! pic.twitter.com/KkrvgoVDLl
— NFL UK (@NFLUK) November 26, 2023
He was asked if the check against Tennessee’s zero coverage was the intended call.
“We had option to have that on,” he replied. “And you play that cat-and-mouse game and didn’t go our way. That’s on me. And as a unit, we just gotta execute on big plays.”
While head coach Frank Reich told reporters that Young made the right play, Chark had a different outlook on the call . . .
DJ Chark said the original play call on the fourth down throw would’ve worked better against the Titans coverage.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) November 26, 2023
The Panthers averaged just 3.9 yards per play and, for the fourth time in their last five contests, scored just one touchdown on offense.