CHARLOTTE — Panthers coach Matt Rhule made it clear Monday that the Carolina Panthers’ 26-24 Week 1 loss to the Cleveland Browns was a game the team will learn from.
“I told the team I really believe that the most important day in the National Football League is the day after your first game,” Rhule said Monday. “Some of the best teams in the NFC, you know the Rams, the 49ers, the Cowboys, the Packers, they all lost. My point is is that the teams that lose have to go back and identify who they are and what they did right what they did wrong, and fix them as a team.”
That list of right and wrong is longer on the “wrong” side.
Carolina’s defense had 17 missed tackles. The Browns generated 190 yards after contact. That was a recipe for Pro Bowl running backs Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb to run freely.
After the game, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett said he was surprised Chubb — who had 141 rushing yards on 22 carries — did not finish with more yards.
Combine poor tackling with a slow offensive start and it’s surprising the Panthers still nearly won.
“We’re obviously disappointed, but we’re not discouraged,” Rhule said. “There are so many places where we’re better than last year.”
There is truth in that statement. Last year’s Panthers would not have came back from down 20-7. But new quarterback Baker Mayfield led three second-half drives that totaled 17 points. Most impressively, he connected with Robbie Anderson for a 75-yard touchdown, which took only 11 seconds late in the fourth quarter.
A series later, Mayfield helped position Carolina at the Browns’ 14-yard line before he and center Pat Elflein botched a snap (for the fourth time) that compromised the team’s chance to take a shot at the end zone. The Browns had two timeouts. The team wanted to force Cleveland to use those timeouts. Had Mayfield secured the snap, there would’ve been a throwing opportunity on either first, second or third down, assuming the team still ran it twice.
“(That) was poor execution by me,” Elflein said Monday. “We addressed it. We talked about it. We got it fixed. We are going to work on it in practice and we are going to move by learning from our mistakes.”
Mayfield took blame for a few of the exchanges. But Elflein insisted that it is equally on the quarterback and center to ensure a smooth exchange.
Carolina nearly overcame botched snaps, poor run defense and a slow start. At halftime, the team had nearly as many offensive yards as it did penalty yards and trailed 17-7.
“We played about as poorly as you can play in the first half,” Rhule said. “And we still had a chance to win.
The Panthers are 0-1 and face a Giants team on Sunday that looks reborn under new coach Brian Daboll. Almost winning is not an option for Carolina going forward.
The team came out of Sunday relatively healthy. Rhule said punt returner Andre Roberts injured his knee, and his status for Sunday is unknown, but Rhule did not sound encouraged that his 34-year-old punt returner will be available.
