It certainly wasn’t good, but we look for some slivers of optimism somewhere in there.
The Carolina Panthers quickly squashed any early season hope for even the most optimistic fans with their Week 1 drubbing at the hands of the New Orleans Saints. All of the good vibes that accompany a new coaching staff and revamped roster on the offensive side of the ball were washed away by as bad an opening day performance as you’ll see from an NFL team. It was a complete, abject failure in all facets of the game. To add injury to insult, the team’s best player went on injured reserve the day after the game. The good news—it couldn’t get any worse.
And that it did not. The Panthers were still horrendous, but they were less horrendous than they were in Week 1. That’s called progress, baby. That’s our general optimistic take for this post. And we’ve got some more specific things to highlight too.
What I liked
Despite losing Derrick Brown, the defense was “better”
Part of this, if not a lot of this, can be attributed to the weaker opponent, but the Panthers were statistically a better defense in Week 2 than they were in Week 1. They allowed 0.7 yards per play fewer against the Chargers and did a decent job of limiting Justin Herbert on a play to play basis. They were still gashed in the run game and had to many lapses over the course of the game, but baby steps forward are still steps forward. They also forced punts while the Chargers will still playing starters, which couldn’t be said for last week’s performance, and even forced a couple of turnovers.
Jaycee Horn’s response to getting beat by Quentin Johnston
Horn is supposed to be a lockdown corner for the Panthers, but he was beaten by the second year receiver on a pass in the first quarter, which might be the first time the TCU product has done that since coming into the league. However, Horn’s response was that of a true competitor. He intercepted the next pass Justin Herbert threw and stuffed a run on the drive after. It’d be nice if he didn’t get beat on a deep ball of the first drive every week, but at least he responded with strong play after that.
Chuba Hubbard had some pop on the ground
There was one thing that worked for the Panthers offense—Chuba Hubbard. The Panthers hung around long enough to stay with the run game and fed Hubbard ten carries. He took those for 64 yards and had a couple of chunk runs. If the Panthers can not fall behind immediately, this might be something the offense can rely on a little bit more.
Bryce Young was kept mostly upright
The Chargers feature one of the better pass rushing duos in the league with Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack. Still, the Panthers were able to limit the Chargers to just two sacks. Part of that was some absurdly conservative decision making in the passing game, but the offensive line deserves some credit too. Bryce Young had chances to hold onto the ball and survey the field more than he did last year.
Maybe the Panthers are just the victims of a brutal schedule? Maybe?
The Saints went into Dallas and hung 44 points on the Cowboys in a 44-19 demolition of the Cowboys. They actually put up more points in the first half (35) than they did against the Panthers (30). They’ve had a historically good start to the season. The Chargers beat the Raiders by two scores in Week 1, so maybe they’re just good too.
I don’t know. I’m grasping here.
What’s next?
The season is spiraling in record time. The Raiders game looked winnable before the season started, but now the idea of a winnable game seems so foreign. The NFL is a weird league where weird things happen. That’s our best hope right now until the team starts showing legitimate signs of competitiveness.