Well, the Panthers played a football game on Sunday.
I’m not quite sure you could call it a full game, considering the woes on both sides of the ball, but the Panthers were certainly present and on the field in Cleveland. The problem was, the Cleveland Browns were wholly overprepared and wanted the win more.
From the offensive line being gashed, to more defensive soft spots in coverage, to a litany of key injuries by the end of the contest, Carolina was woefully outmatched.
It’s worth highlighting the positives of this game before getting too deep into the doom and gloom. Kicker Ryan Fitzgerald was a perfect 4/4 on field goal attempts (he did not take any extra point attempts).
New receiver and former Alabama teammate of Bryce Young John Metchie III had his first touchdown as a Carolina Panther. Brycen Tremayne was also effective in relief of Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker, totaling 83 yards on four receptions.
Maema Njongmeta, in his first game this season, forced a fumble on the second half kickoff, which Thomas Incoom recovered.
Alright, that’s it. It’s hard to say there was much more positive about this game.
Despite the score finishing 21-18, Carolina was thoroughly dominated during this contest. Let’s take a look at what happened to allow such a loss, and see if the issues shown in this game are fixable in the short term, or if they portend worse losses down the line.
Schematic Defensive Issues
It wouldn’t be a Panthers review without a critique of how the defense is deployed. In fairness, this side of the ball played well for portions of the game. Mainly in the second half, the defense forced multiple punts to give the offense the chance to take a 12-10 lead.
However, the same points that this column, along with every Panther fan on social media brings up, were still present. The soft coverage/playing far off of the line to gain on money downs has to stop.
On the first play of the second quarter, Cleveland had a 4th and 3 opportunity on the Carolina 38 yard line. A stop means a turnover on downs with decent starting field position.
To the boundary, Akayleb Evans, in relief of Mike Jackson, is lined up eight yards off of the line of scrimmage. As I mentioned above, Cleveland only needs three yards to convert. This is a cushion of five yards.
Deshaun Watson takes the snap and finds KC Concepcion for a four yard gain, moving the chains.
Luckily for the defense, Cleveland committed a plethora of penalties on this drive that would back them out of field goal range, resulting in no points and a punt back to Carolina.
The result of no points on this drive doesn’t matter - giving up 3rd and 4th downs because of a soft scheme has been an issue over the past four seasons. It’s largely how Carolina lost in the playoffs against the LA Rams.
A soft, zone-heavy scheme might work if Carolina could get pressure with four rushers, but throughout every game this season, Carolina’s front has failed to contain quarterbacks in the pocket even when they get pressure.
Too often was Deshaun Watson able to turn back the clock seven years and scramble around the pocket to find open receivers. Frankly, the Panthers are lucky he was pretty inaccurate on the day, otherwise the 21 points allowed would look much larger.
While talent may have been an excuse through Weeks 1 and 2 in this department, both Jaelan Phillips and Pat Jones played in this game. These are your two big-bodied edge rushers that can set the edge while rushing, but failed to do so during the majority of this contest.
It gets to a point where if the talent can’t make plays, no matter who is out there, you have to start looking at the top for answers. The brass in Carolina have largely been noncommittal when it comes to defensive changes, but something has to change going forward.
All due respect and credit should be given to Cleveland for being ready and prepared to win in this game, but the Browns are not the Lions, Bengals, Ravens, Eagles, Saints, Seahawks, etc. on offense.
If Carolina’s defense doesn’t tighten up soon, playoffs will be the least of this team’s concerns.
The Offensive, Offensive Line
Entering Week 3, Bryce Young was the most-pressured quarterback in the NFL, having faced 31 pressures in two games.
Against Cleveland, Young faced 30 pressures, almost doubling the already league-leading season total.
There was such dysfunction among the blocking patterns that Young would often step up into the pocket to avoid pressure, only to get hit by another rusher.
The hog mollies didn’t fare much better in the run game. Chuba Hubbard was hit behind the line of scrimmage on multiple occasions, and only once AJ Dillon came in for a series late in the game did the run start to become viable.
Getting the run game going has been an issue all season - this team cannot continue to be one-dimensional on offense. Bryce Young, broken and battered from this game was still able to throw for 291 yards and a score, but it wasn’t enough.
Perhaps the worst part about this is there isn’t much to do in terms of change. Aside from simply waiting for Taylor Moton or Ickey Ekwonu to return to the lineup, Carolina will likely have to stick with what they’ve got. And what they’ve got isn’t great.
Mason Graham alone had seven pressures, as well as two sacks, one of them being on the 4th down attempt that seemingly sparked Bryce Young’s injury.
For the most expensive offensive line in the league, this can’t continue to keep happening. Yes, Ekwonu and Moton aren’t playing, but there have been plenty of resources invested in this unit to keep being the worst in the league.
And with Damien Lewis’ injury, it might just keep getting worse.
Injuries
Injuries aren’t necessarily something to try to find fault or blame, they’re just an unfortunate part of the NFL game. Carolina has been one of the most injured teams this season, and on Sunday, the list of injured players got much longer.
In this game alone, Carolina had the following players sustain injury:
CB Jaycee Horn
CB Mike Jackson
iOL Damien Lewis
QB Bryce Young
WR Jalen Coker
This isn’t even taking into account that LB Devin Lloyd, S Nick Scott, and WR Xavier Legette all didn’t play vs. Cleveland.
The most significant of these injuries belongs to Jaycee Horn. As reported on Monday, it is feared that Horn tore his quad, and will likely be placed on the injured/reserve list.
Horn is probably the most important piece of Ejiro Evero’s defense. With the addition of Will Lee III this offseason, Horn was moved around a lot more on defense, going into the slot and following receivers like Drake London throughout the game.
Without Horn, Carolina will likely have to use each corner in stationary spots, making the defense even more predictable for opponents.
This prognostication isn’t even considering the possibility of Mike Jackson also missing time. If both of Carolina’s top corners can’t go, things on defense will begin to look dire quickly.
The possibility of looking outside the league for corner help can’t be ruled out. Dan Morgan has been hesitant to trade picks for players, but losing someone of Horn’s (and possibly Jackson’s) caliber may force Morgan’s hand to find a suitable replacement.
Jalen Coker’s injury is also concerning. Without the talented receiver in the game, the passing attack fell apart. Tetairoa McMillan has struggled to separate this season, and without Coker on the field, Cleveland was able to hone in on TMac to shut him down.
Coker entered the week with a nagging ankle injury, and left the game with a quad. If the injuries Coker has sustained make him unable to go against Detroit, this team is in for a rough time under the lights.
This was a rough one. Like I mentioned above, the 21-18 score isn’t necessarily indicative of the performance Carolina gave in this contest.
The Panthers were the more talented team going into this game, Cleveland just out-coached and outperformed the Cardiac Cats. Individual efforts like dropping multiple interceptions, or fumbling a 2-point conversion attempt certainly don’t help either.
Carolina will have to take stock of some rough injury luck, and take a long look in the mirror and at the tape before Week 4. For the first time in eleven (!) years, the Panthers will be hosting Sunday Night Football.
If the Panthers want to avoid embarrassment under the lights, these issues that have been persistent and obvious need to be addressed. Otherwise, Sunday will be the first of many national performances that don’t go their way.