Altercation between Carolina Panthers offense and defense continues as Bryce Young blows hot…
Bryce Young left Caesars Superdome in New Orleans Sunday with his rushing yards (40) surpassing his completion percentage (36.1%).
Yes, it was that kind of afternoon for the Panthers’ pass offense in a 28-6 blowout loss against the middling New Orleans Saints (6-7). Young, the Panthers’ rookie starting quarterback, completed just three passes before halftime, and it wasn’t for a lack of trying, either. The Panthers aired it out regularly in the first half, with Young and his weapons failing to connect, taking turns sharing the blame on a bunch of bad looks.
“You just want to be aggressive,” Young said. “It is kind of a reaction, a little bit, how they are playing us, too. We want to be able to take what the defense gives. So we always want to have an aggressive mindset and (offensive coordinator Thomas Brown) did a great job of drawing up some shots, a great job on the outside of winning given opportunities — I have to do a better job of executing.” Young finished with 137 passing yards.
He also had a called interception that was later changed to a lost fumble and recovery by the defense by the league’s statisticians midway through the game — saving his passer rating from looking even worse than the 48.0 he finished with. The Panthers’ passing offense was atrocious, and it largely wiped out an excellent outing for the ground game (204 total yards) and the overall defense. For three quarters, the defense allowed just one scoring drive, even as special teams coughed up a touchdown on a fumbled punt attempt by punter Johnny Hekker, which was caused by a free rusher.
Running back Miles Sanders — who put the Panthers on the cusp of the end zone with a spectacular 48-yard run, only to see the offense falter on the next three plays — lamented about the offense’s woes impacting the defense. “Offensively, we’ve struggled all year,” Sanders said.
“Defense played a heck of a game. They can’t do that every game. Me being on the offensive end, we gotta tighten up. Something’s gotta change, or something, I don’t know. What we will do is get back to grinding and finish this season strong. That’s all we can do. We can’t keep leaving our defense out there hanging like that. We’ve been doing that all year.”
Following the game, interim head coach Chris Tabor was clearly frustrated and angry. He also didn’t have a solution for the passing game, which has only exceeded 250 yards once this season, when veteran backup Andy Dalton was at the helm.
“If we had that answer, we would’ve already fixed it,” Tabor said. “You know, I think it’s just something that we gotta continue to work on. When you pitch and catch, you gotta pitch and catch. We had opportunities. … Everyone has a job and a responsibility. We just need guys to continue to work hard to do their job.”
Sanders, who has seen his role diminished throughout this season, watched fellow running back Chuba Hubbard gain 104 rushing yards last week, only for the Panthers to lose against a division opponent. Against the Saints, Hubbard and Sanders combined for 161 rushing yards, but their success was mitigated as the game got out of hand in favor of their NFC South rivals. “We want to be a running team,” Sanders said.
“I’m just trying to contribute to what we’re trying to do as a team. Just keep getting better at that. I mean, we kind of got our identity. It’s hard to see and watch the film and be like, ‘How did we lose?’ Total yards was more than theirs. We rushed for over 200. Five yards a carry. It’s hard to look at the scoreboard and be like, ‘How?’ But we just gotta keep grinding and keep getting better, man. Finish this season strong. That’s all I got to say.”
Brown, calling plays for a fifth time this season, dialed up several deep shots, even in short-yardage situations. Most of those shots ended with the ball on the turf. “Yeah, just misses,” Young said. “I have to be better at this position.” The pass-game struggles aren’t completely on Young or Brown.
And the Panthers’ offensive line and skill players don’t deserve all the criticism, either. This is a collective malfunction on offense, and there aren’t any silver linings flying through the air to snag onto 13 games into the season. The Panthers are letting games slip away because the offense can’t function at a high level — even in spurts — especially from a passing standpoint.
“We’re all sick of it,” Young said. “We’re all tired of it. But that doesn’t entitle us to anything. It’s on us, ultimately, why we are there. We have to do a better job to prevent that. So no matter how tired we are, we have to be better.”