Bolted: Observations from Chargers Rout In Panthers Home Opener

Carolina Panthers Cornerback Jaycee Horn is aware of the boos that’s been cascading from the Charlotte skyline onto the field of Bank of America Stadium. The shame of it all is while it’s frustrating, it’s something that he’s used to.

“To be honest, it’s kind of frustrating to me. Since I’ve been here, we didn’t have that,” he said. “ Granted, we haven’t won many football games. I try to tune it out and play ball because I’m kinda used to it. But for younger guys and guys coming from other organizations, I don’t like it.”

The Panthers, once again reached a new low as the Los Angeles Chargers smacked the home team 26-3 on Sunday. Here are a few takeaways.

Nonexistent Rush Defense

This was a quintessential John Harbaugh type game-a steady diet of rushing plays and wearing down a defense into submission.  Carolina’s struggles to stop the run continued as the unit surrendered 4.98 yards per carry for 219 yards rushing. 

While the defense managed to force turnovers and punts,  their struggles to contain the rush negated the positives.  

 3rd Down Woes

The Panthers were 1-12 on third-down conversions on Sunday. Two of the most egregious plays of the afternoon came at the hands of second-year quarterback Bryce Young. On Carolina’s opening drive, Young threw an incomplete pass to tight end Tommy Tremble.  On the second drive, Young was sacked on 3rd and 5.  He scrambled aimlessly instead of throwing the ball away.

In his postgame press conference, Panthers head coach Dave Canales address the teams’ inability to move the chains on the pivotal down.

“It came down to third down again. Offensively and defensively. Just not acceptable from a coaching standpoint. Not acceptable from a player’s standpoint,” he said. “We all have to take more responsibility on third down so we could get the opportunity to run the ball and run our actions.”

Offensive Offense

The Panthers scored an all-time low of 13 points through the first two weeks of the season and recorded 159 total net yards on Sunday.  They ended the first half with 54 total yards. Young threw for a career-low of 84 yards.  The Panthers tried to be conservative and establish the run but it didn’t work so even that was ineffective. Young’s checkdown throws, were ineffective.  Granted, Canales wants to run but there has to be some experimentation also.  End-arounds to Legette or Mingo, for instance,  were there and an option with much to gain.