Monday afternoon Carolina Panthers’ head coach Dave Canales discussed their week four loss to the Patriots after watching film. Here are five things we learned.
Jimmy Time
With numerous injuries in the wide receiver room, sixth round draft pick Jimmy Horn will likely see action this week.
“We’ll get to see Jimmy Horn. He’s got a great opportunity. We’re excited about it. We want to make sure that he’s able to go out there and give us significant reps. We’ll carve out a role, because there’s certainly things that he can bring to our offense with his speed, ability to carry the ball and make yards.”
Running on 3rd and Long
There were many questions about Canales’ decision to run the ball in the first quarter on 3rd and 10 with the team in Patriots territory. The play resulted in a two yard gain and subsequent punt – which was returned for a touchdown. Dave said the hope was to get a few yards to make fourth down manageable.
“I thought we had an advantage in some of the fronts that we were getting. Thought we had a clean look right there to try and steal some yards to potentially get us into a four down situation where we could keep the drive going and get a touchdown out of it. We were kind of in that zone right there. The run did not work out, so we were forced to punt.”
Belief in the 3-4 Defense
After shutting out the Falcons in week three, the Panthers’ defense allowed 42 unanswered Patriot points. The unit, which historically has been a strength of the franchise, has struggled in recent years. Canales said Monday he still has confidence in the team’s base 3-4 defense.
“I like our system. I think it comes down to execution. I believe that we just need to figure out how to put our best eleven guys on the field and ask them to execute.”
Team Identity
Right after Sunday’s loss Canales said the Panthers have to figure out who they want to be as a team. So, heading into week five what is the team’s identity?
“I can say that this team has an identity to play hard, with great effort and physicality. That continues to show up. We need to become a team that executes consistently. A group that carries off what I thought were two really good weeks of practice – one led to a great game, one led to a really poor performance. As the head coach I’m common denominator. I have to make sure we’re in a great head space so that the guys can be focused and execute consistently.”
No Imminent Changes
With the Panthers’ 1-4 record and a performance like Sunday’s, it’s not unusual for teams to make changes. While Canales says as a staff they’re evaluating everything, he doesn’t expect to make an imminent staff changes.
“We’re still gathering information right now about who we are, who we can play with and what schemes are working for us. We continue to build off of those. Right now we’re sticking to the core concepts of what we’re doing, so I don’t anticipate any changes.”
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