Slow starts plague Panthers ahead of battle for NFC South 

DONALD WATKINS | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Carolina Panthers defenders Nic Scourton (from left), D.J. Wonnum and Thomas Incoom celebrate after Wonnum’s fumble recovery against the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 31. Carolina, which is tied with Tampa Bay atop the NFC South, square off against the Buccaneers Dec. 21 at Bank of America Stadium.

Bryce Young could do nothing but watch. 

For 11 minutes, 22 seconds Sunday at Caesars Superdome, Young waited  on the sideline as the Panthers’ problems started mounting. 

The mishaps culminated in the New Orleans Saints earning a 20-17, come-from-behind win. The Panthers committed a season-high 11 penalties for 103 yards. Six led to automatic first downs, matching an all-time franchise record. 

“The more that we can minimize the things that are given because we have poor technique or the things that are given because we missed an assignment, we have to get that out of our game,” coach Dave Canales said Monday. "Certainly, the penalty game needs to be cleaned up as well.” 

The loss dropped the Panthers (7-7) into a first-place tie with Tampa Bay, with three regular-season games remaining. They meet Sunday at Bank of America Stadium and Jan. 3 in Tampa, Fla.   

There’s another area that Canales wants improvement: second-quarter effort.  At minus-94 points, the Panthers are last in scoring differential during that span. They’ve surrendered a league-high 146 points and scored 52, better than only two teams. 

“It’s execution,” rookie running back Trevor Etienne said. “That’s what it comes down to at the end of the day. We take the same approach with every drive. It’s just execution. We have to execute each and every play.” 

Second-quarter stumbles

Young directed the offense to an early touchdown Sunday, marking the ninth time Carolina produced points on their opening possession this season. But, like a majority of outings, the Panthers’ offense suffered a lull. 

During the first half of their seven losses, they have been outscored 114-35. 

The Panthers pushed their way into playoff contention by closing games, highlighted by Young’s 11 game-winning drives, the most since 2023. At 24 years old, Young was the youngest quarterback to reach that milestone. 

The Panthers can close, but can they open? 

“Just looking for consistency and I would love to see that from snap one until the end of the game,” Canales said last week. “That fact that we do finish well, we take a lot of pride in that. The way we prepare, do right longer and maintain that focus.” 

On the first drive against New Orleans, Young engineered a 13-play, 74-yard drive, capped by Rico Dowdle’s 4-yard touchdown run. After Carolina forced the Saints to punt on their initial two series, Young led the Panthers to a first down, but the drive stalled after tackle Ikem Ekwonu was flagged for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty. 

The Saints then embarked on a drive that consumed the majority of the second quarter. Devin Neal scored on a 4-yard run, tying the game at 7-all. The Panthers responded with a field goal with 21 seconds left in the second quarter for the lead at intermission for just the fourth time this season. 

“Would I love to see more success early on, especially in the middle part of the game? Absolutely,” Canales said. “That goes back to the place we were talking about of finding our best football, finding consistent football that shows up drive in and drive out.”   

Struggles against adversity

On the 76 offensive series following the Panthers’ game-opening possession through the third quarter, the Panthers scored on just 32.8% of those drives.  

That’s significantly lower than the 40.6% of possessions that teams collected points on that did not end on a kneel-down in 2024, according to Sharp Football Analysis. 

Young, who failed to create any key fourth-quarter plays against the Saints, has developed a reputation as a clutch performer. Despite being outscored 10-0 Sunday, the fourth quarter has been the Panthers’ strongest stage, outscoring opponents, 85-66. 

On fourth-down plays, Young has helped extend drives on 23 of 33 attempts. He entered Week 15 with a 156.3 passer rating on fourth down, tops among all quarterbacks with at least 10 attempts.  

“It comes from a lot of adjustments throughout the game,” Canales said. “The different ways we are trying to run the ball and how they are impacting that. How we are trying to throw to pass the ball and how they are impacting that. There are a lot of conversations of how we settle into a type of game plan as the game goes on.” 

Many of last week’s conversations centered on the mental lapses and mid-game struggles that led to New Orleans’ (4-10) sweep of the season series.  
“We’re not able to overcome that adversity,” Canales said. “It continues to be a factor.” 

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