Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales, right, and quarterback Bryce Young will work in practice to improve pre-snap communications.
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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 15: Quarterback Bryce Young #9 talks with head coach Dave Canales of the Carolina Panthers talks with at Bank of America Stadium on September 15, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
The Carolina Panthers are beginning the 2025 season 0-2. A disappointing start for a franchise that had a sense of optimism coming into the season. The Panthers fell to the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 in Week Two, but the final score doesn’t tell the whole story.
Once again, just as they were the previous week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Panthers found themselves down 20-3 at halftime. Themain catalyst was once again early turnovers by quarterback Bryce Young.
Young was strip-sacked by the Cardinals’ Josh Sweat, and the fumble was scooped and returned for a touchdown by Zaven Collins. On the next possession, Youngwas picked off on a pass intended for Tetairoa McMillan, which led to a Cardinals field goal, and the Panthers were quickly down 10-0.
A valiant comeback attempt from down 27-3 wasn’t enough to dig themselves out of the hole they put themselves into. The Panthers know that to win, they can’t be their own worst enemy.
Starting Faster
The Panthers showed fight in their attempted comeback against the Arizona Cardinals, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the mistakes that put them in that position. Figuring out how to fix this issue is what head coach Dave Canales is trying to determine.
Darin Gantt ofPanthers.com, in his September 15 article, wrote about Canales expressing the need for the team to start faster.
“We’ve got to eliminate the mistakes,” Canales said. “You know, two weeks in a row, early self-inflicted wounds and 10 points just like that. Going to the half (down) 20-3, and we’ve got to change our mode, and we’re not able to play the complementary football that we’re looking for, to be able to mix the runs, the play actions, turned it into a drop-back game.”
Canales was encouraged by the team fighting until the end, but he pointed his finger at himself for the Panthers not being prepared enough.
“But it’s the mistakes, and I have to take full responsibility for that first and foremost for preparing our guys, and we’ve got to get right back to work,” Canales said. “You can’t play that type of football. It’s the turnovers.”
While several things went wrong against the Cardinals, there were also some encouraging signs.
Rush Defense Encouraging
After being one of the worst defenses in the NFL last year, the Panthers put a lot of resources into improving their defensive line. To bolster the line, the Panthers added Tershawn Wharton, Bobby Brown III, got Derrick Brown back from injury, and drafted Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen.
The fruits of that labor didn’t pay off in Week One against the Jaguars, as the team gave up over 200 yards rushing. However, against the Cardinals, the unit was starting to come together.
On Sunday, the Panthers’ defense notched one sack and four tackles for loss against the elusive Kyler Murray.
Outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum had an excellent individual day, racking up four tackles, one for a loss, and an interception. Kassidy Hill ofPanthers.com, in her September 15 article, wrote about how Wonnum feels the Panthers improved this week.
“We made upour mistakes that we had in the first game,” Wonnum said. “A lot of different gap integrity things, issues that we had in the first game, we just went and watched the film and just keyed in and honed in on that and just show it today.”
The Panthers will look to continue improving and growing on defense when they face Michael Penix Jr. and the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.