By Dennis Cox
Does Dave Canales know what he’s doing? – the situational awareness – or lack thereof – is mindboggling for the Carolina Panthers, and it stems from the coaching staff. The opening drive of the second half saw the New England Patriots facing a 3rd & 15 after a holding penalty near midfield, and the Panthers dropped seven into coverage, but left a major soft spot deep down the field for Drake Maye to find Stefan Diggs for an easy 22-yard completion where the underneath coverage didn’t drop deep enough to defend the line to gain. They’re doing what the coaching staff – in this case Ejiro Evero – called for them to do. Sure enough, the Patriots score on the drive to extend their lead to 35-6.
And then when they’re trailing by 29 point in the middle part of the third quarter, there’s no urgency from the offense. ZERO. Bryce Young and the offense is huddling up and taking the play clock nearly all the way down while the clock is ticking. It’s a four possession game and they’re taking their time like it’s a one possession game.
Plus, there’s the decisions by Dave Canales as a play caller. In the first quarter facing third & 10, Canales calls for a run play with Rico Dowdle that gets just two yards. Later on a third & 15 in the second quarter, another two-yard run by Dowdle. In the second half on 4th & 5, a deep shot down the right sideline to Tetairoa McMillan. All of these plays felt like they had little chance of succeeding.
Can we say there’s been a game in the 21 contests under Dave Canales where it felt like he outcoached his opponent?
Speaking of coaching and play-calling…
The Panthers are bad at the two-minute drill – All four games for the Carolina Panthers have featured an opportunity with under three minutes to play in either the end of the first half or the end of the game for the Panthers to run a two-minute drill to put points on the board. Here’s how each of them have gone:
Week 1 at Jacksonville down 17-3 at the end of the first half – fumble lost by Bryce Young
Week 2 at Arizona down 27-22 at the end of the game with the chance to win the game – turnover on downs
Week 3 vs Atlanta up 10-0 at the end of the first half – three plays and a punt
Week 4 at New England down 28-6 at the end of the first half – six plays and a punt
No points where no drive reached the opponents 30 yard line.
The Panthers have zero fight – There’s the old saying, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Outside of the Arizona Cardinals playing soft after taking a substantial lead in week 2, the Carolina Panthers have let deficits grow into what feels like canyons once they fall behind in games, and Sunday against the New England Patriots were no different. Good teams find a way to slow down another team’s momentum and regroup during the course of the game. The Panthers haven’t consistently shown that. There’s no fire from their quarterback Bryce Young to rally guys together and lead the team through a difficult stretch. Sure, we see swagger and confidence when the team is ahead, but where’s the confidence when the Panthers are down a couple of scores? With the great quarterbacks in the NFL, there’s a confidence level that their quarterback is going to be front and center when the team falls behind, to keep teammates focused, on task, not waver, and help elevate the players around him. Can we say Bryce Young does that? So far, the answer is easy: NO.