Panthers loss to Bucs taught us that someone besides McCaffrey needs ball in red zone
For a second consecutive season, the Panthers are starting out 0-2.
Last year the Panthers also fell to 0-2 following a loss to the Buccaneers, and while the parallels are a little too similar, so much has changed since then. In 2019, that was Cam Newton’s last game in a Carolina uniform. This is a different team with its own set of issues.
Instead of Newton’s injury status being in question heading into Week 3, this year’s attention turns to Christian McCaffrey, who injured his ankle in the fourth quarter Sunday and is expected to miss four-to-six weeks. The Panthers’ defense has yet to record a sack. And finding consistency has not yet proved to be in the cards.
Sunday’s loss at Tampa Bay sent a team trying to discover itself in the wrong direction. Four turnovers and nine penalties — after not turning over the ball once last week — is not the sort of play that’s going to win many football games.
Still another week, some more lessons learned about this team and what’s to be expected going forward.
Panthers can’t rely on just Christian McCaffrey in red zone
Of the five touchdowns the Panthers have scored in the first two games, four of those were Christian McCaffrey rushing touchdowns. The only one that wasn’t was a 75-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Robby Anderson.
McCaffrey being out doesn’t change the fact the Panthers need to find a way to be able to rely on more players in the red zone.
In the red zone this year, Bridgewater is completing just 37.5 percent of his passes (3/8) for 28 yards and has completed only one for a first down. The Panthers are averaging 3.8 yards per carry in the red zone, but have the four touchdowns and six rushing first downs. They have converted 4-7 (57%) of red zone opportunities.
This offense should flow through McCaffrey, and this isn’t a suggestion to the contrary, but that completion rate in the red zone can’t continue. There are too many weapons on the Panthers’ offense to not get more players involved near the end zone. This offense functions best the more it is able to be multi-dimensional. Targeting Anderson and receiver DJ Moore up and down the field has been key, and McCaffrey will always be a vital part of the red-zone attack when healthy. He should be.
But thus far, Bridgewater and the receiving corps (including McCaffrey) have not been able to connect with opportunities to score on the line. The fact that Moore has only been targeted once in the red zone needs to change. It’s a small sample size, but one thing to look for the Panthers to improve going forward is getting more players involved in the red zone, especially considering how much Bridgewater has involved a variety of receivers throughout the field.
On a positive note, the Panthers are getting Moore and Anderson involved in a wider sense and that’s a good sign. They each posted 100-yard receiving performances vs. Tampa Bay. The last time two Panthers wide receivers achieved the feat was in 2004 vs. Seattle (Keary Colbert and Muhsin Muhammad).
Lack of pass rush is a major issue; Derrick Brown still has some growing to do
Two games into the season, the Panthers have just one quarterback hit and no sacks. That’s not something that’s acceptable, even for a growing defense.
A year ago, the Panthers finished the season with the second-most sacks in the league. For the first time since 2009, they have gone back-to-back games without recording even one. Without Kawann Short and Yetur Gross-Matos vs. the Buccaneers, this was bound to still be an issue today.
The Panthers had much more success in the second half, including Zach Kerr having the one quarterback hit that helped cornerback Donte Jackson pick off Tom Brady, and Brian Burns had some success creating pressure. Brady only threw for 19 yards in the second half. But the damage was already done by then. Being able to make quarterbacks uncomfortable in the pocket is a work in progress.
Rookie Derrick Brown also had two penalties on third downs that both resulted in Tampa Bay first downs. Brown is a rookie and those sorts of things are going to happen, but the first-round pick needs to know that a late hit deep in opponent territory can’t happen.
Realistic expectations for Panthers
When talking to cornerback Donte Jackson on the postgame Zoom call, he expressed optimism that the Panthers were not in a rebuilding year and that this team had a playoff aspirations.
Against the Buccaneers, the played themselves out of the game before the defense even had time to adjust to what Brady was doing.
“The main disappointment for me here was being an offense who didn’t turn the ball over last week to now turning the ball over four times this week. That’s a sharp, drastic change,” Panthers coach Matt Rhule said after the loss. “Then to have only five penalties last week, two of which were on special teams, and then have so many this week. They were really hurtful penalties on third down. That really makes it hard.”
There was good and there was bad against the Raiders and Buccaneers. That’s what this year is supposed to be, some learning and development, which comes naturally with bumps along the way. We learned in Tampa that while this offense has no rookies and is composed of a majority of the team’s highest paid players, it, too, will go through growing pains. It’s good for the Panthers to be confident. If Jackson said anything else after two games, this would be a very different story.
But every part of this team is developing, from offense to defense to special teams to Rhule deciding whether he wants to wear a face shield or a mask on the sideline. If McCaffrey is out for a significant period, things are going to be ... interesting. Sunday was another stark reminder that every part of this team is still a work in progress.
Required reading
+ Christian McCaffrey is hurt. Who do the Panthers turn to as a replacement?
+ Analysis: Mistakes by Teddy Bridgewater, offense cost Carolina a loss vs. Bucs
+ Fowler: Three things I really didn’t like in Carolina Panthers’ 31-17 loss to Tampa Bay
+ As Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady stands tall, Panthers’ pass rush doesn’t get there (again)
This story was originally published September 21, 2020 at 5:30 AM.
