Most important things we learned about the Panthers in their win over the LA Chargers
Three games into the year, the Panthers were finally able to remove the zero from the win column Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles.
But Matt Rhule — coming off his first win as an NFL head coach — acknowledged after the game that the effort was anything but perfect.
Missed tackles were an issue, the offense was largely unsuccessful in the red zone outside of an opportunity that was handed to them by the Chargers and the team was unable to put away a game it only trailed in for six minutes.
“They fought, they scratched, they clawed and I thought it was a great team win,” Rhule said. “Not perfect. I could find all the things that we didn’t do well, but hey, that might be the good news, that we found a way to win on the road despite things not being perfect.”
Carolina held a players meeting last week because they felt they still needed to get to know each other better. And the Panthers’ 21-16 over the Chargers revealed some things about where this team is headed and what is up for them next.
Here’s what we learned this week:
Shaq Thompson as a leader
Without future Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly, the Panthers were in need of someone to step up on defense and attempt to fill some enormously large shoes. Linebacker Shaq Thompson seems to be coming into the leadership role that the team needed him to.
Thompson was named a team captain for the first time this year. After the game at SoFi Stadium, he was the Panther that awarded Rhule the game ball for his first win.
On the field, Thompson led the defense with 13 tackles. He also had two passes defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. It was his second game this season with 12-plus tackles (he had two in Tampa last week) and first game with a forced fumble since Nov. 2018.
He’s also making his teammates better. Defensive end Brian Burns had a strong game, finishing with a strip sack of rookie quarterback Justin Herbert, but he credited Thompson for helping him to make the play before the ball was even snapped.
“Honestly, I was really, my mindset on that strip sack was run. But Shaq Thompson, he yelled behind me, ‘pass, pass, play action,’ whatever the case may be,” Burns said. “And I pinned my ears back and I went. So I give all credit to him.”
For the Panthers, Thompson continuing to step into a bigger role is a positive after he was awarded with a four-year contract extension in December. He’ll play a large role in the defense’s success and development over the course of the season.
Missing Christian McCaffrey in the red zone
Coming into Week 3, the Panthers had scored five touchdowns. Four of those were by running back Christian McCaffrey. The other was a 75-yard pass to wide receiver Robby Anderson. McCaffrey is out for at minimum two more games (and likely more) with a high-ankle sprain suffered last week.
Without him against the Chargers, the Panthers were largely unsuccessful in the red zone. Last week we wrote about how the Panthers would need to get other players involved deep into opponents’ territory. The offense scored a touchdown on one of six red-zone trips (17%). Kicker Joey Slye attempted and made five field goals, all of which were 31 yards or less.
The one touchdown Carolina did get was a gift. Los Angeles was called for an illegal formation penalty on a fourth down, 36-yard field-goal attempt by Slye (that was good). But instead of the successful field goal, the Panthers got a first down and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater hit running back Mike Davis on a screen for a 13-yard touchdown.
In this instance, five field goals and six points (the extra-point attempt was blocked) was enough. Barely. The Panthers were a Tre Boston pass defensed in the end zone and a missed lateral by Keenan Allen away from losing to the Chargers on the final drive of the game.
The Panthers have to figure out how to get into the end zone. Relying on Slye’s leg can only let them hang around for so long.
“We just have to spend more time in practice down there (practice the red zone offense). And that’s what it is,” Bridgewater said. “We have to have that mindset that everything happens faster, whether it’s running routes, me making decisions, being able to run the ball down now also. We just got to put more of an emphasis on it.”
Panthers’ offense has had more growing pains than the defense
If you had asked most observers of this Panthers team which side of the ball would struggle early, all signs would point to the defense. They are young, and the team heavily invested in signing free agents on offense. Instead, it’s the offense that is still struggling to find its identity, while the defense has looked better each week and is showing signs of progress, even without Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kawann Short the last two games.
The defense gave up a season-high 436 yards against the Chargers and missed tackles were far too frequent, but they finished the game with eight quarterback hits, two sacks and four turnovers. That’s improvement after not coming into the game with zero sacks and one quarterback hit.
The offense will have to adjust without McCaffrey, who the offense is largely built around, but Bridgewater hasn’t played up to the level that he should be this season. How to use wide receiver Curtis Samuel is still a mystery — he had four rushes for seven yards and four receptions for 45 yards against the Chargers. And the tight ends have totaled five receptions this season.
They converted just 3-of-12 third downs against the Chargers and had 14 total first downs — the Panthers’ third-fewest in a game since 2018.
Injuries to the offensive line are a factor, but the offense has not yet proven it is moving in the right direction, while the defense has shown growth in different ways each week.
Cornerback Donte Jackson has had interceptions in back-to-back games. Against Tampa Bay, he ran out of bounds following his pick, ruining an opportunity to pick up additional yards. In Los Angeles, he ran it back 66 yards and set up the Panthers for three additional points before the half.
“Great job by Donte (Jackson),” Rhule said. “Last week, Donte picks a pass off, he runs out of bounds. This week, he runs all the way down there and (I’m) so proud that they made the plays that we had to make.”
How the offense is able to develop with Bridgewater over the next couple games will be telling for how the group can perform and what it will look like once McCaffrey returns.
This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 6:30 AM.
