The Carolina Panthers fired coach Frank Reich last year after his tough first season, then changed their general manager and worked on improving their team during the offseason.
Their first game of 2024 showed little sign of progress. In fact, the Panthers might have gotten worse.
Bryce Young threw an interception on his first pass, and the New Orleans Saints set a record by scoring on their first nine series of a season opener, humiliating the Panthers and new coach Dave Canales 47-10 on Sunday.
Carolina was down 17-0 after the first quarter and 30-0 before they managed to get a field goal at the end of the first half.
“This doesn’t define us,” said Young, who was drafted No. 1 overall last year after the Panthers traded up, a move that cost them this year’s top pick. “It’s a long year.”
It will be a very long year if the Panthers continue to play like they did on Sunday.
Young had a tough time, similar to his rookie season when the Panthers went 2-15. He was 1 of 4 for 4 yards in the first quarter. His second half started almost the same way as the first, with Saints safety Jordan Howden intercepting a pass meant for Adam Thielen.
“I thought he (Thielen) had good space,” Canales said. “It was a high throw.”
Young, who had the lowest quarterback rating of any full-time NFL starter last season at 73.7, ended up 13 of 30 for 161 yards with a rating of 32.8. Canales put in backup Andy Dalton late in the fourth quarter to give Young a break after three straight incomplete passes.
“I thought about getting Andy in the drive before, but I was really just trying to get one more shot of can we just get our rhythm, could we just get some completions, but it didn’t happen,” Canales said.
“It was very obvious at that point with the score. I probably could have gotten (Young) out of there earlier.” Young wasn’t the only one who had a tough game.
Tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders was penalized for holding on a simple third-and-1 play at the Saints’ 36-yard line, which ruined Carolina’s first big drive. Jonathan Mingo fumbled the ball on a reverse play.
The Panthers’ punt team allowed a 47-yard return by the Saints’ Rashid Shaheed, setting up another touchdown. A punt by Johnny Hekker was tipped and went only 11 yards, leading to the Saints’ final touchdown.
“We just got whupped in every phase,” guard Robert Hunt said. “We have to be better, and hopefully we can change that. This is a bad feeling. We can’t be OK with losing. I don’t see any positives. The only positive is we have a game next week that we can come and try to change what we did today.”
The defense struggled in every area, giving up more points than Carolina had in any game since a 51-13 loss to San Francisco in 2019. Derek Carr was 19 of 23 for 200 yards and three touchdowns with a passer rating of 142.5.
The Saints rushed for 180 yards on 37 carries, with their drive results being touchdown, field goal, touchdown, field goal, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown. They only punted with 4:37 left in the game.
“It was real frustrating,” said newly acquired safety Jordan Fuller. “I haven’t been a part of too many games like that.”
The Panthers have become accustomed to scoring 10 points or fewer, which happened seven times last season when their only two wins were 15-13 and 9-7.
On Sunday, they never accounted for Saints defensive back Alontae Taylor, who sacked Young three times on blitzes after getting just one sack in his first two years of his career.
“Systematically, I have to do a better job of getting (the protections) right,” Young said. “I need to get the right people in the right place.”
Very little seemed to go right on this day, but Canales — Carolina’s fifth coach (including two interim coaches) since the start of 2022 — said there was no reason to panic.
“It’s a long journey to become us,” he said. “You have to have adversity to become who you’re going to be.”
