One, Chris Number one Only one time this season have the Panthers scored 20 plus points in back to back games. Just one time this season. That was against Miami and Dallas. My number is 333. As we’re recording this, we’re 3 days from the loss and I’m still not over it. You know, that’s, you know, that is justifiable. Uh, let’s get this sucker started. Get dialed in, Panthers fans. Here comes an in-depth look at your team. Exclusive interviews, locker room insight. Let’s huddle up for Panthers Playbook presented by Wake Orthopedics, a WakeMed physician practice. Here are your hosts, Dennis Cox and Chris Lee. Welcome back to another episode of Panthers Playbook. That’s Chris Lee. Dennis Cox here with you. Panthers Playbook sponsored by good friends over at Wake Orthopedics. By the way, I want you in the comment section. Uh, are you still over this loss to the Saints? Because I know a lot of Panthers fans are still steaming, and we’re, trust me, we see it in the comment section on the, on the last episode. If you want to go back and watch Sunday’s episode after that 20 to 17 loss to the Saints, people were fuming, and that’s totally justifiable. It is 100%. Go ahead. What’s that? Hell no to the no, no, no. I’m not over it. I’m still upset. I think the only way that Panthers fans, the Panthers themselves, or the only way you get over it is if you win on Sunday. That’s the only way. That’s the only way. And let’s be honest, Chris, 7 and 73 games left in the year, you gotta play the. Bucks twice. Sunday is a must-win. I, I, it is a 100% a must-win. I know mathematically, they could technically lose and then the Bucks could lose in week 17 and then you beat them in week 18. I, I, I don’t want to deal with any of that crap. Sunday must win point blank period. You Gotta take care of business, right? And you gotta, you gotta make sure, I mean, you said it right before we started this recording. It’s essentially, this is a playoff game. You got to look at it like if you don’t get this. I mean, yes, we know you have 2 more games of the season left after that, but like you’re trying to get to the playoffs. If you don’t get this, your season is, is done, you know, uh, you know, there’s, again, there’s other ways, uh, but you wanna, you wanna make sure you put it in your hands, right? You, you don’t wanna, you don’t wanna just like a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush is that old saying, right, that you wanna make sure you have the bird in the hand. Hand instead of looking and saying, oh well, maybe if this person loses and then they, this happens and then this happens, then maybe we can make it in. You don’t want the Duke Blue Devil way of making it to the postseason, right? You wanna make sure you have it in your hands, man. So, um, and also, here’s the other thing, there’s a little bit more pressure put on you because you haven’t won, you lost two straight games until, you know, since the beginning of the season. Yeah, so, um, you know, there’s that thing too. So you, you don’t want to start sliding in that opposite direction. But you also haven’t won back to back games since you beat the Dolphins, Cowboys, and Jets, which all came back in the first half of the season. So you haven’t won back to back games either. And like you said, putting it in your hands and taking control, that was everything that was on the table for them this past Sunday against New Orleans. They, they firmly could be going into this Sunday, Sunday’s contest at home against Tampa Bay with a chance to go. We can win the division right here. And be in the playoffs with 2 weeks still left to go. I know it’s funny seeing the, the comments and stuff be like, that’s the Vegas conspiracy, the NFL, all that kind of stuff. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Like, like, no, that’s not, let’s, let’s, let’s, let’s leave that crap out of here. The Panthers had every opportunity to win that game on Sunday. Yeah, was the officiating bad? Yes, it was, but that doesn’t also. Yeah, convert a 4th and 1. Yeah, don’t have, as Dave Canales himself said, they were disjointed on the back end with communication. That has nothing to do with refs. That’s just all about communication, Chris. It’s all, that’s all it is. Like it’s stuff that they can control. It’s stuff that they can control. Even, for example, like the, the 4th in inches, the play before that was a miscommunication. Dave Canales talked about with in terms of getting the play in. And there’s kind of like, I’m, am I handing the ball off to Chuba Hubbard? Then Bryce Young goes sprinting around to the right side and comes up short. That was a completely busted play from the get-go on 3rd down. Like you put yourself in that 4th-down situation because you screwed up on 3rd. So, again, like those are all things in the control of the Panthers. Like the, the end of the first half, Terro McMillan, make a tough catch. Bryce, throw the ball better at the same time, but also at the same time, both things can be true. Make a tough catch. Walk into the end zone with the touchdown. Now it’s 14-7 as opposed to 10-7. It, it’s all things that were in the Panthers’ control. So like, again, were, were the refs bad and all that? Yeah, but like that’s not the reason why they lost the game. Let’s be honest. Let’s be honest when it comes to that. Yeah, you, you talked about, um, you know, when Canal said they were just joining the back end. Let’s, let’s go back. This is the, the drive that really made me mad. Panthers punt after going 3 and out, only go 9 yards, and it’s 17 to 10, they punt. Um, uh, at this point in the game, 4 or so minutes or whatever left in the game, right? Um. Saints get the ball, 11 yard pass. Uh, from Chuck to Austin, the Austin kid, right, like, I guess he caught his first pass of, of the game and then ended up getting what, like 3 in that, uh, he got first pass of the season, ended up getting 3, you know, catches, uh, in this game. Then you have a 17 yard pass to, uh, Alave, yeah, 11 yards, 17 yards. 18 yards to Olave, 16 yards to Olave, then you have the penalty, then you have an incompletion, then you have, uh, a 9 yard completion to, to Johnson, and then a 12 yard touchdown pass, uh, to Olave. Way too easy. Way, way too easy. Like literally there was, there was no pressure. There was nothing that was stopping them. Like the Panthers were literally just there um to tackle and, uh, but like as far as keeping uh Tyler Shuck from actually getting off a clean throw like the pass rush wasn’t there at the right time, right? We haven’t really had a, a good pass rush, um, the, the, the, you know, the defense on the back end wasn’t there like Chris Olave after having only one catch ended up getting 4. And a touchdown in that one drive, 3 straight at one point, it’s, it was just completely ridiculous. It’s almost like they gave the game away. Um, that cannot happen for, for the rest of the season whether you’re playing 3 more games, 4 more games, 5 more games, whatever, that cannot happen for the rest of the season. That’s not just on the players, that’s on coaching as well, man. Um, you know, we, we’ve talked about it. I know a lot of people. Uh, are, you know, still kind of out on Eveau. Don’t like what they’re seeing, but I, I just, I don’t get the calls. I don’t get the defense. I don’t understand what’s going on. And here’s something we didn’t talk about a lot on Sunday either, uh, when Derrek Brown picked up that fifteen-yard penalty. He was dropping back in coverage. Derek Brown Dropped back in coverage. Why is Derrick Brown dropping back? In coverage. I get it for the outside linebackers, right? Your, your edge rushers, right? That’s, I get it, but I don’t get it, but I get it, you know what I’m saying? Like that’s it’s gonna happen for that. You’re, but Your best interior defensive lineman, dropping back in coverage. Almost said some stuff I shouldn’t, I shouldn’t have said. That’s, that to me almost as you and I should have said. You and I have been critical of, of Evereaux’s scheme as a whole. Like we have been critical of his scheme as a whole. Now, the team, the defense got better players, and that’s why we’re seeing an uptick in production in some ways. Like the run defense is better, scoring defenses, you know, middle of the NFL. It’s dead last in the NFL. Now it’s the middle in the NFL. I think it was 15th or 16th in the, in the league this year. Run game has gotten kind of to the middle of the pack. They’re forcing turnovers at a higher rate as a whole, but as I pointed out, I think it was last week. We’re talking about the, the lack of pressure coming from this Panthers defense. They only have since Everre arrived, 4 strip sacks as a defense, 4. Since ever arrived. And let’s not forget, yeah, I, I would assume so. But let’s not forget they, they have Brian Burns. A couple of years ago, and Derrek Brown and Frankie Lovu on that front seven of that defense and couldn’t generate pressure. Now, I know last year’s defense was mangled by injuries and all that kind of stuff, but even this season with all the added improvement of personnel, still can’t get to the quarterback. Still can’t, at least not on a consistent basis. And by outside of Derrek Brown on that front, who’s that guy that you are threatened by? Like who’s that guy? Like, for example, you’re, you’re playing the Browns. You get, where’s Miles Garrett? Wait, wait, wait. What did you say, Keith? Nobody. It was Keith Sweat hollering at me really quick. Sorry, I had to caught you off guard. You did, but shout out to Keith. But when you play some defense, it’s like you’re always aware of like, OK, who, where’s this guy? Like, at least, again, I’m talking about the guys in the front seven, you know, you’re playing Green Bay, where’s Micah Parsons lined up? You know, obviously, I know he’s got the ACL entry, but you know what I mean. TJ Watt with the Steelers, whoever, whomever it is, you know, at least for a lot of teams, even on bad teams like Vegas, where’s Max Crosby lined up? Where is he lined up? I don’t know if the outside of Derrek Brown. Obviously, on the interior, there’s no like true pass rush threat as of right now. I love Nick Skorton’s development, but he’s just not there yet. He’s just not. But I love his overall complete game, the way he can play against the run, and I think he’s trending in the right direction as a player with his growth, but he’s just not there yet. And you, you know, I, I wanna, I just wanna pose this question, and I don’t, I don’t know if we have the answers to this. How much of that are the players and how much of that is the actual coaching and scheme? That’s the million dollar question, because like, I, I feel like you have the ability to, to have that. Now, again, we’re missing Pat Jones. You would wonder what that looks like maybe with Pat Jones here. Uh, you know, he got injured earlier in the season with the back. But like I do think Nick Skorton can possibly be that guy. I think that Travis Gibson has shown some nice flashes, had a good game on Sunday. You have Derrick Brown. You have, uh, Bobby Brown. You have, you know, Turk Wharton, even though he was out on Sunday as well, um, and you have, uh, Ashaun Robinson. You have guys that at some point should be able to like. Have a play where it’s like, oh man, here they come, like, firing through, and you just don’t see it, and I’m wondering what it is, and you pointed out seasons before, that a lot of, you know, what the Carolina Panthers do on the front line ends up being Uh, predictable. There’s, there’s not a lot of stunts, twists, or, you know, anything else going on in the front to, to make an offensive line have to overcommunicate or maybe miscommunicate because you don’t realize what’s happening. Um, so it, it’s, it, I think that’s a very interesting, it’s a rhetorical question, but it’s just one of those things that I’m really wondering, is it the, I don’t think it’s the talent. I think the talent is there to at least be able to be a middle of the road. Defensive line to do that, to, to get after the quarterback to cause those, um, you know, strip sacks to get more sacks, to put more pressure on the quarterback. I feel like it’s there. How is it being used? How is it being deployed? I mean, they’ve had guys in this defense before. Like I said, Brian Burns had, he had 12.5 sacks the year before Everil got here, and he has 13 this season. So it’s not like you haven’t had the dudes. You know, it’s not like you haven’t had the dudes anyway, it’s just. Not that the personnel is great. It’s not gonna overturn from where it was last season overnight, but it is much better. But again, the scheme still is, like you, you mentioned it, Chris. In the second half, just seeing that soft ass zone. Just, hey, it’s, it’s 3rd and 13. We’re gonna play really far off and they’re picking it up, or it’s 3rd and 8th, we’re playing 12 yards off. Wait a second, no wonder they’re picking up 1st down. It just seems too easy at times. It really does. It just seems too easy at times. My, my biggest fear at some point is just what’s gonna happen is, It’s gonna be a 3rd down in like 6, and the, either Mike Jackson or JC Horn’s playing 89 yards off because it’s what they’re called to do, 10 yards off. And then they’re gonna keep running these kind of slants to kind of underneath and then they’re, whomever that defensive back is, is gonna be really aggressive and try and jump and all of a sudden it’s a double move, you’re gonna get cooked behind you. The pump fake boom. I, I, that, that is a fear of mine and I would not be shocked. Baker Mayfield tries to pull that with Mike Evans this coming Sunday. I would not be surprised by that. Also, do not be surprised to know, even though Mike Evans is working his way off injury, don’t be surprised to see Mike Evans lining up in the slot to get better matchups. Like, because JC Horn doesn’t travel. Like, do not be surprised to see Mike Evans lining up in the slot this coming Sunday and work in the middle of the field. Don’t be shocked. Don’t be. And Emeka Abuka on Mike Jackson’s side. Uh, you know, it’s, um, Uh, I, I’m really hoping, you know, that like, uh, the, the, there’s a, every once in a while there’s a game where, you know, the, the players, a, a play or two here or there, they just make a, a great play and it’s like they almost outdo, uh, the, the scheme, whether it’s on offense, whether it’s on defense, and I hate to put that much pressure on the players. But at this point, we need it, like, JC, Trevon Merrick, uh, Shaw Smith, Wade, Mike Jackson, somebody step up, make something happen in the, in the back end, right? Um, you know, hey, Trevon Wallace, Christian Roseboom, we, I don’t think we’ve gotten a, a linebacker to intercept the pass or anything yet this season. Or, or cause a fumble or whatever like maybe there’s maybe a fumble. Roseboom had the forced fumble against Green Bay in the red zone. He had that forced fumble against Green Bay in the red zone, but like, like, hey, let’s, let’s cause some more. Let’s cause some more havoc, like, you know, try to, try to put something, put it on your back to make something happen on offense, you know, McMillan. Have stronger hands no matter what, where the ball is placed, no matter what’s happening to you, just make the play, you know what I’m saying? Like it’s, it’s not gonna be perfect from Bryce. Make the play, uh, Rico, Chuba, let’s break some more tackles. Like I, I am asking for like us in, in a way an extra subhuman type of performance from some of these guys, and I know it’s unfair. It’s very unfair. I can call that out. It’s unfair. Cause I’m worried, I’m not sure, because of the inconsistencies with coaching, I’m not sure where the players are gonna be at, uh, or where the schemes are gonna be at to put these players in, in, um, in position to, to get the win. So somebody’s gonna have to do something. Amazing. Somebody’s gonna have to do something almost supernatural to, to make sure that you solidify this win. Tampa Bay can be had, but also Tampa Bay can, can get you. You know, this is one of those games where Panthers, you can win by a touchdown, you can lose by 3. It just depends on how you play it. And like we, like we said at the very top of the show, like you talking about the all the offensive side of things, they’ve not scored 20+ points as a team since weeks 5 and 6 on back on back to back games since weeks 5 and 6. Chris, we’re going into what, week 16. It’s been weeks since weeks 5 and 6 since the Panthers have scored 20+ points on back to back games. It’s just, we talk again, it’s the inconsistencies of this team. This, this Panthers offense has been below 20 points 8 times this season, 8. That’s literally over half of the season. They’ve been under 20 points. Now one of those was the game against the Bills. Andy Dalton starting. I totally get that. All right, that’s that, that is what it is. Bills came off a bye week and ran over you. It just so happened to be healthy too. Just so happened to be healthy that day, so. They’re 2 and 6 as a team when you’re scoring less than 20. Like 2 and 6. So we talk as much as we can, we talked about the defense and letting up a 10-point lead in the second half of the game. Offense still needs to do more. More than one thing can be true. You can’t score 17 every single week and expect to win. Again, you are 2 and 6 this season when scoring less than 20. 2 and 6, it’s not sustainable. Yet, you’ve scored less than 20 8 times, literally over half the season. This offense needs more. That’s from coach, quarterback, team Mac, XL, Chuba, Rico, everyone. They need to be more plain and simple. You can’t be, hey, let’s go win 16 to 13 like we did against Green Bay because it worked for us one time. Or, hey, we beat the Jets 13 to 6. Hey, let’s win that way. And ain’t sustainable. It’s not. Clearly, clearly not. Your offense does need to do more as well. It’s, the defense needs to hold a lead and be stronger and be tougher when you’re trying to hold a lead late. But also Panthers offense, you can’t go 3 and out. You can’t go 3 and out. Help yourself too. Help yourself as well. It’s just the lack of consistency of this team. Again, they’ve been win-loss, and go back since they, let’s go back here to week. Let’s see, in week 123456, in week 7, they beat the Jets, 13 to 6. And starting at that point, it’s been loss, win, loss, win, loss, win, loss. Maybe, Chris, bright side. If that trend continues, you beat the Bucks on Sunday. Then you lose to the Seahawks. And then you beat the Bucks week 18. And then you win the division, and you’re in the playoffs. You might lose in the first round of the playoffs if that trend continues, but hey, you made the playoffs and you won the division. Maybe that’s, maybe they’re just setting us up. They’re just setting us up, Chris. They’re just setting us up for that. I don’t know. It’s just last time I sat here and I was like, I’m not optimistic. I had to point to the scoreboard and go, I was wrong. That was against the Rams. Maybe I’ll have to do that again on Sunday. I don’t know. It’s just I can’t figure this team out. It’s hard to figure out. I will say this though, and not to look too far ahead. But, um, the, the Seahawks haven’t necessarily been themselves over the last month. So, there’s a chance, not looking too far ahead, but there’s a chance they could possibly be had. Just putting it out there early. Don’t, don’t do that. Don’t, don’t do that. Don’t do that. All I’m saying is this. Don’t do that. No, no, no, this is all I’m saying. This is what I’m setting up to say. It would be amazing if the Carolina Panthers were to put together another win streak. And to like, you, you’ve learned the lessons now. Like, let’s go through, like we talked about the, the either or, the back and forth, right? We, we saw what happened with the Bills game, you know, um, you know, Andy Dalton was horrible, you get blown out. Last time you, you truly got blown out in a game. You come back, you, uh, win against the Packers. Big, got too big for your britches, couldn’t run the ball, had no passing offense, lose to the Saints. All of a sudden now you pass and have the best passing game ever, uh, for Bryce Young, and then all of a sudden you can’t pass the ball ever again, uh, and you go against the Forty-Niners. Then you have a good game against the Rams, but let’s remember defense really stepped up against that. And then once again lay an egg against the Saints where it’s a lot of 3 and outs. So, you’ve, you’ve learned your lessons, and there’s some themes right there in the way that you’ve lost. Make sure you have longer sustained drives. Make sure you’re running the ball. Make sure that, uh, you know, we’re, we’re a little bit more crisp when it comes down to, uh, our passing plays and also catching the ball and making plays, uh, after the catch, things like that. Just the, the fundamentals. They’ve been pretty good at not turning the ball over, uh, as of late. They’ve been pretty good at that. Like, so like, you know, give them credit where credit is due. So like, now let’s realize how we’ve been losing. And go in and try to put together a little win streak to end the season. Cause this isn’t even just about the postseason this year. This is also, remember how we ended the season off last year, there’s this, everything’s on an incredible high, everybody’s feeling good and all that because of the wins at the end of the year. You gotta do the same, uh, this year, so you can hopefully start next season, uh, with, with some momentum because like nobody’s expecting the Super Bowl right now. It’s got, you know, it’s not that. We’re also playing for the future and, and looking like, hey, let’s get this franchise, uh, to the next level, and you just wanna see improvement. Gotta see improvement this Sunday. Gotta see improvement with the next 3 games in general. Like, you gotta be there to, to get the, get the wins. And if you lose, then, you know, lose on a, on a last-second field goal against teams that deserve it, not against a team like the New Orleans Saints. Yeah, you know, yeah, I agree. I agree. We’ll be there Sunday at Bank of America Stadium. Must-win game. Must win. Gotta have it. It’s a playoff game. It’s a playoff game. But I will say this, we’ll end on a positive note here, Chris. It’s a meaningful football game in the latter part of December. Meaningful football game in the latter part of December. It’s been a long time, a long. Long time clap it up for that. The reason why we’re being so harsh on the team is because now there’s expectations. There are expectations, and this is where we want it to be, where I wanna be. This is where we want to be. Good job for the Carolina Panthers for bringing us to this point so far. We’ll be at Bank of America on Sunday. Big shout out to Awake Orthopedics, a sponsor of Panthers Playbook. Again, one episode for you all right after Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Till then, y’all be good.
