By Mike Johnson >>
- Panthers fans are having PTSD flashbacks after their team’s offense looked woefully inept in their season opening loss to the Jaguars.
- Arizona’s defense played well in Week 1 and profiles as a unit whose scheme may naturally be a problem for the Panthers.
- The Cardinals offense continues to be relatively concentrated and Marvin Harrison Jr. appears to be ready for a breakout sophomore season.
- The Panthers offense is in desperate need of a middle of the field option who can help them sustain drives.
- Arizona has shown under offensive coordinator Drew Petzing that they will lean heavily on the run when the matchup and game script allows, which this one very well may.
How carolina Will Try To Win ::
Bryce Young needs a reliable slot receiver or tight end. Now. Seriously, though, Young looked completely out of sorts in Week 1 against a Jaguars defense who we should have expected to take a step forward in 2025, but dominated them to start the season. Just the way Young profiles, those short area targets in the middle of the field are so valuable for moving the chains and/or setting up shorter and manageable third downs. Last season we saw him rely on veteran Adam Thielen and rookie Jalen Coker at various times once he got the starting job back and finished the 2024 season very strong. This summer, Coker was entering his second season and was, by all accounts, one of the stars of Panthers training camp. As a result, Carolina traded Thielen to the Vikings less than two weeks prior to the start of the season and Coker appeared destined to operate in that critical high volume role. Unfortunately, Coker suffered a quad injury shortly thereafter and is out through at least Week 4. Since Thielen was already gone, this left the team to re-sign previously semi-retired veteran Hunter Renfrow. It didn’t work out well in Week 1, as Young barely completed half of his passes and the offense was stagnant and behind the chains all game.
We started by discussing that dynamic, because that problem could be exaggerated in Week 2. The Arizona defense is by nature conservative, ranking in the top-10 in zone coverage rate and bottom-10 in blitz rate each of the last two seasons and showing similar tendencies in Week 1. Their perimeter corners, and especially rookie Will Johnson, are legitimate and the Arizona scheme and personnel are very good at taking away passes to the sidelines and downfield. Their low blitz rate also means they usually have extra defenders in coverage which keeps them from having big holes in the middle of the field. There are still holes, and the low blitz rate often allows them to be exploited by savvy receivers in the middle of the field on in-breaking routes or sitting down in open areas. The Panthers are missing the type of player (Thielen or Coker) who would thrive in this matchup.
So the question becomes how will the Panthers approach this game and/or try to fix their issues? The first step is trying to get their running game going. Jacksonville was one of only two teams in the league to not have a “stacked box” defensively at any point in Week 1, which is a huge indictment on Carolina and is the second thing that explains why they looked so terrible. The Panthers running backs averaged less than four yards per carry for the game despite having light boxes and a game script that should have given them some easy yards. Carolina’s offensive issues play right into the hands of the Cardinals, as they seem unlikely to punish them on the ground for their conservative schemes and lacking the personnel to expose their coverage schemes.
In this writer’s opinion, the answer to Carolina’s problems would be to move rookie wide receiver Tet McMillan around the formation, and more specifically, to have him in motion and/or the slot as often as possible. McMillan is a big-bodied receiver, but played in the slot on roughly 25% of his snaps in college. He has the ability to do it, and the team needs to find a way to get the ball to their playmakers. The Carolina approach in Week 1 looked more like they were just hoping something good would happen, rather than actively creating and scheming their best players into good situations. The team needs to make McMillan the center of their game plan, which would then likely help open up some running lanes. Additionally, second year wide receiver Xavier Legette is not technically savvy but does have strong physical traits that make him a menace with the ball in his hands. Some early schemed touches could help get them going.
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