The Carolina Panthers needed a sign. They needed some indication that there was light at the end of the tunnel after last week’s shellacking at the hands of the New Orleans Saints to kick off the Dave Canales era. A day after the beatdown, the team learned that they would be without Pro Bowl defensive tackle Derrick Brown for the season to a meniscus tear. They needed to get on track in the home opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. The defense needed to get their faces back after allowing the Saints to score on their first nine possessions. Second year quarterback Bryce Young needed to prove to the doubters, and maybe himself, that he was the correct consensus No. 1 pick that the Panthers gave up the farm for. But all of that would have to wait – at least another week.
The struggles of last season continued into Week Two with the offense struggling to move the ball, mustering only 54 net yards in the first half. 22 of those yards came on 8-of-10 passing from Young. The former No. 1 overall pick averaged 1.5 yards per pass in the first half, and 2.5 for the game. Young finished 18-of-26 for 84 yards and threw an interception. Carolina was only 1-for-12 on third down conversions and threw passes short of the sticks on several occasions. Despite touting a dedication to the run game leading up to the season, there were only 18 rush attempts, amassing 90 yards which Chuba Hubbard accepting for 64 of those. Young was sacked twice; the first coming on third down which knocked the Panthers out of field goal range on the second possession of the game.
While mustering to score points, the Panthers have struggled preventing other teams from scoring. They have given up 73 points in the first two games. After a 29 yard touchdown strike from Justin Herbert to Quentin Johnston on the opening drive, Herbert was intercepted by Jaycee Horn on the Chargers’ next possession. Carolina failed to capitalize, going 3-and-out after the drive started on the Los Angeles 41 yard line. Herbert connected with Johnston their second score of the day and J.K Dobbins added a 43 yard touchdown scamper on back to back possessions to go into halftime up 20-0.
Carolina came out driving in the second half and scored their only points of the game on a field goal by Eddy Pineiro. The Chargers answered with a field goal of their own before Herbert as strip sacked with Josey Jewell recovering for the Panthers. However, just like with the turnover in the first half, Carolina failed to capitalize. As a matter of fact, they went 3-and-out the rest of the third quarter before turning the ball over on down in both of their fourth quarter possessions. Cameron Dicker’s field goal with 11:02 left to play were the final points of the game.
Herbert finished with 130 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception while Dobbins led all rushers with 131 yards on 17 carries. Carolina finished with 159 total net yards while dropping to 0-2. They have a week to get back in the lab before heading west to take on the Las Vegas Raiders who will be coming off a big road win against the Baltimore Ravens.
