Much of the blame for the Carolina Panthers’ slow start this season was rightfully pinned on the defense.
Coming out of the bye at 1-5, that unit was ranked 24th in total defense and 29th in points allowed. But four games and three wins later, the Panthers have improved to 15th and 22nd, respectively.
Now the offense seems lost. Particularly in the second half.
Do you know when the Panthers last scored a touchdown in the final two quarters? It was against New Orleans. But not this past week. It was at New Orleans way back in Week 6. Since then, the Panthers have totaled just 15 points in the second half. I wasn’t a math major, but my iPhone calculator tells me that’s fewer than four points per game.
The only Panther who’s scored in the second half the past four weeks is Graham Gano. Meanwhile, his teammates have gone 122:58 without scoring a second-half touchdown. That’s somewhat expected if you’re the Browns or Rams. But the Panthers led the league in scoring last year. They returned all their key skill position players. And added Kelvin Benjamin.
“We had two great drives in the second half of each game (the past two weeks),” offensive coordinator Mike Shula said Monday. “We just weren’t as good down inside as we could’ve been.
“Those are the things we look at and say, ‘Here we are, we’re this close, we’re moving the ball as good as you’d want, with the lead, controlling the ball, keeping their offense off the field. But we just need to finish it with points.”
The monthlong second-half slump includes arguably the most inglorious drive in Panthers’ history. A team-record 20 plays against the Chiefs netted no points, a 10-plus minute slog that, according to Pro Football Reference, was the longest drive since at least 1998 that ended with a punt.
So what’s gone wrong? Everything, if you look at most major offensive statistical categories:
Panthers’ NFL Rankings
| Going Into | Total Yds | Rush Yds | Pass Yds | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 2 | 19th | 2nd | 26th | t21st |
| Week 3 | 3rd | 1st | 15th | 1st |
| Week 4 | 7th | 6th | 19th | 12th |
| Week 5 | 4th | 8th | 10th | 6th |
| Week 6 | 3rd | 6th | 10th | 11th |
| BYE | ||||
| Week 8 | 4th | 7th | 8th | 5th |
| Week 9 | 7th | 5th | 9th | 4th |
| Week 10 | 11th | 9th | 15th | 9th |
| Week 11 | 12th | 11th | 15th | 12th |
| Week 12 | 15th | 15th | 20th | 12th |
Considering how the Panthers are built, that second category is the biggest problem.
“When we get our running game going, that’s when we’re at our best because everything fits off of that,” Shula said.
But the Panthers have failed to rush for 100 yards in each of their past three games. That’s an ominous sign for a team that, until it had to abandon the run early in a Week 4 blowout loss at Atlanta, had rushed for at least 100 yards in an NFL-best 30 straight regular-season games.
The ground game’s disappearance is especially disconcerting when you consider it’s had a healthy Jonathan Stewart at its disposal since Week 6. But the 9th-year running back’s 3.3 yards per carry is a career low.
The Panthers do have one good excuse, of course. It’s not a coincidence the offense’s struggles — both in the run game and as a whole — have coincided with the shoulder sprain center Ryan Kalil suffered in the first half of the Week 8 win over the Cardinals. Combine that with Mike Remmers at left tackle and a still-developing Daryl Williams at right, and it’s not a huge shocker to see Stewart running into walls or Cam Newton running for his life.
“Ideally you try to get and keep the same guys in there, but that’s football,” Shula said when asked about his makeshift line. “We were pretty lucky last year other than a couple games, but we’re all professionals and we’re all expected to produce as coaches.”
That point about last year’s luck is a good one. Besides losing Benjamin to a season-ending injury and Stewart for the final three games of the regular season, the Panthers’ offense cruised through the year remarkably healthy. But while the current state of the line is less than ideal, the Panthers are too talented to be searching for points as much as they have been the past month.
“Would I like to see it consistent? Most certainly. And that’s the thing we’ve got to work on,” coach Ron Rivera said. “We’re mixing and moving people around. We have different parts of our offense out there that are a combination of guys, but the guys that we’re counting on, they’ve got to continue to step up and they’ve got to play bigger.”
But just like Shula shouldn’t be blamed for everything that goes wrong, not everything is on the players. It’s an offensive coordinator’s job to get whoever’s out there to produce. That’s not happening right now. Last year’s unstoppable offense is nowhere to be found.
Knowing defenses would try to catch up, Shula led the internal charge for a second pass-catching tight end this offseason. But Jared Cook chose Green Bay, the Panthers drafted Vernon Butler over Hunter Henry and none of the experiments since have worked out. At least Shula got Benjamin back, but even an NBA-sized lineup hasn’t done much to scare defenses not named the 49ers, Saints or Falcons.
With the Panthers heading into the actual tough part of their schedule, the only way they’ll rally for a postseason spot is if the offense and defense both play well. Not long ago, the latter unit was the concern.
In the NFL, tumbling from a Super Bowl appearance to out of the playoffs usually requires a fall guy. The Panthers’ once-potent offense is broken, and if Shula can’t fix it soon, Rivera may be on the phone with his former boss Norv Turner come January.