The Panthers haven’t had the start to the season that they would have wanted, falling to the Raiders in a tight game at home as well as Week 2’s error-filled game at Tampa – and now with Christian McCaffrey out for at least a month, the Panthers are going to face an uphill battle to be relevant come the second half of the season.

However, heading to face the Chargers this weekend, the Panthers have probably their final chance to start to turn their season around as if they are unable to get a win against a rookie-led Chargers team, it seems unlikely that they are going to string together any kind of winning streak as their schedule starts to head into the meat of the season.

So then, what should Panthers fans be watching for when the Panthers take the field on Sunday?

No CMC, Same Offense?

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Yes, losing your best offensive player is going to make the offense worse – but it should also make you different on offense. Whether Joe Brady is able to adjust his scheme to benefit the different skill set of either Mike Davis or any other running back they bring in with McCaffrey out will be a major indicator of where he is as an offensive coordinator at this point.

One concern in this regard is how little McCaffrey has been used as a receiver to this point in the season, as his carries:targets ratio has gone from two last year to more than 4:1 through the best part of two games. Maybe this was something that Brady was planning to build upon as the season goes on, but now with Davis in the backfield, if the Panthers just run the same stuff against the Chargers, that is either an indication they aren’t able to adapt to their loss of their superstar, or that they weren’t doing enough to maximize the unique skillset that they in McCaffrey. 

Davis did show a nice ability to catch the ball out of the backfield on Sunday, with eight receptions for 74 yards, but he is never going to be the route runner that McCaffrey is and will likely allow the Chargers to keep a linebacker on the field to cover him rather than being forced to sacrifice some run defense in order to keep a safety on the field.

There is some chance that the Panthers might bring Bonnafon up from the practice squad (or use Curtis Samuel in the backfield) in order to give them another ball-carrying option; whether the Panthers look to run more of a genuine rotation in order to make the most of Bonnafon in the passing game is another thing to keep an eye on. The Panthers shouldn’t be the same without McCaffrey – if they are, then questions need to be asked about how sensible the offensive approach they are taking is. 

Making Rookie Mistakes

Photo Credit: Brandon Todd/Carolina Panthers

The Panthers have a lot of young players this year – especially on defense – but they are also going to be going up against a rookie quarterback, and unlike the Chiefs last week, they are going into the game with a week to prepare for said rookie. Herbert was solid in his debut against the Chiefs, completing 22 of 33 passes with a touchdown and an interception, but coming from Oregon he is facing a significant step up in the complexity of the defense he is likely to be facing. Will the Panthers should look to make the most of this by throwing as many different looks and coverage at him as possible, and forcing him to win mentally rather than through his athleticism?

Hopefully.

In some ways the Panthers are at a disadvantage is this regard, as they have a defensive coordinator who has never coordinated an NFL defense before either, but the Panthers have experimented with a range of different looks through two games, and certainly seem to have the ability to cause Herbert to pause that extra second….whether they are able to execute and make the most of this experience advantage is yet to be seen – but this is a game where the defense should be able to get on the front foot, and there might not be many times this season where we can say that. 

Offensive Line Needs To Improve

Photo Credit: Brandon Todd/Carolina Panthers

A lot has been made of the turnovers committed by Teddy Bridgewater against the Bucs – while he is certainly not free from blame for this, it’s also worth noting that Bridgewater was sacked five times against the Bucs and looked to be under fairly consistent pressure when dropping back to throw.

‘I thought Teddy was under duress too much of the day,” said Rhule immediately after the game. “We knew that they are a pressure-based defense but too often they were getting hands on him.”

Some of this was due to the fact that the Panthers were chasing the game for most of the game, but the offensive line was also not on its best form. Michael Schofield, in particular, had a really hard day at the office – while Suh and Vea are a pretty hard day’s work for anybody, the Panthers will likely be hoping that Dennis Daley will be back healthy sooner rather than later before they face a Chargers’ defensive line that racked up seven QB hits against a very good Chiefs’ offensive line. 

They will also hope that even with the change of Daley for Schofield, if such a change happens, that the offensive line is starting to build chemistry and start to get used to playing actual NFL game reps. The offensive line was always the big question mark with this offense entering the season – while they certainly haven’t been a disaster so far, Teddy Bridgewater is on track to be sacked 50 times this season and if they aren’t able to show a little improvement, it is not only going to be hard for the Panthers to be successful but also for the Panthers to be able to assess what they do have on offense.

Daley being back should help things, if he is back, but the other members of the offensive line need to step up as well. 

How Do The Panthers Cover Keenan Allen?

Keenan Allen is one of the best possession receivers in the NFL, as has been for pretty much his entire career – he is unquestionably the biggest coverage issue for the Panthers on Sunday.

Allen is an excellent technician as a route runner, is a nightmare when working against press at the line of scrimmage, adds value after the catch and at the catch point and has the size to create issues for smaller defensive backs at the head of routes. Because of this, similar to with Mike Evans a week ago, Allen poses a real problems for the Panthers in terms of matchups, with the smaller Donte Jackson being better suited to facing smaller, faster receivers and Rasul Douglas, who is expected to start once again, being largely viewed as the #2 cornerback.

Do the Panthers cover the Chargers’ top receiver with their top corner, or do they go with matchups?

In the first half against the Bucs, the Panthers appeared to go with the former strategy, matching Jackson up against Evans, and paid the price for it, with Jackson struggling to match up with the bigger Evans and getting found out for his sometimes slightly ill-disciplined footwork. In the second half, when the defense made something of a comeback, they moved to playing with Douglas covering Evans more – while he wasn’t perfect, his size and strength allowed him to be much more effective while Jackson was able to cover the smaller, quicker Scott Miller. If the Panthers can learn from this and look to take advantage of the fact that they have a cornerback pairing with diverse skillsets, they have a chance of limiting the Chargers’ passing attack, but if they go back to the CB1, CB2 approach, they could find themselves struggling on both sides of the field. 

Coaching Is About Growth

Photo Credit: Brandon Todd/Carolina Panthers

The Panthers haven’t been good in either game so far this season, but they haven’t been awful either, though they have struggled for consistency and have made too many simple errors. Nobody should expect them to come out against the Chargers and look like title contenders, but what they do need to do is to show improvement.

They need to cut down on the sloppy, unforced errors that cost them against the Bucs, with one very poor throw on the first drive, a pointless penalty on Brown and a couple of interesting referee decisions swinging the momentum of the game heavily in favor of the Bucs in the first half. Some of this was out of their control, but they need to make sure they are making the best of what is within their control.

Both coordinators need to continue to improve as they get used to the NFL – both have shown some flashes, and the offense has moved the ball quite well on the whole, but there are been a few too many decisions that have a whiff of inexperience. This isn’t college football, you can’t expect teams to beat themselves and have consistent success, you have to force errors and create opportunities for yourself.

This applies to Matt Rhule as well; while it was impressive that he managed to motivate his players to fight back into the game after getting in a hole early, he also showed his inexperience with a really poor fake punt attempt that just doesn’t belong in the NFL and some questionable clock management decisions late in the game before the Bucs put it to bed with a late touchdown run by Fournette. This coaching staff is going to make mistakes early on – we all expected that – but the key will be whether they are able to show growth themselves and eliminate the unforced errors from their coaching. 

The Panthers have a chance against this Chargers team and they would have especially fancied their chances if they had had CMC working against their linebackers as a route runner, but even without that. this is a game they have a shot of winning – while it might not turn their season around, this is a team that needs something to be optimistic about as it looks to move forward.

(Top Photo Via Brandon Todd/Carolina Panthers)

Vincent Richardson

Managing Editor at Riot Report

Fan of zone coverage, knee bend and running backs running routes. Twitter: @vrichardson444