The Carolina Panthers Offense Is Broken (Again)

The Carolina Panthers live in a state of irrelevance. It's looking as though changes are needed, once again.

Bryce Young, Dave Canales

SEPTEMBER 21ST, 2025 - The Panthers had just beaten the Atlanta Falcons in their home opener, 30-0.

I’m leaving the stadium with a sense of hope - one that I really hadn’t felt since the night the Carolina Panthers drafted Bryce Young. That hope was littered throughout Bank of America stadium as I made my way from the near top-row seat of section 547 through the concourse, down the cascading ramps, and out of the stadium.

There all kinds of chants from fans on that walk back to the car, from the Panthers official slogan “Keep Pounding,” to the only half-humorous “Super Bowl” chant as a winning record seemed not-too-far, at the time.

I left the stadium that day with more optimism about a Panthers season than any other year since 2021 - when Carolina started their season 3-0 with Sam Darnold holding down the quarterback position.

But, wow, things can change quickly.

Just one week after a 30-0 drumming of the Atlanta Falcons, the Panthers lose by almost as many points to a New England Patriots team that won four games last season.

The best game in the Dave Canales era quickly followed by the worst game of the Dave Canales era.

And in that no-good-very-bad game, I think there’s a lot to take away. It highlighted many of the issues of the past two seasons with this offense in particular. While there’s time to fix those problems, the Panthers will more-likely-than-not be starting fresh in 2026 with a new quarterback, a new head coach, and potentially a new general manager as well.

I’m going to go over just some of those issues - and why they don’t appear to be fixable in the 2025 season.

Dave Canales is not good at game management.

The most frustrating part of this Panthers team so far this season is Dave Canales’ inability to make the right coaching decision at basically any point.

That’s an exaggeration - but he’s consistently managed the game with an idealistic mindset - which only works if things go absolutely perfectly.

I’ll start with end-of-half scenarios.

Dave Canales has consistently lacked aggression in the two-minute drill throughout this season.

In every single game so far this season, the Panthers have gotten the ball with two minutes or less of the first half ending.

In every single game so far this season, the Panthers have started off that end-of-half drive with a rushing play to either Chuba Hubbard or Rico Dowdle.

And to Canales’ credit - the Panthers were on the verge of scoring at least a field goal in Week 1 against Jacksonville before Bryce Young fumbled the ball on a scramble to the JAX 32 yard line.

In their last three games specifically, Carolina has had 12 plays for 11 total yards in their end-of-half, two-minute drills. To be that unprepared for such a crucial point in the game is putting your team at a massive disadvantage.

Both Arizona and Jacksonville managed to score after the Panthers gave up the ball (fumbled against JAX, punted to ARZ) following the two-minute “attempt”.

Gotta-Have-It Downs

With the exception of Week 3’s win against the Falcons, Dave Canales has been exceptionally poor in calling “Gotta-Have-It” downs, particularly when there’s a momentum swing on the line.

Early against the Patriots this past Sunday, the Panthers had a 3rd-and-10 at the NE 45. Not only do you need 10 yards to get the first down, but you need a good 7-8 yards to either get into field goal range or set up a 4th-and-short opportunity.

Canales called an inside run with the backup running back. Gain of 2.

And you know what, the football gods rewarded that lack of aggression with this on the very next play.

So… just like that - the Panthers momentum (and lead) evaporated. But that situational awareness still gets worse throughout the game (and first half).

With about six minutes to go in the half, Carolina was already down 21-6. They’d had multiple drives end in New England territory without any points, and New England had all the momentum in the world.

1st & 10 at CAR 25: Tommy Tremble false start

1st & 15 at CAR 20: Chuba Hubbard outside run (no gain)

2nd & 15 at CAR 20: Bryce Young incompletion

That sets up a 3rd and 15. Opponent has all the momentum, you can’t let this drive stall as not only would you give the ball back to New England, but the Patriots also get the ball to start the second half.

Dave Canales calls this:

That’s not one, but two called runs on 3rd-and-long in the same half of football. That lack of aggression not only demonstrates poor situational awareness, but also a lack of trust in Bryce Young.

Dave Canales’ offense has not been well-designed.

I had a lot of optimism around Dave Canales’ offense going into year two. There was genuine growth from Bryce Young last season and a lot of continuity in terms of talent. But I’ve been very disappointed with many of the details of how this offense is designed.

I’ll start with the screen game, which is usually a sign of how healthy an offense’s infrastructure can be.

Dave Canales’ screen game has many issues within it: misusage of personnel, timing, and details.

Take a look at the play below. It’s early in the Jaguars game (week one) and Carolina has a 2nd-and-10.

Bryce Young is looking downfield, despite his blockers in place ready to guard Chuba Hubbard’s run down the sideline. He’s about a second late to this throw - which is the difference between a 15 yard gain and a three yard gain - which is what we got here.

Bryce Young’s eyes being downfield tells me the initial read is likely to Legette towards the sideline, but again - he’s way too late to get this ball to Hubbard - even with that read.

It’s like every time Canales draws up a screen, there’s some detail that throws everything off. And with the screen game in particular, that should never be the case.

Here’s another one where the details are off.

This time, you can see Tremble motion from right to left as an extra blocker, but since Yosh Nijman is late to get to the flat, the play is essentially blown un before it can get started.

But another issue here: Why is Legette fielding a screen to begin with?

Dave Canales does not know how to use his own players.

If you’ve been subscribed to the Two-Point Conversion, you’d know that Xavier Legette’s role has been a big issuer issue for me than his actual play (both have been very bad), but that goes across the board for this Panthers team.

This past offseason, the Panthers invested in “role players”.

They brought back Tommy Tremble (blocking tight end), they signed Rico Dowdle (change of pace back), they drafted both Trevor Etienne (3rd down back, gadget player) and Jimmy Horn (field stretcher, gadget player) - yet much of the designed screen touches have gone to more downfield receivers (not necessarily the shifty type) and Chuba Hubbard.

Horn’s lack of usage is especially questionable to me. Maybe not in the sense that he’s a sixth-round rookie receiver, but more so that even having that sixth-round label, he is easily the most explosive ball-carrier in the receiver room. Especially when traveling sideline-to-sideline.

You can’t tell me that Jimmy Horn (or Trevor Etienne) isn’t getting more than one yard here, even with how poor this concept is:

Same thing here. David Moore does a great job of getting a first down on this sweep - but there is absolutely more meat left on the bone if he has the shiftiness to cut upfield (Jimmy Horn certainly does):

I’m not ignorant to the fact there’s probably some larger underlying reason as to why Horn hasn't been active thus far this season. But he certainly could play a role in this offense if given the opportunity.

I’d say the same thing about Greg Dortch or Rondale Moore if they were on this Panthers team. Jimmy Horn is worth having active simply because he offers a skill set that no other player on the roster has - and that’s the part I don’t think Dave Canales understands.

So while I’d offer up some easy fixes to this Panthers team in terms of their overall offensive design, I’m not sure there is one. When you have issues in your screen game (supposed to be the gimme’s), your player utilization, and consistently call plays based on a lack of trust in the quarterback, things might just be irreparable.

But what about Bryce Young?

Bryce Young has not been a consistent negative. He also has not been good, either.

The common sentiment throughout Charlotte about Bryce Young over the past month has been that the team’s struggles haven’t necessarily been his fault.

My stance on this is quite simple: While he hasn’t actively lost the Panthers games in 2025, he also is clearly not someone capable of elevating an NFL offense. And that in itself is an indictment on Young’s play.

I think the biggest negative to Young’s play is his inconsistency passing downfield.

On the play below, you’ll see Young throw to the wrong shoulder of Tetairoa McMillan on what could have been a downfield touchdown.

What should be a routine catch turns into a play where McMillan would’ve had to snag the ball with one hand in the back of the end zone. That’s…. not great! Young said after the game that there was a miscommunication between he and McMillan (of Young’s fault) - but even so - this is really poor.

And really, with downfield throws such as these, Bryce Young has struggled in a big way. On passes of 20 or more air yards, Young is 1-7 with 26 yards and an interception. He is dead last in passing EPA on those throws with -10.6.

I’ll go as far to say that Young has missed multiple touchdowns that most NFL starters need to make - either due to his poor downfield ball placement or lack of arm talent.

Young misses McMillan, again, on what should have been an easy touchdown pitch-and-catch. He’s just a few yards too short.

Here’s another missed touchdown: Young has time, can step into his throw, but just misses Renfrow on this downfield throw.

But nowhere is this lack of arm strength and ball placement more apparent than when there’s pressure in Young’s face:

Jacksonville brings pressure, Young is hit. But this ball is still underthrown, even considering that circumstance.

But even the down-to-down ball placement hasn’t been where it needs to be. Bryce Young has lost the Panthers yards after the catch because of his inability to hit receivers in stride - often late to throws or behind his receivers.

Young is nearly responsible for Carolina not picking up this 15-yard gain. It’s behind his receiver Brycen Tremaine (and nearly results in an interception).

Even on this play, McMillan has his man beat to the sideline but Bryce essentially brings the defensive back into relevance by not throwing further towards the sideline. McMillan still makes the play, but it’s the quarterback’s job to make the game easier for his receivers, not the other way around.

Verdict

Look, neither Bryce Young nor Dave Canales has had a great start to the season. Both have areas to work on - some more difficult to improve in-season than others.

But it’s more than fair to state that it appears the QB-coach marriage is coming to an end, one way or another.

At this point in the season, Dave Canales has shown himself to be below average at both play-calling and game management. Being a negative in one of those areas is okay as long as you are elite at the other. But you absolutely cannot be both of those things.

And on Bryce Young’s end, while we haven’t gotten the lows of his rookie campaign (and first two weeks of 2024), he’s been a clear negative, in my opinion. Not in the outwardly, aggressively bad sense, but more in the “he’s making things harder for everyone else” way.

And while that won’t lead to many disastrous, 4-5 turnover games - he has begun stacking inefficient passing-yard games. And that’s cause for concern.

Now, let’s make this abundantly clear: I am in no way advocating for the firing of Dave Canales, nor the benching of Bryce Young. I don’t think either of those things should happen during the year, regardless of how bad the 2025 season gets.

But I will say this: If these habits continue from both Canales and Young, there will be very little reason to bring either of them back for the 2026 season.