The Panthers had a miserable season in 2023, winning just two of 17 games. New coach Frank Reich appeared to be the man they wanted to look to for an answer, but he didn’t have any. After a 1-10 start to the 2023 season, they let Reich go and relied on Chris Tabor to take over as interim head coach. But Tabor failed to bring the Panthers much more success, winning only one game in his tenure. So what went wrong for the team?
Panthers’ Offensive Woes
With an impressive NCAA resume, the Panthers were expecting big things from Bryce Young. But the former Heisman Trophy winner came up short on multiple accounts in his rookie season. Known for his incredible performances in college, Young had little to offer for this Panthers’ offense.
Young played in 16 games for the Panthers last season. In that time, he only had 11 touchdowns and had 10 interceptions. He recorded a little under 3,000 yards for the season, making him 20th in the league. Young completed 315 passes in 527 attempts, ranking 34th out of 35 in completion percentage. He did not live up to the expectations in his first year, after performing outstandingly throughout his college career at Alabama.
The Panthers’ offense struggled as a whole, though. They only recorded 297 first downs on the season, whereas their opponents outscored them with 311 first downs. Another statistic the team will want to forget is the 62 sacks that the offensive line allowed on the rookie QB. This statistic led Young to be the second-most-sacked quarterback on the season.
Defensive Troubles
The Panthers lacked authority on the defensive end of things. They ranked 29th out of 32 points against, allowing opponents to score a total of 416 points. Another poor statistic was the 311 first downs that opponents were able to record, 14 more first downs than the Panthers had on offense.
The defense struggled immensely to stop teams from gaining yardage. They allowed almost 5,000 yards on the season, 3,109 of those being passing yards. The team only managed to sack their opponents 27 times all season, a troubling statistic for a once prominent defense.
Injury Issues
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It was an injury-plagued season for the Panthers. Several players spent almost the entire season on IR, with DE Henry Anderson being placed on the list for the whole season. After just one game, Guard Brady Christensen suffered a torn right bicep and required surgery, which kept him out for the rest of the season. Christensen played an important role in the 2022 season, helping the team improve their ranking in several categories.
QB Young also had an injury worry with his ankle, although it only held him out of a single game. Another offensive weapon with an injury during the 2023 season was TE Hayden Hurst. After suffering a concussion on November 9th, Hurst was ruled out of five consecutive games, before being placed on IR for the remaining 3 games of the season. Hurst was diagnosed with post-traumatic amnesia, leading to questions over his availability for the upcoming 2024 season.
On the defensive side of things, Safety Jeremy Chinn suffered a quad injury, landing him on IR from Weeks seven through 10. CB Jaycee Horn spent some time on IR with a hamstring issue. Horn had three interceptions the previous season, making him invaluable to the defense. Veteran LB Shaq Thompson was limited to two games last season for the Panthers due to a fractured fibula. He was coming off his best season with a career-high 135 tackles in 2022.
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