The Carolina Panthers are officially the NFC’s No. 4 seed in the NFL Playoffs, playing in their first Wild Card game since the 2017 season. The Panthers were +135 underdogs to make the playoffs this year and following a string of Week 18 results that worked in their favor, they managed to secure the NFC South for the first time since 2015 when they made the Super Bowl under Cam Newton.
However, the Panthers’ season was far from perfect and just like many playoff teams this season, they’ll be lead by an inexperienced quarterback and young head coach. Dave Canales managed to secure the division and make a playoff appearance in his first season as Panthers’ head coach, but this will be his first playoff game knowing everything changes in January.
While the Panthers certainly have a chance to beat the Los Angeles Rams and advance past the Wild Card round, just a few glaring flaws within their style of play could be exposed against one of the better teams in the NFC. Ahead of the game, we’ll take a look at what could cost the Panthers big come Saturday.
Carolina Panthers’ most significant weaknesses
The Carolina Panthers’ coaching inexperience.
There isn’t much more Dave Canales could have done better in his first year coaching the Carolina Panthers, inheriting a 5-12 team with a murky quarterback situation at the start of the year. However, after winning their first division title since 2015 and making the playoffs, Canales has already proven himself as more than capable as he eyes his first playoff game.
On the other side, Rams’ coach Sean McVay has built an impressive resume, leading his team to two Super Bowl appearances, winning one, and coaching in eight total playoff games. Furthermore, McVay’s most impressive stat is his team’s 45-1 record when leading at halftime, so the Rams will certainly be looking to get off to a hot start.
While Canales will do everything he can to help his team win, the reality is that the Los Angeles Rams were favorites to win the NFC for most of the Regular Season and they’re a serious Super Bowl contender ahead of the playoffs. This could come down to minute coaching decisions and adjustments, which will certainly come with some adversity for the young head coach and his young quarterback in Carolina.
Quarterback Bryce Young’s inexperience, inconsistency.
Quarterback Bryce Young was almost relegated to a backup role in Carolina moving forward, but this last season has been tremendous in regaining his confidence and winning the trust of his team and head coach. He threw for 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, all career-highs in his three years with the Panthers. Furthermore, he managed to lead his team to a four-game winning streak during the Regular Season, dealing with a ton of adversity and still coming out one win shy of a .500 record.
Still, Young has made his mistakes this season and in their Week 18 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when it mattered most, Young was unable to deliver his team the win. He’ll be facing a stout defense in Los Angeles and he’s thrown an interception in his two most recent starts. The Panthers have also failed to score more than 20 points in three of their last four games, facing the best offense in the NFL at 394.6 average yards per game.
While Young may put together a solid performance, his relative inexperience in this spot opposite Matthew Stafford and the Rams could be the ceiling that caps the Panthers’ season.