Carolina Panthers vs. Los Angeles Chargers: What to watch for in NFL Week 2 matchup

The Panthers are looking to rebound from on all-time flop in their first game of the season, but it won't come easy.

JACKSONVILLE, FL - DECEMBER 31: Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Derrick Brown (95) lines up for a play during the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers on December 31, 2023 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fl. / (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The good news for the Carolina Panthers is that they have nowhere to go but up. Heading into their Week 2 matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers tomorrow afternoon (kickoff 1:00 p.m. ET) expectations for this team have never been lower. Let's see if they can manage a few pleasant surprises in their home opener.

Here are a few things we will be watching on Sunday, beginning with the key matchup.

Dave Canales vs. Jim Harbaugh

When two or three or four players struggle like the Panthers did on the field last week, it's usually their own fault. Either they had tough matchups or they didn't prepare like they should have, or maybe it just wasn't their day. However, when pretty much an entire team plays as poorly as Carolina did last week that's on the coaching staff.

That means rookie head coach Dave Canales had one of the most inauspicious debuts in modern NFL history last week, losing by 37 points to a division rival that isn't supposed to be a contender this season. Canales will have to prepare his team far better than he did in Week 1, because the competition is likely to be even tougher this week, at least on the sidelines.

Tomorrow Canales will be matching up against Jim Harbaugh, who's built up multiple winners both in college football and the NFL. How Canales responds to last week's loss and adjusts to what Harbaugh throws at him will tell us a lot about his ability as a coach at this level.

Panthers run defense sans Derrick Brown

Speaking of what Harbaugh will throw at them, you can expect a whole lot of running plays, which has been a consistent offensive philosophy for Harbaugh everywhere he's gone. Last week J.K. Dobbins led the attack for the Chargers, totaling 135 yards and a score on just 10 carries. All together they ran the ball 27 times and let Justin Herbert throw 26 times.

This kind of super run-heavy offense may present a particularly troublesome challenge for Carolina this early in the season. Last week they got run over by the New Orleans Saints to the tune of 180 rushing yards and two touchdowns allowed on the ground - and that was with Derrick Brown in the lineup. Now that their best run defender is done for the season, they'll collectively need to step up and find a way to stop teams that want to run the ball like this one.

Any sign of life from Bryce Young

Last season you could blame much of rookie quarterback Bryce Young's issues on a poor offensive line that got him sacked 62 times. That wasn't the case at all this past week, when Carolina's front line actually did a pretty splendid job in pass protection. Unfortunately, Young was seeing ghosts anyway, right from the very first snap of the game. He took four sacks, threw two interceptions, no touchdowns and finished with a 12.3 QBR against New Orleans.

Obviously it wouldn't be reasonable to expect Young to turn things around overnight (or one week in this case) but the Panthers have to hope they see at least some marginal improvement from their could-be franchise QB. No matter how talented he may be or how well he played at other levels, if Young doesn't start playing with more confidence he's not going to last long as a starter in the NFL.

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