Monday Morning Thoughts: It's a Matter of When, Not If

Recapping the Panthers' loss to Dallas.

Every play, series, quarter, and week the Carolina Panthers continue to prove that the personnel and staff in place can not and will not work well together. 

The Panthers were a downhill, in between the tackles ground and pound offense a year ago and found a lot of success when they committed to that identity. This staff is taking the same personnel up front on the offensive line and throwing them in a true spread attack and as a result, they're having all sorts of issues in pass protection. We saw these same issues at the start of the 2022 season prior to Matt Rhule being relieved of his head coaching duties. Once Wilks took over, he went to offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo and stressed the importance of establishing the ground game and it worked.

Roster construction is a collaborative effort, but its headed by GM Scott Fitterer. Depth was always going to be an issue with this team in its transition to a new staff, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. But that's not where the issues exist. It's everything to do with the offense. Poor pass protection, well below average receiver/tight end play, and a run scheme that is vastly different from the one that worked a year ago. Fitterer poorly identified the team's needs.

Not all of this is on Fitterer, though. 

Frank Reich pieced together this all-star coaching staff but did so by hiring guys from multiple offensive backgrounds. Sometimes I often wonder how much of the offensive woes stem from there being too many voices in the room coupled with the differences in philosophies. 

Regardless of the personnel and scheme fit, we should be seeing some sort of improvement with the offense even if's just one specific area. Instead, the unit has remained in turmoil and in some weeks they're actually regressing. 

I'm not sure that we'll see a change in leadership (coaching staff or front office) made anytime soon, but it feels inevitable. If these results continue, something must change. That could be Reich, Fitterer, coordinators, position coaches, scouts, or all of the above. No job is safe after a 1-9 start to a season, even in the first year of a new staff. And as things stand today, it feels like only a matter of when a change will be made, not if.

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