The Panthers had a clean, simple chance to draw a line after last week’s mess, and they passed on it.
After David Moore’s muffed punt against Tampa Bay, Carolina could have made a statement before tonight’s game against the Green Bay Packers. Moore’s mistake came on the Buccaneers’ second possession, right after the Panthers had forced a stop following a drive that marched down with ease. Instead of getting off the field and settling in, Carolina handed over free points, and the game unraveled from there.
That kind of blunder looked familiar. Earlier this year, Jimmy Horn Jr. was released after repeated mistakes, including trouble learning the playbook, being out of position at times, and then a brutal muffed punt on special teams. Horn had some upside, but the Panthers’ decision to cut him sent a message that they cared about winning and that a Week 1 home blowout against the Chicago Bears was not acceptable.
This time, though, Carolina chose not to do the same thing.
The easiest path would have been to leave Moore inactive, cut him, or simply take him out of the return job. Trevor Etienne has handled return duties well enough and hasn’t given the Panthers a reason to scale him back. Having two returners is unusual anyway, and reverting to the normal setup would have been a straightforward way to show that mistakes like that don’t belong in a serious organization.
Instead, the Panthers stayed the course with Moore, who is a favorite of the coaching staff. That’s been true since the preseason, when Carolina cut him, then brought him back to the practice squad and quickly elevated him to the active roster.
He’s not changing games, and he would have been the obvious player to use as a message, even if it would have been unfair. The Panthers had a chance to make it clear that a 30-point home loss doesn’t sit well.
They didn’t take it. Or maybe they did, and the answer is what matters.
In Other News...
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Along with the coordinator change, the team has also reshuffled responsibilities elsewhere on the defensive side, expanding AC Carters role and parting ways with Jonathan Cooley. It is the kind of midseason reset that usually signals more than just one adjustment, and for a Panthers defense trying to find answers, the biggest question now is how quickly the new structure can take hold. [Read more 🡒]