Dave Canales made the kind of fourth-down choices that can look brilliant or brutal depending on the bounce of the ball. On Sunday, against the Cleveland Browns, they landed on the brutal side. Carolina failed to convert on two short-yardage tries, both of them coming up empty when the Panthers needed just one yard apiece, and those stops helped swing a three-point loss.
But the bigger issue wasn’t simply the decision to stay aggressive. That part was sound.
Going for it on fourth-and-one and fourth-and-inches, even inside Carolina’s own territory, is generally the right call. The problem was everything that came before the snap - the setup, the package, and the lack of answers when the situation demanded something cleaner.
The Panthers’ offense, now with Brad Idzik handling the play-calling, didn’t have the right tools for those moments. Dave Canales’ process was the issue, not just the final choice.
When the play fails, it’s tempting to call the decision wrong. That’s the easy read.
But a coach has to judge the process, not just the result.
And the process here was shaky because everyone knows Bryce Young is not a quarterback sneak option. When he’s on the field, the defense can rule that out immediately. That makes Carolina more predictable than most teams in those exact spots.
That’s why the question becomes obvious: why not use Kenny Pickett for an inches play? Even if the defense expects a sneak, it’s still hard to stop a quarterback from getting 10 inches. Pickett could also serve as a decoy, opening the door to a handoff or a short pass designed to catch the defense leaning the wrong way.
Carolina has toyed with other ideas. Mitchell Evans briefly got sneak work because he is one of the biggest offensive players.
AJ Dillon, a much more physical and significantly heavier runner than Chuba Hubbard, also brings a bruising style. But Dillon wasn’t even on the field for those plays.
That’s the part that sticks. The Panthers have known for years that Young isn’t built for sneak duty, yet they still haven’t settled on a better answer. Against Cleveland, that absence showed up in the worst possible way.
The play-calls themselves weren’t the issue. They were simply too risky for a situation that already had plenty of stress built in: a porous offensive line, a banged-up quarterback, and a depleted wide receiver room. Cleveland also knew Carolina wasn’t interested in running the ball, which only made the passing-game options tougher to trust.
Other teams have special sneak packages or alternate solutions. The Panthers do not. That’s where Canales went wrong, and it’s the problem that needs to be fixed immediately, whether that means making Pickett the answer or building a dedicated package for Evans.
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In the moves that followed, Carolina promoted wide receiver David Moore and running back Anthony Tyus to the active roster and added cornerback Robert Rochell to the practice squad. The personnel shuffle underscores how thin the Panthers are on the perimeter right now, and it leaves the team searching for answers while it waits to see how long it will have to manage without two of its top defensive backs. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Leave Cleveland With More Than One Problem Before Lions
The Panthers left Cleveland with more to sort through than a rough loss, and the trip home came with familiar concerns mixed with new ones. Carolina was undone by penalties, pass protection issues and repeated pressure on the quarterback, a combination that made it hard to settle into any rhythm against the Browns. There was at least a small bright spot in special teams, which showed some improvement, but it was not nearly enough to change the tenor of the afternoon.
Now the attention shifts quickly to Detroit, where Carolina has to clean up the line play and get healthier in a hurry. The injuries to key players only add to the challenge, especially with the Panthers trying to steady a team that looked out of sync in too many phases. After a game like that, the margin for error against the Lions feels even thinner. [Read more 🡒]