Thursday night at Lambeau Field was supposed to tell the Carolina Panthers something after that Week 7 embarrassment. Instead, the 27-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers made the message even messier.
The Panthers came in trying to flush a 30-point beatdown from the one-win Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but this one turned into another long night of missed opportunities and mounting damage. And while it’s fair to wonder whether this is the start of something worse for the 2026 Panthers, the bigger picture may be a little more complicated than a simple collapse.
What stood out most was how hard it was for Bryce Young to function behind the line in front of him.
For the second straight game, Carolina’s offensive front had him under siege. Young was sacked six times and, according to ESPN, was pressured on a career-high 22 of his dropbacks. A lot of that heat arrived almost immediately, and at one point the Packers even got home on a three-man rush.
The Panthers can point to the absences of Ikem Ekwonu, Taylor Moton and Damien Lewis, and they would have a valid point. But the bottom line is that this group was rough again. Carolina’s expensive and depleted trench is still a major problem, with Rasheed Walker struggling badly in pass protection, Robert Hunt looking like a shell of his former self and rookie Monroe Freeling absorbing his share of the punishment.
If the Panthers can’t find a way to keep Young upright, the offense is going to keep sliding. That unit was one of the league’s most productive early in the season; right now, it’s moving in the wrong direction.
The other side of the ball didn’t offer much relief, either.
Jordan Love never really had to sweat, even with no functional run game helping him along. He finished 30 of 41 for 288 yards and three touchdowns, and the main reason he was able to stay in rhythm was simple: Carolina never got to him. The Panthers didn’t record a sack or a quarterback hit, even with a 44-percent blitz rate.
Jaelan Phillips was out again for Carolina, and that mattered. But the absence of one player doesn’t fully explain a defense that couldn’t generate any meaningful disruption. The Panthers did hold Green Bay to 2.5 yards per rushing attempt, but if Love had felt any real pressure, this game might have played out differently.
Still, this was not a dead-fish performance from Carolina.
Compared with the previous week, there was some fight here. The Panthers won the turnover battle 3-1, tackled well and kept pushing all the way through.
Head coach Dave Canales pointed to that urgency after the game, and it showed. The effort was there.
That’s what makes this so frustrating. The Panthers are bringing the want-to. What they’re running out of is help.
Between the patched-together offensive line, the missing pass rush and a battered cornerback room that may need two practice squad players in Week 9, Carolina keeps hitting the same wall. The body count is high enough that the margin for error has basically vanished. Right now, they can only do so much.
In Other News...
Panthers Loss Revealed Who Actually Held Up In Week 8
The Panthers Week 8 loss to Green Bay did more than add another result to the record. It also offered a useful look at which players managed to steady a lineup dealing with a makeshift offensive line and a thin cornerback group, and Pro Football Focus grades helped sort out who held up when the pressure mounted. Corey Bullock came out as the top performer up front, while Lee Hunter stood out on the defensive side in a game where Carolina needed reliable snaps wherever it could find them.
For a roster trying to survive injuries and patchwork depth, those evaluations matter because they point to more than just one rough afternoon. They show which pieces were able to function in a difficult setup and which areas still need help, especially on a defense that was already stretched at cornerback. The grades do not change the loss, but they do sharpen the picture of who the Panthers can lean on as the season keeps moving. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Defensive Shakeup Puts One Big Question On Struggling Unit
The Panthers made a significant defensive change this week, parting ways with Ejiro Evero and turning the unit over to Todd Wash on an interim basis. Wash brings plenty of NFL experience with him, including past stops as a defensive coordinator with the Jaguars and work as a defensive line coach for multiple teams, while Carolina also widened AC Carters responsibilities in the shuffle.
For a defense that has struggled to find its footing, the move signals urgency as much as it does a fresh start. The coaching staff is being reorganized beyond the coordinator spot, too, with Jonathan Cooley released as the Panthers try to reset a group that has not produced the kind of consistency the organization needs. The biggest question now is whether the new structure can stabilize the unit quickly enough to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Just Sent A Clear Message About Their Biggest Problem
The Panthers moved quickly after their Week 8 loss to the Packers, parting ways with defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and defensive pass-game coordinator Jonathan Cooley in a clear sign that the defense had become the teams most urgent problem. Carolina pointed to the units struggles against the run and the steady stream of points it has allowed, making the changes less about one bad afternoon than a broader breakdown that had been building for weeks.
Todd Walsh will step in as interim defensive coordinator beginning in Week 9, giving the Panthers a new voice in charge of a defense that has been under heavy scrutiny. For a team trying to stabilize its season, the move puts the spotlight on whether a midstream reset can fix the issues that have been dragging the roster down and whether the front office is prepared to keep making changes if the response does not come quickly. [Read more 🡒]