The Carolina Panthers’ offensive line has spent the first three games of 2026 looking out of sync, and Sunday’s 21-18 loss to the Cleveland Browns brought that problem into sharp focus.
The issues showed up everywhere. The Panthers couldn’t get their run game rolling, and Bryce Young was under siege far too often in a game that was there to be won if not for what happened up front.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Young was pressured on 51 percent of his dropbacks in Week 3. Chuba Hubbard, meanwhile, was held in check for most of the afternoon outside of the offense’s late touchdown drive.
After the game, Robert Hunt pointed to timing and cohesion as the main culprits. The right guard told Mike Kaye at ESPN:
"I think we all just got to do a better job. I think we're just kind of -- I hate to say it -- one man off every time.
That could be from me or anybody else," said Panthers right guard Rob Hunt of the team's run game struggles. "So we've just got to be on the same page.
I think we've just got to click, and I think later in the game, it felt good and it looked good. We've got to start early.
If we start early, it's a different ball game."
There’s no getting around the personnel hit either. Carolina has been without starting offensive tackles Taylor Moton and Ikem Ekwonu, and that absence has clearly mattered. Still, this is supposed to be the team’s biggest strength, and the Panthers are spending more than any other NFL team up front by a wide margin.
That puts the pressure squarely on offensive line coach Joe Gilbert to find answers. If he can’t get this group moving in the same direction, Carolina’s offense risks falling well short of the potential it appears to have this season.
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