CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Down by a score and rolling behind running back Chuba Hubbard early in the fourth quarter, it looked like the Carolina Panthers might have a chance.
Then Andy Dalton forced a throw to a well-covered Ian Thomas, Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell intercepted it and the Panthers’ MASH-unit defense trudged back out on the field. On the Falcons’ first snap after the Dalton pick, Kirk Cousins handed the ball to Tyler Allgeier running right.
The Panthers didn’t have a chance.
The 5-10, 225-pound back ran through at least five tackle attempts and carried several defenders with him as his offensive teammates pushed the pile near the end of Allgeier’s 18-yard gain, which happened right in front of the Falcons’ sideline.
Angry run (noun)
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— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 13, 2024
“Bad leverage. Bad tackling,” outside linebacker DJ Johnson said. “That was a bad play.”
Eight plays later, Allgeier went in for a 2-yard touchdown and the Falcons went on to a 38-20 victory at Bank of America Stadium.
In recent years when the Panthers (1-5) were cycling through quarterbacks like they were running a temp agency, the defense would often keep the Panthers in games before crumbling under the weight of an inconsistent offense.
But the tables have turned.
No one would confuse the Panthers’ offense with the Baltimore Ravens’ or San Francisco 49ers’ offenses. But the Panthers have been mostly competent since Dalton replaced Bryce Young while the defense has been gashed open.
Since winning Dalton’s first start at Las Vegas on Sept. 22, the Panthers have given up 34, 36 and 38 points in successive losses. They have allowed more points (203) through six games than all but eight NFL teams during the Super Bowl era.
| OPPONENT | POINTS | RUSH | PASS | TOTAL | AYP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Falcons |
38
|
198
|
225
|
423
|
6.2
|
 at Bears |
36
|
128
|
296
|
424
|
6.1
|
 Bengals |
34
|
141
|
232
|
373
|
6
|
Their two best players are on injured reserve and their marquee edge rusher was on the sideline Sunday in street clothes. The defense coordinated by Ejiro Evero, who has gotten head-coaching interviews in each of the past two hiring cycles, has become the weak link.
“That’s the most frustrating part to me,” cornerback Jaycee Horn said. “Just being here the last couple years, it’s always been, ‘If we had an offense, we could do this, we could do that.’ And now they’re doing more than enough every week for us to win. And we haven’t went out there and had that dominating performance yet as a defense. I feel like we owe it to them guys.”
The Allgeier play was a microcosm of the Panthers’ defensive issues: poor tackling and an inability to get the job done, no matter how many different guys they throw at it. In this case, it took seven players before Allgeier was finally on the ground.
It started with two injury replacements in the secondary making the first whiffs. While safety Nick Scott missed with an arm tackle around Allgeier’s ankle, cornerback Mike Jackson bounced off of Allgeier when the Atlanta back lowered his shoulder into him.
“I was the first person there, got him around his legs and just assumed he was going down,” said Scott, who has missed a couple of other key tackles in recent weeks. “So I’ll take full responsibility for even letting that play get started. Gotta come up with a body part, can’t assume anything.”
From there, nickelback Troy Hill swiped at the ball unsuccessfully, Johnson came in hot and lost his footing and nose tackle Shy Tuttle delivered a big hit but failed to wrap up. With defensive end LaBryan Ray going high and rookie linebacker Trevin Wallace and Scott (who got back on his feet and back in the fray) going low, the Panthers finally put Allgeier on the ground 18 yards later.
It takes a village.
“I think we’ve got the right guys in the huddle. But it’s definitely demoralizing. It’s a little embarrassing,” Scott said. “I don’t think it affected how we approached that drive. But more so, it gives them momentum. They’re hyped on the sideline. Their guys are firing off the ball even more now. So you can’t ever give a team that type of momentum or bravado in a situation like that. And unfortunately that’s what we did.”
Everyone in the stadium or watching at home knew how this was going to end after Dalton’s first interception. And it would have ended with an even uglier score had corner Clark Phillips not given himself up at the Panthers’ 6 instead of finishing off a pick six.
But the margins are so small with the beleaguered defense that the offense has to be almost perfect — both with the play calling and execution. That’s a tough way to survive on Sundays.
So though the Panthers did some nice things offensively — with another strong game from Hubbard (18 carries for 92 yards) and a couple of nice touchdown catches from Diontae Johnson and Xavier Legette — the defense was letting the Falcons (4-2) run wild and pretty much score at will.
After forcing Atlanta to punt on its opening series, the Panthers allowed scores on seven of the Falcons’ last eight possessions (not counting Cousins’ kneeldowns at the end of each half).
“Chuba been running the ball great. Andy been dealing. Diontae been balling. Just as a defense, we ain’t quite put it together yet,” Horn said. “So I think that’s the most frustrating part. Because every year it’s been defense been good and the offense been struggling. Now it’s like flipped on its head.”
It’s unclear what other buttons the front office or coaching staff can push personnel-wise. Dan Morgan has signed five veteran edge rushers since trading Brian Burns, and the four who have played in games (Shaq Lawson is still on the practice squad) have combined for two sacks.
Frankie Luvu, their best blitzer, left in free agency and had 2 1/2 sacks last week for the Washington Commanders. Evero has tried several players in blitz packages — including Horn on Sunday — without success.
First-year coach Dave Canales offered no solutions Sunday in the wake of another disappointing day for the defense.
“We’ve gotta play team defense and stop the plays that are there to stop. I truly believe that. Ejiro believes it,” Canales said. “We’re just gonna attack the fundamentals and the basics because that’s what we’ve got. If we can just make the story as simple as that. Can we get better at our fundamentals?”
Compounding matters is the fact more than half of the defensive starters are hanging out in the training room — from those out for the season (Derrick Brown and Shaq Thompson) to those considered week to week (Jadeveon Clowney, D.J. Wonnum, Josey Jewell, Jordan Fuller and Dane Jackson).
Wonnum might help the pass rush, but he’s probably a few weeks from returning. In the meantime, there are no Pro Bowlers walking through that door.
“There’s nobody to call,” safety Xavier Woods said. “We’ve just gotta fight with the guys in this building and continue to just keep fighting, keep getting better day by day.”
Hill has been in the league since 2015, the same year the Panthers drafted Thompson in the first round. He was with Evero and defensive pass game coordinator Jonathan Cooley in L.A. He’s seen some things.
But Hill said he’s never seen anything like the injuries the Panthers have endured, adding it’s like he’s playing alongside new people every week.
“I ain’t never been a part of nothing like that. Never,” he said. “But it’s football, though. You give (backups) opportunities to come out there and feed their families. Gotta step up to the plate and know what we’re doing.”
(Top photo: Jim Dedmon / Imagn Images)
