After beginning the 2024 season with an absolutely brutal loss to the New Orleans Saints, the Carolina Panthers will come back to Charlotte to try to bounce back against the Los Angeles Chargers.
But before we jump into the home opener, here are four things you need to know ahead of Sunday’s clash with the Bolts:
Historic dominance
The Panthers head into their Week 2 tilt with quite the edge in their all-time series against the Chargers. Carolina currently holds a 6-1 record against Los Angeles, including wins in their last four meetings.
Oh, and the first of those four gave us one of the most thrilling moments in franchise history . . .
https://twitter.com/Panthers/status/1834368080861929964
While the two teams seem to be trending in opposite directions at the start of this season, perhaps history will continue to be on Carolina’s side. We’ll see if they can extend their winning ways against the Chargers or give up some slack on the all-time mark.
New identities
Both the Panthers and the Chargers went into this past offseason looking to replace two horrendous coaching regimes. In Carolina, it was the short-lived Frank Reich era—which was a jumbled mess filled with regression and in-house drama. In Los Angeles, you had Brandon Staley—who failed to deliver during his three seasons in charge.
So, both teams took opposite approaches to their head-coaching searches. The Chargers looked to the experienced and established Jim Harbaugh to build a culture. The Panthers chose to go with a younger, fresh-faced first-year offensive coordinator to breathe life into their second-year quarterback.
Then, both coaches saw drastically different results in Week 1—with one pulling out a resilient win and the other a thorough and embarrassing loss. Canales now enters his matchup against Harbaugh in a must-look-competent situation after a 37-point loss.
(Big) Man down
The massive cherry on top of Carolina’s disastrous Week 1 sundae was their loss of defensive lineman Derrick Brown—who will miss the remainder of the season due to a torn meniscus. Their defense already looked helpless with the Pro Bowler on field, allowing 180 rushing yards to the Saints—so it’s going to be tough for the team to field a respectable front for the rest of the way.
Harbaugh and the Chargers have made it clear that they want to run the ball as their primary method of attack. And given the breakout of J.K. Dobbins last week, it could be a long day for the Panthers defense.
A big test
While it’s fair to say that the Panthers had an outright abysmal offensive performance in New Orleans, one of the few bright spots of outing was the offensive line.
Yes, there were a few sacks that leaked through. But the revamped offensive line held their own in pass protection, particularly from the inside.
This week, they face off against one of the most dynamic pass-rushing duos in Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack. Both left tackle Ikem Ekwonu and right tackle Taylor Moton are going to need to bring their best to try and secure a safe pocket for quarterback Bryce Young.
If they can continue to protect their young passer, this offense may just have a shot.
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