FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — This might be the ultimate test of patience for Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper.
Sunday’s 42-13 loss to the New England Patriots was a complete team failure, so much that coach Dave Canales took full responsibility for the collapse that left Carolina with a 1-3 record.
“When it happens in all phases, I’m the common denominator,” Canales said after falling to 6-15 since Tepper hired him during the 2024 offseason.
All the promise the Panthers showed a week earlier in a 30-0 victory over the Atlanta Falcons disappeared in about the time it took New England’s Marcus Jones to return a punt 87 yards for a first-quarter touchdown and 7-6 lead.
From there it was an avalanche of bad plays that had the Patriots (2-2) leading 42-6 before a late Panthers touchdown by rookie tight end Mitchell Evans.
It was so bad that Canales, who has taken responsibility for losses in the past, was particularly hard on himself.
“I have to make sure I’m pushing the guys in the right way,” he said. “I have to evaluate what we’re doing, how we’re working, how we’re preparing our guys. I felt confident about that part, but we’re not getting the results.”
Tepper has to evaluate whether the blame falls on Canales and members of his staff, and whether it’s worth making a change. In 2021, the in-season fall guy was offensive coordinator Joe Brady, who was fired after a 5-7 start to the season. Brady went on to become a successful offensive coordinator with the Buffalo Bills.
The last time Tepper felt a change was needed at the top during the season was 2023 when he moved on from veteran coach Frank Reich after a 1-10 start to his first year at Carolina.
In 2022, he fired Matt Rhule with a 1-4 record in his third season, finishing 11-27 overall. Prior to that he fired Ron Rivera at 5-7 in 2019 a year after going 7-9 in Tepper’s first season as the owner.
That was three head coaches in five seasons.
Tepper, however, stuck with Canales after a 5-12 record last season as a rookie head coach. There never was an indication of making a change.
But if the Panthers can’t get on track, it’s fair to wonder how much patience Tepper will show with his coach and staff.
“I have to look at that myself. Are we putting our guys in the best situation to be successful in every phase?” Canales said. “I have to make sure that we have those conversations and keep progressing our football forward.”
The Panthers’ special teams unit gave up 167 punt returns yards to Jones, resulting in one touchdown and almost a second, had he not been tripped up by punter Sam Martin.
That’s the seventh most punt return yards in a game allowed by one player in the past 25 seasons.
This all happened a week after Carolina looked like one of the better special team units in the NFL.
The defense that shut out the Falcons last week allowed quarterback Drake Maye to go 14-of-17 for 203 yards and two touchdowns, plus a rushing score.
Carolina quarterback Bryce Young didn’t have a turnover for the second straight week, but he was off target much of the day, particularly as it pertained to rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan (3 catches, 8 targets, 40 yards).
But as badly as Panthers players performed, none blamed Canales.
“It’s on me,” Young said. “It’s on everybody in that locker room. We talked about that after. We all take accountability. We all have to look in the mirror. We all have to understand what we can do better. It’s definitely not on one person. It’s all of us that have to be better.”
Cornerback Jaycee Horn agreed.
“He can’t come out there and play,” he said of Canales. “We’ve got to be ready to play all three phases, and we [weren’t]. We had a great week of practice. That don’t mean you’re gonna play good on Sunday. You gotta show up and do it.
“And that’s not on him.”
The upcoming schedule is favorable for Carolina to fix things. The Panthers host the struggling Miami Dolphins (0-3) and Dallas Cowboys (1-2-1) before going to New York to face the Jets (0-3).
So what might change? It won’t be the playcaller. Canales says he’s not giving that up.
“I believe I’m the right person to be able to push our concepts and our schemes forward,” he added.
Canales also said he’s not planning “right now” to make any changes to his staff.
That’s why this will test Tepper’s patience. If he truly believes the organization is being built the right way, he’ll leave things alone.
That’s what former Carolina owner Jerry Richardson did after a 1-3 start to the 2013 season. That team won eight straight and 11 of it’s last 12.
But the Panthers showed no signs Sunday that a turnaround like that is possible.
“To me, this game is about consistency,” Canales said. “Can we consistently play good football? Today was not that. That’s something we have to look at and make sure we’re taking the right steps forward.”
