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The Carolina Panthers are a disaster.
On “Thursday Night Football” in Week 10, the Panthers didn’t score a single touchdown on offense. This led to a 16-13 loss to the Chicago Bears, who started undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent at quarterback. Now, head coach Frank Reich may be adding to the dysfunction in Charlotte.
On Monday on “X,” CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reported Reich didn’t commit to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown remaining the playcaller in Week 11 against the Dallas Cowboys.
“I have not totally dialed that in,” Reich said.
Reich surrendered playcalling duties to Brown ahead of Carolina’s Week 7 bye. Afterward, the Panthers earned their first win of the season. Notably, the win came against Houston and C.J. Stroud, the quarterback selected immediately after Carolina QB Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Since then, Carolina has lost ugly games to Indianapolis and Chicago. Most discouragingly for the Panthers, Young has looked nothing like a franchise QB. He has gone 44-for-77 for 358 yards and one touchdown to three interceptions. Against the Colts, he threw two pick-sixes.
The offense hasn’t hummed under Brown — the Panthers average only 17 points per game, third worst in the NFL — but revoking his responsibilities as playcaller would be a mistake. If Reich decides to call plays himself again, that would be especially bad.
We have already seen what Reich can do calling plays. The only week the passing game accrued more than 250 yards with him as playcaller came in Week 3, when veteran Andy Dalton started in place of Young.
The Panthers are 1-8. They are also without a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft because of a trade with Chicago to move up to get Young. Meanwhile, Stroud has outperformed Young across the board despite his clunker in the 15-13 head-to-head loss to Young in Week 8.
With a ferocious Cowboys defense looming, Reich must stick with his playcaller instead of flip-flopping. Carolina has enough problems already.
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