Panthers vs Seahawks: 3 storylines to watch

Where to keep your eyes when the Panthers are on the field on Sunday

Bad luck and questionable decisions have combined for a dismal start to the Carolina Panthers’ 2023 season.

Brady Christensen, Shaq Thompson, and Jaycee Horn are on injured reserve. Christensen and Thompson are out for the season. Horn is expected back in the distant future. Bryce Young is unlikely to play this week with an ankle injury. We have no idea of its severity. That’s all bad luck (depending on how you feel about artificial turf).

Adam Thielen and Hayden Hurst each have as many or more catches on the season than Panthers wide receivers not named Adam Thielen. That’s largely due to a combination of inopportune play-calling and a lack of speed at wide receiver. Those all constitute questionable decisions in both the preseason and the regular season.

There isn’t much that can be done about the roster or the injuries that have ravaged it, but there are a few key spots we can watch for where Panthers coaches can make the game easier on themselves and finally take a step back towards earning their fan’s confidence.

Here’s what I’m watching for on Sunday:

Can the pass rush get home?

The Seahawks longest completion to a wide receiver last week was for 18-yards. Geno Smith’s targets have only averaged 5.8 yards down field per pass attempt this season. Seattle is missing both starting tackles and is in trouble elsewhere along their offensive line as well.

Seattle’s receivers are good, their quarterback is fine. The best way for the Panthers defense to win this game is to sack Smith early and often before he can take advantage of the Panthers own injury concerns in the secondary. If Brian Burns, Frankie Luvu, and more aren’t putting heavy pressure down through the first half then we can expect another long and disappointing game where the Seahawks might clear the over all on their own.

Does the offense lean more on the run game?

The Seattle Seahawks have a lot of talent in their secondary that hasn’t proven to combine for a successful pass defense just yet. The Carolina Panthers receiving corps isn’t going to strike fear into anybody, and thus could make a perfect “get right game” for them.

The Panthers need to finally lean on their running game to put pressure onto the opposing secondary and give their receivers some room to operate. That means more of both Miles Sanders and Chuba Hubbard, who have combined with Bryce Young’s scrambling abilities to put the Panthers at ninth in rushing yards and fourth in yards per rush in the entire NFL, despite being only 18th in rushes per game.

The Panthers have been quick to abandon the run because they end up in a lot of second or third and long scenarios. In part, they end up in those scenarios because they fall behind the sticks on passing attempts. It’s a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg situation and it doesn’t matter which came first. They just need to fry them both into one breakfast sandwich and get moving towards lunch.

Ticking clocks

One of the other reasons the Panthers end up behind the sticks or wasting timeouts early is because they have been consistently late in getting a play called. We don’t know if it is Young being a rookie or Reich being indecisive, but it has shot more than one drive in the foot already. The team needs to stop limiting their own chances for success and give their quarterbacks more time to read the defense before the snap.

I don’t care right now if it is Young or Reich, I just want to see Andy Dalton get it right this week. That will be a step the team can build on and hopefully leave this consistent liability in their past.

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