Let us all take a deep breath.

Yes, the Carolina Panthers looked like an even worse dumpster fire in yesterday’s season opener than they have during their entire streak of abject failures in 2023. Yes, the five hours I spent hauling two and a half tons of cobblestones up a six-foot hill to my backyard on Saturday were more entertaining than Sunday’s game. Yes, the New Orleans Saints inflicted a 47-10 loss on the Panthers. All of that hurt, and it doesn’t feel any better today.

The beginning of the game, particularly the first two passing plays on offense, were as comical as it gets outside of a true Hollywood script. I think that set the tone for the game, not only for the players, but for the way we as fans reacted emotionally to the rest of the collapse.

It’s easy to say the sky is falling. It’s obvious this team isn’t where Dave Canales hoped it would be to open the season. But I think the truth about these Panthers lies somewhere between “the end of days” and “all we need is grit and grit.”

What I liked

The crime?

Much of the discussion, starting in the first quarter, centered around the lack of playing time for the starters in the preseason. This complaint is valid. Bryce Young looked lost in the first half. He held onto the ball too long and his shots were inaccurate. He also came into his own in the second half. He seemed to trust his blocking more and showed better overall decision-making and greater accuracy as a passer. Blitz detection and court vision remained a challenge throughout the game.

Young actually had a few decent drives. That’s a few more than he had in most games last season. He played in an offense that showed some intelligence in its play calling and had plenty of open receivers.

“A couple of drives” sounds condescending, but it isn’t if we’re honest and believe that this game was the Panthers’ preseason. That fault lies with Canales. But he is also responsible for the better-looking offensive scheme.

There’s a winning offense here that Young can run if he can. I want him to get off to a clean start next week and get into the game quicker.

He’ll get a game rest since he didn’t have a proper preseason. Two duds will have (more) fans clamoring for Andy Dalton. I’m not saying it’s likely we’ll see dramatic improvement next week, just that we have an outside chance of avoiding a crushing disappointment.

MichaelJackson

Despite all the consternation and roster fluctuations at the cornerback position—not to mention the injury to Dane Jackson—the Panthers have had incredible luck drafting cornerbacks with no or lesser-known players.

Enter Mike Jackson. He had four or five impactful plays that could have helped stop offenses if anyone other than Jaycee Horn had shown up on defense yesterday. Defense was always my biggest concern with this team, as they obviously went overboard in building the team for Young’s grading year.

Jackson limits these concerns, at least as far as the secondary level is concerned.

What everyone else liked:

Brian Beversluis

Jaycee Horn understood the assignment and locked down Chris Olave (I’m not sure if the Shaheed TD earlier in the game was his fault, it looked like it was zone and there should have been help from the safety). And I liked the rushing offense when the game script was normal for the 30 seconds or so that it was

Daniel Belton

I was very impressed with Mike Jackson (aside from that one questionable PI call). He was everywhere and played very physical.

Eric Buchanan

Aside from flashes from the nickel, the OL seemed more competent at pass blocking than the 2023 version.

DA welding

Rookie Xavier Legette led the team with four receptions in his NFL debut.

What happens next?

I really don’t know. Judging by the match report alone, you’d think they’re picking up where they left off last season. That’s an opinion you’d share if you’d seen most of the game.

For now, I take comfort in the fact that Young performed decently on the offensive line and had open receivers to throw to. War neurosis can be treatable. I’m not going to start lighting the curtains on fire or whatever you kids do these days. Not today.

There is an obvious path to improvement, which is for Young to get used to his own boots. After that, everything else on offense will more or less fall into place. The defense will struggle because of a history of underinvestment in talent. That’s just the way it is, but even incremental improvements on the attacking side will lead to a more watchable product.

Next week will show whether we should expect this change, but after one week we can only say that it is possible. This is at least an improvement on last season.