The Panthers’ coaching staff might have had more disadvantages than any other team last offseason. In addition to bringing in a first-year head coach in Matt Rhule, the team underwent more roster turnover than any other NFL club by a wide margin. Navigating all those changes would have been challenging in any year, but the pandemic threw off the usual spring and summer schedule, forcing meetings into virtual settings.
That handicap has been removed as the league returns to something like a normal offseason. These days Carolina’s coaches are more on the same page with players, per Matt Rhule in a press conference a couple weeks ago:
“I think last year we were spending a lot of time trying to figure out who we were in our base stuff. … So I think right now, the end of game, the red zone — I think our guys are more comfortable. And I think our coaches are more on the same page with the players.”
Situational football certainly has to be more of a priority compared to 2020.
Whether Teddy Bridgewater was right or wrong to call his former coaches out for not spending much practice time on red zone drills, the results spoke for themselves. Carolina finished the year No. 28 in red zone scoring and Bridgewater posted the NFL’s lowest passer rating (29.2) in those spots. The team’s end of game issues were also clear – Bridgewater went 0-8 on potential game-winning or tying drives. Bridgewater bears much of the weight of those failures but Rhule, offensive coordinator Joe Brady and the rest of the staff are also responsible.
That said, if the coaches have truly learned their lesson and new starting quarterback Sam Darnold has a little more success in close games, the Panthers’ win total could make a big jump in just one year.
