Panthers starting offense stinks up Buffalo
So much for playing 10 to 20 snaps. It wasn't all bad, the defense showed signs of a pass rush, OL concerns and some other thoughts.
Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers had one of their patented preseason stinkers in Buffalo on Saturday.
Three drives. Nine plays. Seventeen yards. Zero points. Zero first downs.
The hope was for the starters to play 10 to 20 snaps but they stunk it up so badly Head Coach Dave Canales didn’t send them back out there for a fourth drive.
For whatever reason, Young and the Panthers starting offense finds a way to play absolutely dreadful football at least once each August.
In 2023, Young and the starters had 16 total yards on three drives against the Jets and didn’t score a point.
In 2025, they had three total yards on six plays at Houston and didn’t score a point.
At least they had one first down in the aforementioned games (even if the one in Houston came via penalty.)
But to not even get one first down? Not even against Buffalo’s backups?
“Obviously not the start we wanted, not the drives you wanted,” Young said afterwards. “It’s part of the process. You know, a lot of moving parts. Wasn’t able to execute today.”
Starting guards Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt Saturday didn’t play in Buffalo on Saturday and that definitely showed up on film.
“You know, overall just the story was in the trenches,” Canales said afterwards. “It was the run game. The line of scrimmage, those types of things.”
We’ll have to see how the Panthers play once those two are back in the lineup. The worry is that the Panthers sloppiness on the offensive side of the ball bleeds into the regular season again.
To refresh your memory, here are the Panthers 1st half point totals in weeks 1/2 since Young’s rookie season in 2023: Seven, three, three, zero, three and three.
They finished those games with 10, 17, 10, 3, 10 and 22 points - and most importantly - they lost each game.
Digging out of an 0-2 hole is extremely difficult. Doing it this year against this schedule will be a taller task.
Inconsistency has been a staple of the Panthers offense since drafting Young. Eliminating that inconsistency is one of the biggest things the Panthers need to see from Young this season if they’re going to ink him for the long term.
Every team puts up a stinker. But for the Panthers, these performances aren’t few and far between in the preseason and regular season.
Luckily for them, it’s still August. But, September will be here in a flash.
Signs of a pass rush
Jaelan Phillips and Princely Umanmielen were instrumental in forcing Buffalo to kick a field goal on their first offensive drive of the game. They were able to do that without Derrick Brown.
Umanmielen had three pressures and Phillips parlayed one of those into a sack.
Trevis Gipson was credited with a half sack but should’ve had at least 1.5 but he grabbed Josh Allen’s facemark to negate a third down sack. Cam Gill got into the action as well with one.
Offensive line depth concerns
The Panthers offensive line depth was already being tested at the tackle position given the circumstances with Taylor Moton and Ickey Ekwonu.
If Saturday was any indication, they simply cannot lose starting guards Robert Hunt or Damien Lewis for any extended period of time.
Brady Christensen and Chandler Zavala started in their place and it did not go well. The organization knows how important it is to have Hunt and Lewis ready to go for the regular season given the current state of the line.
We’ll have to see how - or if - the Panthers utilize them in the next two preseason games.
Other quick hitter thoughts
I think Ja’seem Reed is going to make this team.
Aaron Hall is making his case as well.
The Panthers didn’t force a single punt. Clearly, that’s never a good thing. But what makes this worse is that they didn’t get a chance to evaluate any potential returners on Saturday. The final roster spots will come down to who can contribute on special teams, especially for the receiver room. They’ll have to hope the defense can force a punt next week in Jacksonville.
Young was sacked once on Saturday. He has been sacked at least once in all seven preseason games he has played.
Didn’t like it (the game, that is).
I’ve been a panthers fan for 25 years. But I’m fully out if they give Bryce an extension.