Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of your weekly Panthers fan mailbag for everyone! We’re right back into Panthers football with a very winnable matchup on Sunday, albeit due to many injuries in Philadelphia. But the game keeps rolling and the cards keep getting dealt, all we can do is enjoy the fun of the regular season. Let’s dive into your questions!
JoshuaTreeTD: Do you think Dave and Brad will continue to switch up the offensive play style to attack any given opponents weakness from
week to week? It felt like the Lions were not expecting such heavy RPO plays and it caught them fully off guard and Bryce executed it almost perfectly. What would you predict the play style will be to attack Philly?
The Panthers have definitely been adaptive on offense. I think the formula of mixing in some deep shots with their usual run approach will continue, but I definitely see them running a lot of RPO this week against a pretty good Eagles front seven. This offense has been aggressive as far as trying to score points, so I do think I agree that they’ll have a unique game plan for each team they face. And that seemed to be the vision when they brought in Dave Canales.
schrodingersblackcat: Will Bryce be the one to finally break our black jersey curse?
I didn’t feel great about this game, but then Jalen Hurts was ruled out with a blood clot. Which, by the way, from one fan base to another, I hope he recovers in short order and has no complications. These types of things make you realize there’s more to life than the next week of football, and I hope Hurts gets all the treatment he needs and doesn’t have any negative impact on his life as a person.
That said, this is definitely a game where the Panthers should have every chance to win it, in convincing fashion. And knowing their recent history as a franchise, they might drop the ball and lose this game. Cause Panthers fans can never have nice things.
Aleins4u: If you had a offensive oriented head coach, would you rather:
- Have a good, but not great DC, who frequently gets HC interviews but never gets the job
- A series of great DCs, but each only lasts 2 years before getting poached for a HC job
And same question, except a defensive oriented head coach and OCs.
The core of the question is, would you rather a good quality, consistent approach on the side of the ball the HC has less knowledge about, or a constantly but shifting great approach that might require different player types.
I’m all for having coordinators on both sides of the ball that are so good that they move on to higher positions. I think you have to maximize every coach you have, because they can be poached at any moment. I would rather have coordinators that prove themselves worthy of going off to make more money and take on more responsibility, because the best franchises in the NFL tend to expect this and try to give development reps to the guys they have in the trenches behind them. I’d much rather have a coordinator that helps this team win a Super Bowl than someone who isn’t excellent enough to get them there, but still sticks around because other teams don’t feel he can take them to the next level. The name of the game is winning in this league, win the championship and figure out the repercussions after the fact.
Mozzie11: The NFC South has been the worst division for years with winners having losing records at times. This year the NFC East is throwing their hat the ring for worst. Panthers and Eagles is just part of the epic battle. Which division ‘wins’ the title this year?
I do think the NFC South will continue its recent history of getting the least deserving team a playoff berth. The Panthers have been very good, but they are still up and down. The Falcons are on an upward trajectory. The Saints are 2-3 unexpected wins away from joining them at the top of the division. The NFC East is certainly in the same playing field, but I think one of those teams will jump far ahead of the rest. Which team that is at this juncture, I don’t know.
@WTMealey: Are we eyeballing the entire NFC playoff picture now or just the South?
Like is it silly to be glad the Rams lost last night? BTW do we have rivalry with them now?
But really are we rooting for AFC teams to beat top 10 NFC teams to help our likelihood of having 2 home playoff games or ….? Is it too soon?
I think bolshy in the comments answered this better than I could: “I wouldn’t eyeball anything but Philly right now”. This Panthers team is showing a great deal if promise, but I’d be more concerned with the games they win than other contenders losing. They may change that mindset in the coming weeks, but I’m not ready to do that right now. I’ve been hurt too many times.
Brazilian Panther: Pick one between the OG movie Carrie from 76, the remake with Chloe Grace Moretz from 2013 or Mike Flanagan’s 2026 mini series on Prime Video Brian. I just watched the series this past weekend and I really liked what they came up with. Cheers
To be fully transparent, I haven’t watched even a little of the new mini-series. So I can’t make a ruling on that, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. Sound off down below in the comments if you have, and what your thoughts on it. I’m very much a fan of the original, but I liked both of the first two iterations.
casualpanthersfan: The panthers are currently averaging 30.3 point per game. Would you take the over or under on the panthers point total this week?
I will always preface these questions with the same statement; I do not bet real money on the Panthers because they always do the opposite of what I think. And if I think they’ll do the opposite of what the regular media thinks they’ll do, I also lose most of the time. Don’t bet on the Panthers, your mental health will thank you.
But gun to my head, this is still a strong Eagles defense. I think it will be an ugly low scoring game.
Bruce Guild: Brian, we’re giving up 5.4 yards a carry so far, but Philly just lost Lane Johnson to retirement, traded Jurgens, has Dickerson on IR, and ran for only 22 yards in London without Saquon. Is this the week Evero’s front finally gets right against the run, or does our run D get exposed anyway? And with both starting corners on IR, do they load the box, make Hurts beat them throwing, and trust Will Lee and Evans one-on-one?
This week will be interesting, and thank you for the Grok question. Jalen Hurts suddenly being out changes the whole dynamic of this game, and I’m not sure if Saquon Barkley or Devonta Smith ends up playing given this development. They are both banged up and the Eagles might elect to just rest them both because of the dire situation. But if the Eagles do come out aggressive, I expect Ejiro Evero to be very aggressive blitzing like he has been this season. And if Saquon plays I expect the focus will be to contain him, just like the focus against the Lions and Gibbs.
Bull123: Injuries…who plays on OL?…Coker?…Phillips? Are we stuck with Evans?
Seems like Taylor Moton could be back, but I think the coaching staff plays it safe with him after his health issues. Monroe Freeling is still dealing with his knee issue in week 4, and while he got a limited practice on Thursday I don’t know where he’s at. So we might be seeing Stone Forsythe starting just to not rush anyone back. I expect the guard situation on the OL to remain the same. Jalen Coker is all go for Sunday. We’ll have to wait on Jaelan Phillips but he’s logged two limited practices this week. I assume you’re referring to Akayleb Evans with the last part, and I don’t expect his role to change too much. The Panthers seem to be wading out this period of having their top 2 CBs hurt until mid season.
LouWillVille: Once Moton and Freeling are both cleared to play do you think Freeling becomes the swing tackle or is there a chance he takes over at LT for Walker?
Also, with Cam Jackson out for the year would you expect a trade for some IDL depth? Obviously, we’re getting Wharton back, but he has been injury prone and even with him the depth is thin.
I do think once Taylor Moton is full go, they keep Monroe Freeling on the bench for a bit. That was always the plan if he didn’t win the LT job from Rasheed Walker, and he basically spent the entire preseason/training camp period taking reps at right tackle, transitioning back to playing left tackle after all of that time isn’t going to happen overnight.
As far as the DL goes, they could maybe make a trade for a relatively low cost interior guy who is more run stuffing focused, but I don’t expect them to do anything crazy. They very well might just roll with Turk Wharton, Aaron Hall, and Bobby Brown Jr to compliment Derrick Brown. And that combination might be just fine.
Irishboy: Brian, as we are coming off the bye week, I know Bryce did a lot of travelling/TV work during the week off. Could any of this, including the MVP chants have any impact into how prepared and how he plays for Sunday? Myself, I am hoping not, but this is a lot of positive noise that he hasn’t received since coming into the league.
I’m not worried at all about Bryce Young taking some media time during the bye week. The team still had their own practice and workout time, the bye week is all about just taking some time off to recover and reload. Bryce has never struck me as the type to come in mentally unprepared for a game. I’m glad he’s getting some flowers rather than being labeled a tremendous bust. This stuff might actually help him continue to be confident in his game now that outside sources are recognizing how excellent he has been in 4 games this year.
Highmiles: Late question, since Bryce has become a key element of our offense, how will he hold up physically? I worried he would be injured When he started his NFL career, but he has done well staying on the field. Now that he is showing out as our QB he will probably be a more frequent target of the defenses. Is he going to be able to handle it physically?
Aside from relatively routine minor injuries, Bryce Young has survived quite a few beatings in his career so far. I am not concerned at all with the ankle injuries that have kept him out for a game or so during his time as an NFL starter. He’s proven he’s tough and he’s generally pretty smart about avoiding non-essential contact. I am not concerned at all.
RealityDan: Simple question, no worries if it’s too late to answer, but if BY ends the season for the most part sustaining what he’s already done through the rest of the season, what kind of extension numbers are we looking at? I know 55m per year has been thrown around a lot, but my thoughts are that Baker just got that. If we’re talking of doing this in the offseason, this assumes that other QBs like Stroud, Murray if he plays well, etc. are also getting contracts inked, could we be talking 60-plus per year for BY? And for how many years and how much guaranteed?
If Bryce continues to lead the league in most passing categories, he’s getting $60+ mil per year and there’s really nothing to talk about. Probably at least 5 years just because that’s how new QB contracts are often structured in a situation like this. The average amount per year doesn’t really matter as much as how they structure it from a guaranteed money/signing bonus/dead money standpoint. If they extend him and he continues to play well, those numbers all go out the window with restructures and a potential extension two to three years into that next deal. If he’s playing at this level throughout that time, the numbers won’t matter a whole lot aside from how long the Panthers take to give him the next bite of the apple.
That’s all for this week, Panthers fans. Join us next week for another edition of the fan mailbag. KEEP POUNDING!
