Where do you go after getting embarrassed by a division rival the way the Carolina Panthers were in Week 7?
That one is over our pay grade—and that's why head coach Dave Canales is getting the big bucks to answer it while we get to blog about it. We don't envy being in his position this week, though.
After a promising start to the 2026, the Panthers reverted to a Matt Rhule-era kind of loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—who thrashed them on the ground, pulverized their quarterback and demolished them on special teams en route to a 43-13 shellacking.
The staff over at NFL.com is appropriately putting Carolina on blast in their review of yesterday's games. Bobby Kownack writes:
Carolina’s defense? It let the Buccaneers score in droves. Tampa Bay’s
ball-carriers found massive lanes to run through, even as it was obvious what was coming with Baker Mayfield attempting only 11 passes. Ejiro Evero’s defense gave up 258 rushing yards, nearly matching the Panthers’ 266 total yards. Carolina had an opportunity to put the dagger in a struggling divisional opponent early in the season. Instead, Young and Co. will come away with a multitude of questions. It turns out Panthers can lay eggs.
What question needs to be answered first? Probably why defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero's unit keeps on giving up 200-yard rushing performances—as it has twice already this season and 12 times since he took the job in 2023.
Perhaps even more important is what to do about the offensive line, the group that's tasked with protecting the franchise's most important asset. Carolina allowed five sacks on Bryce Young Sunday—and unless something profoundly changes, they're going to waste his prime years as a quarterback.
Clearly throwing money at the problem isn't working. The Panthers are spending far more on their offensive line than any other NFL team this year, and they're only getting one decent starter, left guard Damien Lewis, for their money.
Meanwhile, Carolina's chief rival for the NFC South this season went out and hired the best offensive line coach in the business. Bill Callahan has turned a good Atlanta Falcons offensive line into a great one—and just allowed only a 9-percent pressure rate in an upset win over the San Francisco 49ers.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers have 'multitude of questions' to answer after disaster vs. Bucs
