It's only been one game and already, Carolina Panthers fans are calling for defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero's job. And while that's obviously premature, there's no excusing the team's defensive performance in Sunday's season-opening loss to the Chicago Bears.
Quarterback Bryce Young and the Panthers offense did their part, putting up 37 points and 478 total yards of offense. Unfortunately, the defense had no success whatsoever slowing down the Bears' potent offense and spent much of the afternoon futilely chasing after quarterback Caleb Williams.
In the end, Chicago racked up 552 yards and 59 points—the fourth-most in franchise history for a team that's been around for over 100 years. The Panthers were bad in every facet defensively, but their
pass rushing was particularly disappointing— as they managed just two sacks and five quarterback hits on Williams.
Outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips did record one of those sacks—however, as a team, Carolina pressured Williams just 16.1 percent of the time—the lowest mark for any team in Week 1 according to ESPN. Here's what Phillips had to say afterwards, per Joe Person at The Athletic:
"Fifty-nine is an ugly score to put up as a defense. It’s embarrassing. But I do think it’s a good opportunity for us,” Phillips said. “It’s a critical moment in the sense that getting beat this badly as a defense is really going to define us moving forward, in terms of the urgency that we have to make these corrections and get better.”
Phillips, who signed a four-year $120 million deal this offseason, made his Panthers debut in the defeat. Per Pro Football Focus, he recorded four total pressures—second only on the unit to rookie defensive lineman Lee Hunter.
As a whole, as Phillips stated, getting better is about all they can do—because it's pretty much impossible to do any worse than they did on Sunday. In addition to the pass rush issues, the Panthers got thrashed by the Bears' run game, allowing 291 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: What OLB Jaelan Phillips said about Panthers' defensive performance in Week 1
