At a certain point, you are what the numbers say you are.
When the Carolina Panthers gave up 59 points in their season-opening loss to the Chicago Bears, there were plenty of legitimate excuses to make. It was a small sample size coming against one of the game's greatest offensive play-callers, who had several months to prepare for the matchup.
That's all fine and good—and from Weeks 2 to 6, Carolina's defense actually did pretty well. How then should we explain what happened to them on Sunday, when they gave up 43 points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite quarterback Baker Mayfield barely having to lift a thumb?
Following their embarrassing 43-13 loss, the defensive numbers for the season are once again not pretty—as the Panthers rank 22nd in total
defense, 27th in scoring and are dead-last against the run for the second time in three seasons.
The only fair grade you can give them this week is an 'F,' which is exactly what they got from CBS Sports. John Breech writes:
This team gave up 59 points in Week 1, but that wasn't even their worst performance of the season. This was. It was a nightmare day all around for the Panthers. Bryce Young has looked good all season, but he regressed here with three turnovers, including a fumble that got returned for a TD. The defense got trampled for more than 250 yards on the ground. This was a total no-show by the Panthers, and they need to make sure it doesn't happen again going forward.
When an offensive unit gives up five sacks, coughs up three turnovers and can't move the chains until garbage time, you can rightfully pin that on the offensive line—or perhaps the offensive coordinator.
When a special teams unit gets an extra point try returned for points the other way and their own returner can't make a catch even when the ball hits him in the numbers, you can blame the special teams coordinator.
When the defense gives up 258 rushing yards and three touchdowns to go with zero sacks and just one quarterback hit the whole game, you rightfully should blame the team's defensive coordinator.
When all of these things happen in the same game, it's on the head coach—and Dave Canales should be feeling a lot of pressure to bounce back with a strong game on Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers earn an 'F' grade for 'total no-show' against Bucs in Week 7
