By GUERRY SMITH Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Carolina Panthers fired coach Frank Reich last year during his miserable debut campaign, then replaced their general manager and worked to upgrade their roster during the offseason.
Their opening performance of 2024 offered little, if any, promise of improvement. The Panthers might have gotten worse.
Bryce Young threw an interception on his first pass, and the New Orleans Saints became the first NFL team this century to score on the first nine series of a season opener, humiliating the Panthers and new coach Dave Canales 47-10 on Sunday.
Carolina trailed 17-0 after the first quarter and 30-0 before the Panthers made a field goal as the first half ended.
“This doesn’t define us,” said Young, whom the Panthers drafted No. 1 overall last year after trading up — a deal that ultimately cost the franchise this year’s top pick. “It’s a long year.”
It will be really long if the Panthers keep playing like they did Sunday.
Young struggled just as much as he did as a rookie, when the Panthers went 2-15. He was 1 of 4 for 4 yards in the first quarter. His second half started almost exactly like his first, with Saints safety Jordan Howden intercepting a pass intended for Adam Thielen.
“I thought he (Thielen) had good space,” Canales said. “It was a high throw.”
Young, whose quarterback rating of 73.7 last season was the lowest of any full-time NFL starter, finished 13 of 30 for 161 yards with a rating of 32.8. Canales inserted backup Andy Dalton late in the fourth quarter to give Young a breather after three straight incomplete passes.
“I thought about getting Andy in the drive before, but I was really just trying to get one more shot of can we just get our rhythm, could we just get some completions, but it didn’t happen,” Canales said. “It was very obvious at that point with the score. I probably could have gotten (Young) out of there earlier.”
Young was hardly the only player who struggled.
Tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders was penalized for holding on an easy third-and-1 conversion to the Saints 36, negating Carolina’s first significant drive. Jonathan Mingo lost a fumble on a reverse. The Panthers’ punt team allowed a 47-yard return by the Saints’ Rashid Shaheed to set up another touchdown. A punt by Johnny Hekker was tipped and traveled only 11 yards, leading to the Saints’ final touchdown.
“We just got whupped in every phase,” guard Robert Hunt said. “We have to be better, and hopefully we can change that. This is a bad feeling. We can’t be OK with losing. I don’t see any positives. The only positive is we have a game next week that we can come and try to change what we did today.”
The defense broke down in every department, allowing more points than Carolina had in any game since a 51-13 loss to San Francisco in 2019. Derek Carr went 19 of 23 for 200 yards and three scores for a passer rating of 142.5. The Saints rushed for 180 yards on 37 carries, with their drive chart reading touchdown, field goal, touchdown, field goal, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown. They finally punted with 4:37 left in the game.
“It was real frustrating,” said newly acquired safety Jordan Fuller. “I haven’t been a part of too many games like that.”
The Panthers have gotten used to scoring 10 points or fewer. It happened seven times last season, when their only two victories were 15-13 and 9-7.
On Sunday, they never accounted for Saints defensive back Alontae Taylor, who sacked Young three times on blitzes after registering one sack through the first two years of his career.
“Systematically, I have to do a better job of getting (the protections) right,” Young said. “I need to get the right people in the right place.”
Very little looked right on this day, but Canales — Carolina’s fifth coach (counting two interims) since the start of 2022 — said he saw no reason to panic.
“It’s a long journey to become us,” he said. “You have to have adversity to become who you’re going to be.”