Hopefully David Tepper didn’t have any drinks around on Sunday. Or anything else the owner of the Carolina Panthers might say in anger.
The Panthers have spent a lot of time this offseason improving after going 2-15 last season. They hired a new head coach, Dave Canales. They improved the team around quarterback Bryce Young. And Sunday was no different.
The Panthers’ renewed optimism was dashed before halftime of the season opener. They were down 30-0 against the New Orleans Saints before their season was even two quarters old. Young, who struggled as a rookie after being the first overall draft pick taken following the Panthers’ monster trade to get him, threw a bad interception on his first pass of the season. He threw an even worse interception early in the second half, throwing the ball wide past an unmarked Adam Thielen. The Saints converted that interception into a touchdown and a 37-3 lead. At that point, Young’s line was atrocious: 6 of 14, 50 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions and a nearly impossible passer rating of 13.1.
Young improved his stats a bit after the game got completely out of hand, and the Saints won 47-10. Young finished the game completing 13 of 30 passes for 161 yards.
Had Young not been the first pick in last year’s draft, there would probably be talk of benching him. Canales is one game into his career as an NFL head coach, and with his team owner so impatient, he has to be a little concerned about how much longer he’ll get to play if Sunday’s outcome is what we can expect for the rest of the season.
One game isn’t enough to draw any conclusions. But the Panthers’ performance was so bad that it’s hard not to think the worst. Especially since Carolina was the worst team in the NFL last season and Young was awful. The Panthers spent more than $150 million on two guards as free agents, drafted a receiver in the first round and a running back and tight end in the early rounds, traded for receiver Diontae Johnson and made other additions. And yet it all looks like a waste.
Tepper is not patient in any situation and one has to imagine that such a big loss in Week 1 will make him even more nervous than usual after all that investment.
The biggest concern is Young’s problems on Sunday. The Panthers probably already realized that selecting Young over CJ Stroud was a mistake. But one season wasn’t enough to throw in the towel for Young. Still, there can’t be too much optimism after Sunday. If Young is as bad as he looked in one game of his second season, it will set the Panthers back years, especially considering what they gave up for him.
There’s still a long way to go this season, and maybe the Panthers aren’t as bad as they looked in the opening game. But if they are that bad, big changes are coming. And Tepper may not need until the end of the season to make them.
Here are the remaining winners and losers from Week 1 of the NFL season:
WINNER
Joe Mixon and Steve Diggs: The Houston Texans knew they had a chance to win before CJ Stroud finally signed a contract that made Dak Prescott look like a steal. The Texans’ two big moves were trades for Mixon to improve the running back position and Diggs to improve the already good receiver position. Both moves paid off in the opening game.
Diggs caught two touchdowns, the second a huge fourth down and goal in the fourth quarter that extended the Texans’ lead over the Colts to 29-20. Mixon looked to be a huge asset at running back, rushing for 159 yards. On third down and third down as the Colts tried to get the ball back in the final two minutes, Mixon ran for a huge first down to secure the 29-27 victory.
The Texans finished last season strong and made some aggressive moves in the offseason, and one week later, those moves seem smart.
Dolphins passing game: The Miami Dolphins can once again pass the ball very well.
Tua Tagovailoa threw for 336 yards, Tyreek Hill had 130 receiving yards, including an 80-yard touchdown, and Jaylen Waddle added 108 yards as the Dolphins came back to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-17. Jason Sanders kicked a 52-yard field goal as time expired to secure the win.
The Dolphins will be good offensively again. Tagovailoa will put up great numbers and probably still not get the respect he deserves. But as long as Miami keeps winning, everything is fine.
Steelers Pass Rush: Pittsburgh may have issues on offense this season, but they can still get to the quarterback.
Led by TJ Watt, the Steelers defense led Pittsburgh to a big season-opening 18-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons’ new quarterback, Kirk Cousins, struggled and was often under pressure. With less than three minutes to play and the Falcons trailing 15-10, he threw under pressure and the ball was easily intercepted, essentially ending the Falcons’ hopes.
The Steelers had to use Justin Fields due to Russell Wilson’s injury, and he was solid. The Steelers have to decide on a quarterback before Week 2. But no matter what happens, they know the defense will be on the field every week.
Buffalo Bills, close: The Bills won, and on a day when many teams suffered losses, that’s the most important thing.
But it was much closer than expected. The Bills were down 17-3 in the first half against the Arizona Cardinals. They came back, with Josh Allen doing everything he always does, and held on when the Cardinals had the ball in the final two minutes to win 34-28. Allen had two touchdown runs and two touchdown passes in the comeback.
The Cardinals could be a tough opponent this season because of their offense. But if the Bills want to be a Super Bowl contender again, a near-loss at home to Arizona in Week 1 is not a good sign. After all, they are 1-0, which is better than some other top NFL teams can say after a week.
LOSER
Brian Daboll: Maybe the Minnesota Vikings will become one of the surprise teams of the NFL, but more likely, we saw on Sunday how bad the New York Giants will be this season.
Daboll was considered one of the head coaches on the hot seat early in the season, and it gets a lot worse. The Giants were embarrassed 28-6 at home by a Vikings team that virtually everyone had pegged as last place in the NFC North. In the first half, the Giants had 87 yards and five first downs in 30 plays. The defense was shredded by Sam Darnold. When Darnold threw his second touchdown of the game, the Giants were down 21-3. Darnold was very good, completing 16 of 21 passes for 208 yards, but maybe that says something about the Giants’ secondary.
That’s not good. And it’s not good for general manager Joe Schoen, who went against co-owner John Mara’s wishes and let Saquon Barkley go to the Philadelphia Eagles. Barkley scored three touchdowns in the opening game. If the Giants are as bad as they looked on Sunday, Daboll in particular could be in trouble early this season.
Will Levis: Levis has the ability to make big plays for the Tennessee Titans. The concern was the plays he would give up.
The Titans were ahead of the Chicago Bears for most of Sunday’s game, but Levis made an unforgivable mistake. With the Titans leading 17-16, Levis was under pressure and went down while backhanding a pass. It didn’t even land near the intended receiver, but right at cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. Stevenson easily intercepted the ball and scored the game-winning touchdown with a 43-yard return.
Then, in the final two minutes, Levis threw a game-winning interception to secure the Chicago Bears’ 24-17 victory in Caleb Williams’ debut. Williams wasn’t great passing, with just 92 yards, but at least he didn’t throw the game away with a backhand flip.
Levis has one season to prove he can be the Titans’ quarterback of the future. To cement his place in the Titans’ plans, he can’t afford to make any more mistakes like Sunday’s bone-crushing pick-6.
Zac Taylor: It’s not too early for a head coach to make one of the worst decisions of the NFL season.
The Cincinnati Bengals are 0-1 after a 16-10 loss to the New England Patriots that eliminated their survival pool pick and the Bengals will regret it all season. And Taylor’s decision in the fourth quarter wasn’t the only reason the Bengals lost, or even the main reason, but it was awful.
The Bengals were down 16-10 and faced a fourth and fifth with less than 2:30 left. It was at their own 15-yard line, but that shouldn’t matter this late in the game. And Taylor punted. It wasn’t hard to figure out what would happen next. The Patriots got a first down, the Bengals never got the ball back and lost 16-10.
The Bengals played terribly and were unable to get much offense going without Tee Higgins, who was out with a hamstring injury. There is a lot to correct this season, but the Bengals coach should not forget to take some of the blame himself.
