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Carolina Panthers' defense has apparently made zero progress from a season ago

The Panthers couldn’t stop the run and couldn’t rush the passer in 2024. Apparently, nothing has changed as Dave Canales’s defense laid an egg vs. the Jaguars.
Russell Baxter|
Sep 7, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) carries the ball against the Carolina Panthers during the first half at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Sep 7, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) carries the ball against the Carolina Panthers during the first half at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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Carolina Panthers

There were the free-agent additions of safety Tre’von Moehrig, defensive tackles Tershawn Wharton and Bobby Brown III, linebacker Christian Rozeboom, and edge rusher Patrick Jones II. There were the selections of pass-rushers Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen, safety Lathan Ransom, and defensive tackle Cam Jackson in April's draft.

General manager Dan Morgan added a lot of pieces this offseason to the league’s worst defense. On Sunday afternoon at Jacksonville, Dave Canales’s club gave up 378 total yards on 63 plays in a humbling 26-10 setback.

“Just a bad day,” said 2024 Pro Bowl cornerback Jaycee Horn after the 16-point setback (via Kassidy Hill of Panthers.com). “I feel like, as a defense, we started slow…Just starting faster, I feel like as a defense we would have been good if we did that.”

Jaycee Horn
Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn (8) reacts to collecting an interception as linebacker Thomas Incoom (48) cheers on during the third quarter of an NFL football matchup at EverBank Stadium, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jaguars defeated the Panthers 26-10. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It started bad and ended bad for the Panthers’ defense

Ejiro Evero’s defense gave up 91 yards on 13 plays (7.0 average) in the first quarter. By intermission, the Panthers trailed 20-3 and had allowed 262 total yards on 32 plays—including 134 yards rushing. By game’s end, the team that had allowed the most rushing yards in the league in 2024 were blasted for 200 yards on the ground. It marked the seventh consecutive game dating back to last season that Carolina allowed at least 200 yards rushing.

The club that finished with only 32 sacks this past season didn’t drop Jaguars’ quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

It was a very disappointing showing for a unit that had added so many new pieces. Of course, one of those was Wharton. He only logged 20 defensive snaps and eventually left the game with a hamstring issue. Still, Horn put things into perspective.

“That's the message I was echoing on the sideline like it's week one, man,” reiterated the five-year pro. “I know it feel like, ‘Oh, it's just the same Panthers again, came out here and let everybody down,’ but we just got to worry about us, stay together as a team because we go out there and win next week, they will be saying something different, so we just got to get back next week, work even harder, because this is the worst we're going to be.”

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Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.