Carolina Panthers insider had colorful 2-word description for heinous 2025 opener

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It's one thing to get beaten by your opponents. That happens every Sunday in the NFL, which is after all the highest level of competition in the sport. However, it is hard to swallow whenever a team beats themselves the way the Carolina Panthers did yesterday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Across the board, Carolina's execution was awful in Sunday's 16-point loss to a Jaguars team that went 4-13 last season in the league's weakest division. They couldn't get the playcalls in time, they couldn't snap the ball right, and their starting quarterback regressed so far that he'll be back in the womb soon if he keeps it up.
In the middle of all the ugliness, The Athletic's beat reporter Joe Person summed it up with a colorful two-word description for the Panthers' performance, dubbing it a s*** sundae.
Bryce Young saved by a defensive holding. Otherwise, the Jags would have topped this shit sundae with a pick-6.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) September 7, 2025
Every NFL team eats one or two such sundaes at some point during every regular season. However, the Panthers have produced far too many of them in recent years - and for some reason it seems to happen in every single season opener.
Bryce Young's performance was heinous enough in a vacuum, but so many different players performed so poorly that one has little choice but to point the finger at their leader. If the Panthers hadn't dismissed so many head coaches and interim coaches over the last seven years they'd have a strong case to fire Dave Canales and his entire staff today.
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Tim Weaver has been writing about the NFL since the 2013 season for multiple teams and outlets, including USA Today and The Sporting News. He currently covers the Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers for On SI.