Carolina Panthers drop in latest NFL power rankings after getting exposed by Saints

Technically speaking, the Carolina Panthers have suffered worse losses than Sunday's 17-7 defeat at the hands of the New Orleans Saints. The Buffalo Bills blew them out by 31 points at home just a few weeks ago, and the New England Patriots crushed them by 29 back in Week 4.

However, this latest loss is by far the worst for the Panthers this season - and possibly the worst since the Bryce Young era began back in 2023 - because of what it represents.

Specifically, Carolina got exposed at the very top of their organization. Both head coach Dave Canales and their starting quarterback completely failed what should have been an easy test against the team that came into this past week with the worst record in the league.

As expected, the Panthers have dropped in Sportsnaut's latest NFL power rankings. Matt Johnson has them down two spots from last week, going from No. 16 down to No. 18.

Sportsnaut ranks Panthers 18th

"This is what happens when an opponent forces the CarolinaPanthers to beat them with Bryce Young. New Orleans threw everything it had at stopping Rico Dowdle on Sunday, seeing what Young could do... Carolina is a better team than it was last season, but it can’t take that real step forward until it finds a viable starting quarterback who can carry a lot more weight in the offense."

Only dropping the Panthers two spots is far too kind, of course. Yes, they're still 5-5 and better than they were last season - but they also proved that they're not going to get very far with their current head coach/starting QB combo - and the idea that they could win a playoff game is absurd.

Win and losses are ultimately what matter in the standings, but if we go by point differential we get a much better idea of what this team is all about. In that department Carolina is -45, which is the fourth-worst mark in the NFC.

That means these Panthers have more in common with the 2-8 New York Giants and the 3-7 Washington Commanders than other teams around the .500 mark.

Unless Bryce Young immediately turns things around and plays the way he did Weeks 16-18 last year for the rest of the season, the Panthers have to explore other options at quarterback this offseason - trading for Kyler Murray is probably their best shot at an upgrade.

More importantly, the franchise has to find a better head coach, because Canales is clealy not up to the task no matter who his QB is.

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