The one thing the Panthers must do to steal NFC South

The Carolina Panthers blew a golden opportunity to win the NFC South. Had they just beaten the lowly New Orleans Saints last week, this week's home bout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be win and in for Carolina.

However, they lost, and while the defense crumbled in epic fashion down the stretch, the offense still only mustered up 17 points. That has to change if they're going to win this division, and there's one thing they haven't been doing lately that they need to.

Here's what the Panthers can do to unlock offense en route to NFC South title

While it hasn't always hurt, the Panthers have curiously gone away from Tetairoa McMillan lately. The offense was humming against the Los Angeles Rams, but otherwise, it's been an underwhelming unit, and it's no secret why.

Following his eight-catch breakout vs. the Falcons, McMillan's been mostly silent. He's scored twice, but he's not getting hardly any targets. It's hurting the Panthers and hurting McMillan's awards case.

McMillan has 102 targets on the year. Only 13 of those have come in the last three weeks. He had seven against the 49ers, managing just two catches.

The following week against the Rams, he had the game-winning 43-yard touchdown, but it was only the second target he had seen all game.

And on Sunday, he only had four targets and caught two of them. One catch was on a scramble drill, so it's not like the Panthers drew that one up for him.

Against the Falcons, Panthers coach Dave Canales seemed to figure it out. By moving McMillan all across the line of scrimmage, he opened things up for everyone. That strategy hasn't been employed the same way since.

Jalen Coker has stepped up during that time, but this offense would be so much better if both McMillan and Coker were involved. They shouldn't have to sacrifice one to get the other some targets.

Canales, a gifted offensive mind who sometimes outthinks himself, should be able to get McMillan the ball more.

Perhaps he's drawing up plays for the rookie, but Bryce Young isn't going his way with the ball. That's not likely, since McMillan has been a stellar route runner and got a ton of targets early on.

The most likely explanation is that McMillan's in a bit of a rough patch (the rookie wall, perhaps) and the offense is ignoring him. But to win the division and get to the playoffs, that's got to change.

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