The Carolina Panthers' Issues Start At the Top and Trickle Down

All the issues point back to coaching and front office management.

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales in the tunnel before game against the Philadelphia Eagles | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Carolina Panthers have a ton of issues right now, and they don't seem to have any answers to any of them. Two straight losses (and an impending third one today) is hardly a sky-is-falling situation, but it looks a lot worse when you analyze what's going wrong.

Everything is going wrong, and it's hard to pick out a problem that is easily solvable. There are no cornerbacks left on the roster. The pass rush is a complete no-show every week. The offensive line is, as a unit, almost unplayable. That's not an exhaustive list.

But if we were forced to sum it up, we'd say the Panthers have a problem at the top, and it's trickling down. Coaching and management in the front office is, after several weeks in a row of this, committing something akin to malpractice.

Dan Morgan has seen the issues this team is having, and he's also seen how good it can be when the roster is somewhat healthy. Through the first five games, this was a clear playoff team. Now, they look like they might not win again, and Morgan is just sitting on his hands.

The Panthers have been without Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson since Week 3, and he has refused every opportunity to bring in a cornerback, instead trusting fifth-stringers and practice squad guys not to get picked on by NFL quarterbacks.

The Panthers also can't get out of their own way. The penalty issue has been rampant all year, and that goes back to coaching. Canales has apparently fostered an undisciplined environment this year, there's no other way to put it. A lot of them are at bad times, too.

In terms of the coordinators, the Panthers already fired Ejiro Evero, a move that was honestly overdue. Brad Idzik has been a bright spot sometimes, but he has showed his inexperience the last few weeks. He routinely gets outcoached by opposing coordinators.

And while he has been a bright spot some, he deserves a ton of blame for how the offense has fared lately. They have been unable to protect Bryce Young all season, so when the pressure is getting home, Idzik has to have some way to counter that.

Whether it's a reliance on the run game or quick routes or just hot routes available for when the defense brings a blitz, Idzik has to do something, but he hasn't been.

The Panthers have a lot of problems, and it's sinking what was once a promising season. And it starts at the top and trickles down.