North Charlotte Today

NEW ORLEANS — The Panthers struggled offensively in their regular season opener, resulting in a 47-10 loss to the Saints at Caesars Superdome. The team acknowledged the poor performance and focused on making necessary corrections.

"Of course, you want to come out and start off on a high note. That didn't happen today, and you know, that's tough," said quarterback Bryce Young after achieving his worst passer rating of last season (32.8). "We're going to wear that today. We're going to learn from it. We turn the film on tomorrow but that doesn't define us. It's obviously a long year. And we have to attack it with urgency and make sure that we're urgent about cleaning things up and fix what we've got to fix."

The Panthers recorded just 193 total yards, 11 first downs, and were 1-of-10 on third downs. Despite offseason efforts to improve their running game, they managed only 58 net rushing yards, and Young was sacked four times.

General Manager Dan Morgan, Head Coach Dave Canales, and a largely new roster did not prevent the team from facing issues reminiscent of last year.

"Coach did a great job of talking about that and kind of addressing that," said veteran wideout Adam Thielen. "Like this isn't last year... But this is a new team... we're not going to go back to last year."

Young's struggles were part of broader systemic issues, starting with an interception on the first play of the Canales era.

"I mean, we just didn't give him a lot of opportunities," Thielen noted. "A lot of times, it was a guy running free to sack... football is the greatest team game there is for a reason."

Center Austin Corbett emphasized resilience despite starting in a difficult position: "When you start in a 10-0 hole... you've got a lot to clean up."

Right guard Robert Hunt also pointed out fundamental shortcomings: "I feel like you use preseason for like penalties... But I just think we just got our ass kicked today."

Head Coach Canales remained optimistic yet realistic about the challenges ahead: "It's a long journey... I knew that whether we started 4-0 or 0-4... For guys to pull together... in a really tough loss..."

The Panthers will need to address these issues promptly as they prepare for the remainder of their season.