North Charlotte Today

In a 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, the Carolina Panthers defense struggled despite making some key plays. The defense managed two turnovers, including an interception by Jaycee Horn and a fumble recovery by Josey Jewell.

"It was a great response from the group and it all starts off with them being in position," remarked Dave Canales following the game. "They did a great job of playing their leverage, which gives us a chance to make plays, to make punches on the ball, to be in phase for an interception and those things by just doing our job."

Ejiro Evero's group focused on attacking the ball during practice with additional tip and punch-out drills. On the Chargers' second drive, Jadeveon Clowney pressured Justin Herbert into throwing an interception caught by Horn.

"We did force a couple of turnovers, could have had three of them, got the ball out. So that's a plus," Horn reflected after the loss. "I know I was a little bit more conscious of it because the coach is doing a good job of just harping on it."

Despite these efforts, explosive plays remained an issue for Carolina. On one occasion, Herbert capitalized on tight coverage by Horn to complete a touchdown pass to Quentin Johnston.

"I mean, the play happened so fast," Horn said about the touchdown. "I ain't looked at the replay, but... I still got to be better… it's the next play mentality and I just got to be better on the next play."

The Chargers amassed eight explosive plays against Carolina’s two. Additionally, while Carolina's offense failed to score off turnovers recovered by their defense, Los Angeles converted one into seven points.

"You just got to focus on the next down," Jewell commented on staying motivated during tough games. "How can you be better? How can you help the team?"

Jewell recovered another turnover late in the third quarter when DJ Johnson forced Herbert into fumbling.

"First we got to stop the run," Jewell declared. "And then we can focus on punching the ball."

The Panthers' run defense allowed 219 yards from 44 rushes against Los Angeles.

"Last week we gave up over 100. Today it was over 200," nose guard Shy Tuttle lamented about his own performance. "Just can't beat ourselves. It starts with me being a nose guard; just got to stop the run."

This game marked Carolina's first without Derrick Brown due to his season-ending knee injury.

"I mean DB is a huge part of our defense," Tuttle acknowledged about Brown’s absence. "But thing about NFL is... no one's going to feel sorry for us."

Next week presents another challenge as Carolina faces Las Vegas Raiders who recently defeated Baltimore Ravens.

"If you don't stop the run in NFL you can't stop anything," Horn noted. Added Tuttle: "We could go one of two ways... draw line and be like at some point we have do something about this."