4 things the Panthers need to improve following Week 6 loss

Third-down conversions

This is a problem that has been an ongoing theme at certain stages of the season so far. The Carolina Panthers have found it difficult to convert on third downs against above-average defenses and the same applied against a Chicago unit that is among the NFL’s best.

Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater‘s task to move the chains was not aided by the absence of Curtis Samuel. The wide receiver was forced to miss the game through injury and this resulted in the signal-caller losing his favorite third-down target in the face of an elite pass-rush.

Carolina managed to convert just three of 13 attempts on third down, which tells its own story. This is a trend that has to change at the earliest possible opportunity in order for the Panthers to continue their pursuit of providing those who wrote off their chances before competitive action resumed.

Offensive coordinator Joe Brady has done a solid job overall. But the Panthers are only converting 44 percent of their third-down attempts this season. Getting first downs on 32 of 72 attempts is not good enough and nobody will know this than the coaching staff themselves.

Things should get better as the campaign goes on. That being said, we are almost at the halfway mark and the longer they struggle in this area, the less they’ll get out of the first year of their rebuild.