5 harsh lessons the Carolina Panthers must learn after Week 1 loss

Carolina Panthers had more problems than bad calls

A new season is upon us, yet we still see the same poor levels of officiating plague the league. Unfortunately for the Carolina Panthers, they were on the wrong side of two critical calls on the Cleveland Browns’ final drive.

First, the Panthers were given an extremely harsh roughing-the-passer penalty on Brian Burns. Carolina also felt aggrieved late when a flag was thrown on the second to last play.

With 13 seconds left, Jacoby Brissett took the snap and seemed to fake a spike glancing over to Amari Cooper before finally spiking the ball. According to the rule book, this should have resulted in intentional grounding and a 10-yard loss on the play. This would have turned Cade York’s 58-yard field goal into an NFL-record 68-yard strike.

These calls should not detract from the fact that Carolina had no business being in a position to win the game. Frankly, the defense was not on the ball for the majority of the game and the offense left it too late to make a substantial impression.

It is still frustrating for Panthers fans to be on the wrong side of two crucial calls late in the game. But looking at the contest overall, Matt Rhule has much bigger problems on his plate and it’s essential the head coach starts putting the necessary changes in place ahead of a testing trip to the New York Giants next Sunday.