Opportunity knocked for the Carolina Panthers in Week 15 against the New Orleans Saints. They found themselves atop the NFC South after the Atlanta Falcons did them a favor. Unfortunately, head coach Dave Canales' squad was unable to meet its end of the bargain.
The Panthers were undone by the Saints for the second time this season. Kellen Moore deployed similar tactics with great success. It was there for the taking, but Carolina shot itself in the foot too many times. And now, the task of securing postseason football for the first time since 2017 just got a lot tougher.
The penalties were a constant source of frustration throughout. Carolina gave up no fewer than 11 infringements for 103 yards throughout the clash, including an inexplicable hit by Lathan Ransom that put the Saints in manageable field goal range.
Dave Canales blames the bye week for Carolina Panthers' discipline problems
This was out of character for a typically disciplined team, and it came at the worst possible time. Canales thought it might have had something to do with coming off the bye week. But make no mistake: he will address the issue aggressively to ensure it doesn't happen again.
"Maybe it's coming off the bye week. What's resulted in not having penalties has been the discipline of how we've been playing. And, for all those penalties to show up the way that they did, this is something that we have to attack head-on and have those conversations about when they happened, how they occurred, and make sure that doesn't happen again."Dave Canales via Panthers.com
The officiating wasn't especially great, in all honesty. There was no flow to the game with their nitpicking at every turn. Everything that could have gone wrong did for the Panthers, and they once again paid a heavy price.
Coming off the bye week seems like a lazy excuse. If anything, the Panthers should be more focused and fundamentally sound after an extended rest period. The opposite happened. Unless this concerning development gets resolved effectively, Carolina can kiss its chances of making the playoffs goodbye.
Fortunately for the Panthers, they have a head coach who spots flaws and corrects them. Canales has proved capable of this on countless occasions this season. And it's worth remembering that Carolina still controls its own destiny, even after its loss to New Orleans.
What comes next is crucial. The Panthers have no time to wallow in misery. They must turn the page quickly before a crunch clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Bank of America Stadium. Nothing else will do.
And if the Panthers can stay disciplined, their chances will improve.