The Carolina Panthers' opening-day defeat to the Chicago Bears put Ejiro Evero back under the microscope and on the proverbial hot seat after his defense allowed the most Week 1 points in franchise history. They conceded 552 yards of total offense, including 291 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
Most defensive coordinators don't survive an outing like this, but Evero is sticking around. He'll need to, after a collective failure across the board, including miscues from players that cost them throughout the game that went way beyond the scheme.
I don’t believe it was a scheme issue for the Panthers against the Bears.
Ejiro Evero was not the only at fault for Carolina Panthers' defensive capitulation
It was a combination of decision-making on who plays and who doesn't, personnel rotations on all three levels, and individual player miscues that Chicago head coach Ben Johnson exploited at will.
Star defensive lineman Derrick Brown committed a roughing-the-passer penalty and an offsides penalty that changed the course of two drives. Second-year edge rusher Princely Umanmielen struggled on the edge against the run and failed to play containment on both of Caleb Williams' touchdown scrambles. Rookie cornerback Will Lee III was constantly out of position in shell coverages and missed tackles in space, leading to explosive run plays.
At the end of the day, I don’t agree with some of the philosophical aspects. However, the team isn't consistently getting outsmarted.
The lack of proper quarterback containment, gap integrity, lapses in concentration, and blown coverages where you can see players jogging are not coaching issues.
They are player issues.
These mistakes are coachable, but the players must execute.
Carolina Panthers players let down Ejiro Evero against the Bears
Remember, it is a team sport, and everyone from the defensive coordinator to position coaches to players has an equal role in executing the plays and the schematics themselves.
Evero should not be absolved of what happened. After all, this was his eighth game as defensive coordinator in which the Panthers have allowed at least 40 points since 2023.
Even so, the players have to do their part as much as the defensive coordinator does. And there seems to be a disconnect with what happens on a football team in this regard.
At all three levels, you are working with your individual position coaches, whose responsibilities are to teach the fundamentals, assignments for specific play calls, and proper technique. If a player isn't doing what they're supposed to, it harms the unit's cohesiveness and its ability to play sound football.
The coach's job is to teach. The players must deliver on the field. The play-caller on either side of the ball has to run the operation as a whole to perform or call his system.
That is why football is a team sport, through and through.
I don't expect a similar performance next week against the Atlanta Falcons, a team decimated by injuries on both sides of the ball.
Evero must prove for the rest of the season that he is a much better defensive coordinator than he showed in Week 1. The players must also execute and play with better discipline across the board, no matter what injuries come their way.
It must be better — it has to be. If not, an offense that scored 37 points in a 22-point loss will keep suffering the consequences in a seemingly must-win season for Carolina.
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