4 remaining riddles the Carolina Panthers must solve after Frank Reich's firing

Improving the Carolina Panthers offense

The best years of the Carolina Panthers came when relying on a powerful run game - mainly headlined by Cam Newton - that opened up the deep ball. The same can be said for the rushing attack under interim coach Steve Wilks last season.

There is something to be said for molding your scheme to fit the superstar quarterback you just spent so much to acquire. There is also something to be said as to why college schemes stay in college.

This leads to my second point. There is also something to be said for molding a rookie to fit a new scheme. The third point is even the best player cannot thrive in a system that does not exploit their skills.

That is where the rub comes in. What is the offensive philosophy moving forward? Clearly, it isn't whatever has been in place this season, but what is there that the Panthers can try?

The easiest answer to this question is the power run game, which the offensive line is built for. But more on that later.

At the very least, switching to a run-focused team would take the pressure off Bryce Young and keep the ball in the Panthers' hands for longer. Whether they have the current personnel for that is debatable, but there are ways to fix it.

Figuring out an identity and sticking to it will be one of the hardest challenges for whoever inherits this mess of a team. It will be interesting to see just how it is molded into that image.