5 harsh lessons the Carolina Panthers must learn heading into Week 4 vs. Vikngs

Despite irregular circumstances, the Carolina Panthers must learn these lessons from the Week 3 loss at the Seattle Seahawks.

I’ll paint the picture: it’s the morning of February 2 and your bedside radio alarm clock begins to awaken you with the sappy tune of Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” as the flip-action timekeeper transitions from 5:59 to 6:00 a.m. in your rental room at a Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania Bed and Breakfast.

Okay, yeah – that’s the recurring scene from the 1993 film, Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray, in which he is forced to relive the same day over and over. But you must admit, it’s kind of the same feeling for Carolina Panthers fans through the first few weeks of the 2023 season.

The Panthers traveled to the Pacific Northwest last Sunday to take on the Seattle Seahawks. The team returned home with a third checkmark in the loss column. That’s the one - the feeling of being imprisoned in a nightmare that you can’t wake up from.

To be fair, the circumstances around this particular result were abnormal. Andy Dalton filled in as starting quarterback with Bryce Young resting a minor ankle ailment. This was also the first full contest without linebacker Shaq Thompson on the field. And those were just the asterisks coming into the game.    

Once it began, the Panthers were dealt more injuries. Starting safety Xavier Woods departed with what’s now been confirmed as a multi-week hamstring injury. C.J. Henderson, who was already filling in for Jaycee Horn at cornerback, also left the game and did not return - his by way of an ankle injury. The icing on the cake was the early exit from newly named team captain, Frankie Luvu, suffering a hip pointer.

These game recaps are starting to read more like a patient list than a performance review. Despite the extenuating circumstances, there are still lessons to be learned from the matchup. Here are the five things I believe the Panthers must learn from the Week 3 loss.