Panthers News: Jaycee Horn, Tarik Cohen, power rankings and Frank Reich

Carolina Panthers HC Frank Reich focusing on the positives

Reflecting on such a poor performance is never easy for any coaching staff. But for Frank Reich, it's about removing the emotion out of their thought process and trusting the tape in the hope of making improvements.

There have been a number of overreactions to Sunday's reverse and questions are also being asked about recruitment in certain position groups. Again, this is a work in progress, but it's evident the Carolina Panthers have a passionate fanbase impatient for success after years of languishing in the proverbial football wilderness.

Reich was eager to focus on the positives when speaking to the media via Sports Illustrated for the most part. However, the head coach emphasized the dire need for more explosiveness on offense to take the next step forward.

"Positives were, ran the ball well. Thought the o-line played well, thought they protected well. We had some pressure later in the game when we got in that pass mode they ran a couple stunts. But I thought for the most part the protection was good. I thought we were subpar in the pass game in general as far as chunk plays. We need more explosive plays. We had that 4th & 1 that we get stopped on the first drive that really ends up being like a turnover. We had three turnovers. Really, it turns out to be four turnovers which is a negative but in some ways that's a positive. We're in that game. We're leading that game in the third quarter with those turnovers, so that's a double-edged sword. We've got to eliminate those turnovers."

- Frank Reich via Sports Illustrated

Protecting the football and opening things up from a schematic standpoint is absolutely essential in Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints. Anything less would lead to serious concerns being raised just two games into the campaign.