NFC South power rankings, Week 2: Carolina Panthers hit rock bottom (again)

At long last, NFL football returned to us in all its regular season glory. But that's where the excitement stopped for Carolina Panthers fans.

During the campaign, we'll take a weekly look at how things stand in the NFC South, looking at each team’s performance and listing them in order of worst to best. These are going to be subjective listings, but I’ll do my best to incorporate fair and equal analysis of each team’s roster, schedule, and performance.

For this week’s power rankings, we are going to do the rational thing after a single week of games and overreact heavily to what we saw. Let’s have some fun.

NFC South power rankings after Week 1 of the 2024 season

4. Carolina Panthers

• Overreactions: There are none.

What an all-around travesty of a game. Is there even a single positive takeaway we can glean from the Carolina Panthers after the complete beatdown we witnessed? They looked out of their element and fought a team many people expect to not be very good with the same intensity as an FCS college.

The game was nearly over from the first snap, and well over by the end of the first quarter. The defense got manhandled as preseason concerns about a lack of pass rush proved valid. Bryce Young, finally given much-needed offensive line protection and wide receiver separation, looked far too small for the moment. His throws were erratic, and he missed open wideouts on numerous occasions, often by several yards.

What overreactions would even be valid at this point?

The team looks like a lock for the No. 1 overall pick, maybe even an 0-17 record. Young played like a massive bust. The defense, stripped of several 2023 starters to go all in around the signal-caller, couldn’t stop a sneeze. Even on special teams, Johnny Hekker posted the lowest EPA per punt in the league, including an 11-yard duck late in the third quarter.

And from a mentality standpoint, there seemed to be a distinct lack of “dawgs,” as general manager Dan Morgan took to calling this team. Whether it was Jaycee Horn giving up on his pursuit during the first touchdown of the day or Young looking traumatized on the sidelines for the better part of 60 minutes, there was a distinct lack of veteran leadership to rally or refocus the players.

This is the look of a team that expects to be stuck as perpetual losers. It was a lifeless, pathetic display all around. It is shocking how low the Panthers continue to sink each year since David Tepper purchased the franchise in 2018.

There’s your overreaction, if you can even call it that.