CHARLOTTE — When Panthers head coach Dave Canales and his staff went back over the first four weeks of the season, they saw some thematic things they wanted to do differently in the future.

And one of them is one of the things they've done in the past.

Canales specifically mentioned "the lack of big plays, and trying to find a way to find explosives through the run game or the pass game" among the things he wanted to work on in the coming weeks.

"I definitely think there were some spots," Canales said. "I believe we've come out and thrown the ball more than we have in the past and given our guys opportunities down the field. We haven't come up with big plays, whether it was a missed throw, a dropped pass, miscommunication, just little things like that that we have to continue to drill in on, so I think that those opportunities will still come up, but that was a big thing.

"That was a big one that we looked at in the first four games. How can we get the ball down the field with the guys we're playing with right now?"

While quarterback Bryce Young might not be a fan of looking backward, what he did in the second half of last year can be instructive in this situation.

During the first two games of last season, when he struggled, he averaged 4.375 yards per pass attempt. When he returned to the lineup in Week 8 through the end of the season, that number climbed to 6.596 per.

After four games this year, he's averaging 5.230 per attempt, so Canales' reason for emphasizing that seems clear — just as clear as the success they had last year when he began to go downfield more often.

"I think it was just opportunities, making them come to life," Young said when asked about that second-half success moving the ball downfield. "I don't think there is any magic thing, any magic talk, any magic call, nothing like that. It was just execution for us.

"Last year is last year, that's in the past in regards to it's not ever anything that crosses my mind, crosses our minds. For us, it's how can we be the best version of ourselves, how can we be the best team we can this week, and that'll be the mindset for this week."

Young's underselling it, of course, because that's his nature. But last year's deliberate decision to incorporate more shot plays in the offense was helpful.

He had two passes of 20 yards or longer in the first two games of 2024. In the five games Andy Dalton started, there were 14 (13 by Dalton and one by Young in a mop-up appearance). From Week 8 on, Young hit 24 passes of 20 yards or more.

This year's trend is familiar. Young had two in the opener, four at Arizona when things loosened up and the offense began to click, two against the Falcons here, but none last week at New England. (Dalton had two when he came in late to run out the clock).

And if the Panthers follow a similar pattern this year, they're better equipped to execute it.

Rookie wideout Tetairoa McMillan has shown an ability to make plays downfield, averaging 15.4 yards per reception in his strong start to his first season. (And that's with a few missed connections on deep balls).

"Everybody knows, we all saw kind of during OTAs and a little bit of training camp, how much potential we have in the room, and you know sky's the limit for our room," McMillan said. "And I have no doubt in my mind that everybody in our room can make a play. So I think everybody counts on each other, and you know, once one person wins, we all win, so we kind of take that mentality, and you know, we ride with it.

"We've just got to be playmakers, and at the end of the day, we've got to execute. The coaches put us in the right positions, and we've just got to be playmakers. When the ball is in our hands, we've got to go make them plays, make one guy miss, and get those first downs and move the chains."

The other thing that works to their favor this week is adding some straight-line speed to the lineup.

That begins with getting Xavier Legette back on the field, and any time you can add a 6-foot-3, 227-pound guy who can run a 4.39-second 40 (like he did at the combine last year), it expands the universe of possibilities.

And with injuries stacking up, they're expecting to get their first look at rookie Jimmy Horn Jr. as well. He's the opposite physical profile of Legette, coming in at 5-8, 174, but he's a 4.40 guy (at his Colorado pro day last year), so he also adds the potential for vertical plays. Canales has used a guy of similar stature in Deven Thompkins during his time in Tampa Bay, so he has calls in mind.

"I think one thing, you look at X and he's an explosive athlete and one of the biggest missing pieces of our offense right now, if you just look at the stats, is the explosive plays," offensive coordinator Brad Idzik said. "And also that's in both phases. So, when you have an explosive athlete out there like Xavier, like Jimmy's gonna get a chance this week to run around and provide some speed on the field, or you're just making plays down the field, like TMac does, that expands the coverage. Gives us more favorable looks for the running backs in the box, so it really all ties in together, and Xavier is a huge part of that.

"When he's playing fast, he threatens the defense, he forces the coverage to back up, and that opens up a lot of lanes both in the pass game and the run game."

Because of that speed, he got a lot of attention early in the season.

"I think guys are aware of Xavier and how fast he is and how big he is, and they're trying to attack that," Canales said. "They're trying to get their hands on him early so he can't build up his speed, and that's the part that he's got to continue to work through. I saw improvement going into the Arizona game. I saw him play faster. . . .

"And I'm just waiting for that one play where I can see him smile and just make a play, just get the weight off of you. You're just out here to play football, just do your part, so I'm excited for the work he's put in and excited to see him this week."

The fact that Young's been in this spot before also encourages him, because they've seen what the offense looks like when Young is moving the ball downfield (and getting close to the return of Jalen Coker, who averaged 14.9 yards per reception last year, doesn't hurt).

And knowing that it's worked before gives a certain confidence as well.

"I trust in coach and his play calling," Young said. "I think his play-calling has been great. It's on us as players to execute, on me as the QB to make the plays work. I trust in coach. He's been doing a great job. What he's going to call this week, I trust in the plan.

"I trust in where we're going, so that's him, of course, taking accountability because that's the coach he is. And then from my side, it's the same, I have to make the plays work. We as a team have to make the plays work, so that's we're working towards."