CHARLOTTE — One of the (several) things the Panthers did well against the Rams earlier this season was one that's near to Dave Canales' heart — run the ball.
But since that game, they haven't had the same kind of success.
After rushing it a season-high 40 times for 164 yards, the Panthers haven't had the same kind of consistent success on the ground since. They averaged 25.7 carries for an OK 109.0 yards per game in the next three against the Saints, Bucs, and Seahawks, but managed just 14 carries for 19 yards Saturday at Tampa.
That was largely because they were 1-of-8 on third downs (and didn't get enough plays), but Canales said the shortcomings have been collective.
"It's a full group effort," he said Monday. "Starts with me and the coaching staff, making sure that we have the right plan together for our guys. And then it starts up front with the O-line, the blocking, the combos, making sure we're moving guys off the spot to get the play started, and then once the backs have the ball, just looking for that violent style of play that we saw that we know they can, and return to that and make sure we're getting efficient runs on a consistent basis."
Too often in the last four games since the first meeting with the Rams, the Panthers are left with second-and-longs. At their Week 14 bye, they were 17th in the league in average gain on first downs (5.41 yards per play), and they've since fallen to 23rd in the league (5.06 per play). The league average is 5.45, and over the last four games, they've averaged 3.72 yards per play.
"Again, it's all of us, it's making sure we're running the right styles of runs for our group," Canales said. "Starts up front. We have to get movement. We cannot let people run through the line of scrimmage. Safeties, linebackers cannot run through the line of scrimmage. Our combos have to be excellent. We've got to make sure it's covered up so that the backs can press the line of scrimmage and make decisions from there.
"And then from there, challenging the backs, get that ball and run physical downhill. Let's get efficient runs, you know, we can't have zeros and 1s if there's any daylight at all. Let's get behind our pads, let's get 2, 3, or 4. We do that twice in a row, we're in a manageable third down. We get into these known pass situations, second and 10s, second and 9s, then we get a little bit more predictable. We still run the ball in those situations a little bit, but if you want to get into a favorable third down, a lot of times you're going to be throwing some type of pass concept, and so we just that we've got to get back to having that really efficient run game that we were counting on in the middle of the season."
Big week to test Hunt and Moore's availability
Neither offensive lineman Robert Hunt nor receiver David Moore was activated to play Saturday against the Bucs. But the Panthers will keep a close eye on both this week. Moore's 21-day window is closed on Tuesday, meaning he must be activated today or tomorrow, or he will spend the remainder of the season on IR.
"Very close, physically speaking, really close, but there's a bigger conversation that goes with the roster," explained Canales. "Whenever you bring a player off of IR, somebody's got to go down. And so those are the bigger conversations that we're also just continuing to work through."
As for Hunt specifically, the team wants to know if he can make it through an entire game before putting him on the field. The test this Saturday would be a big one, with Jared Verse, Kobie Turner, and crew coming in.
"It's a big week, a big week of evaluating Rob and seeing if he's physically ready to take on the game," said Canales. "Wanted to make sure, going into last week, I wanted to make sure that he'd be able to play an entire game, not something where he's going to pop out there for a couple of series…So this is a really big week. We have a couple of practices to be able to see what that looks like with Rob out there.
"He's been in all the meetings, he's been in all the conversations, so nothing has gone by him in terms of how we've evolved together as a group, so we'd be leaning on that part that he's ready mentally, to go physically, that's really the question we have to figure out this week."
Linebacker questions remain, but confident in options
The Panthers were without linebacker Claudin Cherelus on Saturday as well. With Trevin Wallace on injured reserve, Carolina was planning to lean on Cherelus to finish the season. Unfortunately, ankle and calf injuries kept him out of the regular season finale.
Canales told reporters on Monday that Cherelus had been "very close" to playing.
"We kind of took him through the week, and this was something that he was dealing with, and we wanted to try to get him out there to get some work done, and didn't feel like we could get that done, right before the game.
"But I have confidence because of all the return to play work that he's been doing, even through the weekend, that we'll be able to get a good evaluation of him going out there."
In his absence, the Panthers were able to turn to veteran Krys Barnes, who has started 33 games in his career.
"Krys did an excellent job in the roles that we asked him to," Canales said on Monday.
Barnes finished with six tackles, 0.5 sacks, and a quarterback hurry.
Jalen Coker's snaps increased as role grows
Second-year receiver Jalen Coker saw his biggest share of offensive snaps this season in Week 18 with 92.2 percent, and his second-biggest share in his career. The previous high was 92.5 percent in the Week 18 finale last season.
"It's a really big time for Jalen," Canales explained on Monday.
"He's been stepping up and making plays for us. And so we looked at last week as an opportunity to get him out there a little bit more in 12 personnel, 13 personnel, get him out there just because of the way he's been producing and give him more opportunities."
He finished with six catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. So far this season, even with a quad injury sidelining him for the first six games, Coker has accumulated 33 receptions for 394 yards and three touchdowns. His increase in share means other receivers have seen their snaps go down, but as the Panthers craft an offense for their future, it's a timeshare that Canales sees paying off.
"This is a celebration of Jalen, just continuing to step up into a more starter role in 12 personnel and 11 personnel and those things, just trying to find a way to get him more involved."
Ready to hear the home fans again
Canales has made several references in recent days about his gratitude to be back in Bank of America Stadium for the first playoff game in his administration and first in a decade.
He admitted Monday that after the Seahawks game, he was "not sure if we were going to get another opportunity."
And while discussing his time with the 2010 Seahawks (who won the NFC West that year with a 7-9 record), he pivoted back to what's happening here.
"That's what I'm so excited about, is bringing football back into Bank of America Stadium," he said. "Our fans have really had an impact, particularly when our defense has been on the field. They've caused some issues for offenses communicating, false starts, delay of games, different things like that. That is a real advantage and certainly from a pass-rush standpoint when it's loud. The offensive line and the defensive line are coming off the ball at the same time when you're in a silent count.
"It's a huge advantage for us, and then just the momentum of the plays being made."
