CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young connected with wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. for a 14-yard completion midway through the first quarter of Sunday’s 24-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He had another 14-yarder to tight end Hayden Hurst in the second quarter.
That’s significant.
Over the past five seasons, teams have a 5-9 record when they don’t have a completion of at least 15 yards. They were 0-2 in Week 1, with the Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals the only teams without one.
Since 2019, winning teams have averaged 5.7 completions of 15-plus yards and 3.3 explosive passing plays, defined as completions of 20-plus yards, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Which begs the question: Was Sunday a fluke for Carolina? Or are the receivers and other skill players around the rookie quarterback not good enough to produce explosive pass plays?
Ahead of Monday night’s NFC South showdown against the New Orleans Saints (7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN2), wide receiver Adam Thielen, who was limited to two catches for 12 yards in the opener, doesn’t believe that will be the norm.
“In this game, you’ve got to have explosive plays to give yourself a chance to win,’’ he said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to create big plays, get open and give Bryce confidence to throw it.
“But we have the players to do it.’’
Young -- who averaged 303.7 yards and three touchdown passes per game the past two seasons at Alabama -- agreed.
He shouldered much of the responsibility for the lack of big pass plays in his NFL debut after going 2-of-10 on pass attempts thrown 10-plus yards downfield.
“It just boils down to execution,’’ said Young, who was 20-of-38 for 146 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions against Atlanta. “It starts with me, making sure I’m executing, and then making sure we’re on the same page. We had opportunities. We didn’t take advantage of being able to capitalize.’’
One of those opportunities came in the second half when rookie wide receiver Jonathan Mingo got behind the defense 20-plus yards downfield on first-and-10 from the Carolina 1. Young simply overthrew him.
Two more crucial mistakes came on pass attempts to Hurst. On those plays, Carolina coach Frank Reich said, Falcons' safety Jessie Bates III was out of the normal position for a safety in that defensive scheme.
Both could have been big plays for Carolina had Bates not intercepted them.
“If you look at all 10 guys and say, 'Where’s the 11th guy supposed to be in this coverage?' ... he wasn’t there,’’ Reich explained. “They gave him the freedom to break rules. This time they got away with it.
“We actually like when [opponents] break the rules on defense. ... When a defense breaks the rules, they realize they’re doing that at their own peril. You’re probably exposing yourself to a potential big play.’’
The Panthers are writing Week 1 off as nothing more than a bad showing in terms of big plays. They expect to improve Monday night, particularly if starting receiver DJ Chark Jr. returns from a hamstring injury.
One of the reasons Carolina signed running back/kick returner Tarik Cohen to their practice squad this week, even though he has been sidelined since 2020 because of major injuries (ACL, Achilles), is because he was an explosive player.
Reich saw some of that in Cohen’s workout.
“It looks like he’s back to his old explosive self,’’ Reich said of the former Chicago Bears star, though he isn’t expected to be active on Monday.
Carolina special teams coach Chris Tabor, who worked with Cohen in Chicago, agreed.
“He could make something out of nothing,’’ he recalled of their time together. “He’s a playmaker.’’
Thielen believes it’s only a matter of time before the Carolina offense is making those plays with the group it has.
“There’s a lot of things that led into us not having explosive plays,’’ he said. “But everyone knows that having explosive plays are a huge piece of having a good offense.’’
Explosive pass plays don’t always translate into a lot of points. The Saints had six passes of 20-plus yards in their opener, a 16-15 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
But there is some correlation to winning when a team has a higher percentage of explosive plays of 10-plus rushing yards or 20-plus receiving yards. The Baltimore Ravens have led the league in explosive plays since 2019 and won 65.7% of their games during that span. The Panthers rank 22nd in explosive plays since 2019 and won 32.8% of their games.
“We want to be explosive,’’ Young said. “There are things we can take advantage of. Now we have to figure out how we put ourselves in the situations where we have those opportunities, and then work throughout the week so that we can execute.’’