The current lead narrative among the (many) issues facing the Carolina Panthers is their inability to stretch the field vertically on offense. That is certainly a problem, but the Panthers defense is conceding too many explosive plays (completed passes over 20 yards). Through five games, they have allowed 21 passes over 20 yards.
After watching these plays, there are three takeaways that contribute to the current problems.
Pass rush
Ron Rivera points out that last three years #Panthers have been at same number of sacks through this point in the year and then finished towards top of #NFL
— Nick Carboni (@NickCarboniWCNC) October 15, 2018
The issue isn’t getting sacks.