Frank Reich on early offensive woes: It’s not the play-calling
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper made sure to rebuild his team through its offense this offseason, hiring acclaimed play-caller Frank Reich as his head coach and gunning up to the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 draft to take quarterback Bryce Young. But this rebuild is off to a slow start.
Reich talked at length about the team’s offensive struggles, which doomed them in their second straight outing to begin the campaign.
“I have seen this before. It’s not that far away,” Reich said following the 20-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Monday night. “It looks bad. But, really, I don’t believe it’s that far away. We make a couple plays here and there and the next thing you know—you got 28, 30 points. I know that’s true. I know we have the players and the coaches to do it. I have zero doubt about that. It’s just we have to execute better on offense.”
The offense executed for just 239 yards, four successful third-down conversions on 14 tries and zero touchdowns in the game’s first 58 minutes. Young, who turned in another underwhelming start in the box score, averaged a lowly 4.6 yards per attempt—just a slight notch above his 3.8-yard per attempt average in last Sunday’s defeat to the Atlanta Falcons.
Reich was later asked if he considered handing over play-calling duties, something he holds dear, to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown mid-game.
“Yeah, that’s not a change I would make in-game,” he replied. “I’ve mentioned this before—the way we call plays, I’m calling the plays, but it’s very collaborative. I’m talkin’ to those guys on the sideline. I’m the one who calls ’em. I’m always gonna do what I think is best for the team.
“Right now, I think it’s best for the team that I’m callin’ the plays. I’m confident in the play-calling. We all gotta get better, but I’m not ready to do anything there. Thomas is a great coach. One day, I want him to call it. When that will be—I don’t know. But, right now, it’s a lot of things. It’s not the play-calling.”
