What Panthers’ Frank Reich said about offense, run game following loss to Seahawks

Frank Reich didn’t mince words Sunday following the Panthers’ latest loss, a 37-27 road defeat to the Seattle Seahawks, which dropped the club to 0-3 to start the season.

Reich, Carolina’s chief offensive play-caller and head coach, said he wouldn’t point fingers at individuals, but he did call out his collective offense — both players and coaches — following a performance that saw the unit rush for just 44 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries and endure seven false start penalties from the offensive line.

Reich called the offensive penalties “pathetic” and deemed the offensive rushing attack “non-existent” in a game that saw veteran quarterback Andy Dalton — filling in for an injured Bryce Young — throw 58 times at Lumen Field.

“You don’t come into Seattle and throw 58 times and win many games,” Reich said. “So, that was not the formula we wanted.”

Reich said he felt Dalton handled the passing game well, but the lack of complementary football caught up to the offense after the Panthers returned from halftime with a 13-12 lead.

“We know, for us to be the offense and the team that we want to be, we have to have more balance in the offense,” Reich said. “And so we have to continue to work on that.”

Despite the lack of cohesion on offense, Reich said he isn’t concerned about Young’s eventual return as the starting quarterback. Reich isn’t prepared to throw in the towel on the season, either.

In 2018, Reich started 1-5 with the Indianapolis Colts and eventually pushed toward 10-6 and won a playoff game.

There are still 14 games left on the regular-season slate, and the Minnesota Vikings, who also fell to 0-3 in Week 3, are on deck for a potential “get right” matchup in Charlotte.

“Listen, we’re three games into this,” Reich said. “Everybody understands — the kind of guys we got in there, I believe everybody takes ownership, everybody understands it’s a long season — and there’s no guarantees on anything. We know we can be a good team.

“Again, I’ve been 1-5 and won playoff games. But here’s what I know, when you’re in a situation like that — that we’re 0-3 or 1-5, and you’re behind the eight-ball — and you say, ‘Can you still make the playoffs?’ Absolutely, but the way you do it, is by not thinking about it. All you worry about is the next team. So right now, all we do is go back, look at this film, and get focused on the Minnesota Vikings. And it’s one week at a time and get better.”

The Panthers gave up 425 yards, eight scoring drives and 37 points on defense on Sunday. Reich said the offense put the defense in a bad position with a slow start, even as the defense held the Seahawks to just 12 points in the first half.

But eventually, the defense relented and became porous against the run and the pass. And the offense failed to pick up the slack.

Reich pointed to self-inflicted wounds as the reason for the loss and the team’s lame start to the season.

“I don’t think anyone feels like we’ve been out-manned in any game.” Reich said. “We have just beat ourselves.”