Fans and pundits alike ARE scratching their heads, wondering how a once-promising quarterback could fall so far, so fast! The Carolina Panthers’ decision to bench Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, sent shockwaves through the NFL.

“They had more problems than Bryce Young,” Bill Belichick remarked, his words cutting through the noise like a hot knife through butter. The legendary coach’s assessment of the Panthers’ woes came just hours after the team announced they were replacing Young with veteran Andy Dalton for their upcoming game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

It was a stunning decision that put Young’s name on the record books but for all the wrong reasons. This time, he also becomes the first quarterback ever to be taken first in an NFL draft and later be benched for non-injury reasons. This is a distinction that will dog both Young himself and the Panthers’ front office for seasons to come.

In the second year that Young has been the Panther’s starting quarterback, and half-disastrous isn’t extreme enough to describe his season so far. In each of their first two defeats, Young’s Total QBR has been under 10, the third worst over a two-game spell since ESPN started using this statistic in 2011. The Panthers have been outscored 73-13 in their opening two games of this season, with Young failing to register a single touchdown pass. On both counts, it was Adam Thielen who had come out to the forefront. Following another fruitless performance from the rookie quarterback in a 26-3 thumping by wonderful Chargers at home: “This isn’t a Bryce Young issue.” But the data shows it differently.

However, as Belichick pointed out, Young isn’t solely to blame for the Panthers’ woes. The team’s offensive efficiency rating of .70 through two games ranks dead last out of 608 instances for Weeks 1-2 since it was first tracked in 2006. They’ve converted a paltry two of 22 third-down opportunities, the worst in the NFL. It’s a far cry from the high-octane offense Panthers fans were promised when the team mortgaged their future to select Young.

The Panthers’ predicament is more than just a QB problem

While Young’s struggles have dominated headlines, they’re merely a symptom of a larger disease plaguing the Panthers organization. Belichick, known for his surgical dissection of team strategies, didn’t pull any punches when discussing the Panthers’ broader issues. “They spent the offseason bringing in two high-price guards,” Belichick recited, referring to the Panthers’ attempts to beef up their line. “They spent a lot of money really to keep the team together. They don’t have any salary cap space this year really or next year.” This financial strategy has left the Panthers with sky-high expectations and no room for error.

The Panthers’ defense has been equally underwhelming. Through two weeks, they ranked 30th in EPA per play allowed on defense. Their best defensive player, Derrick Brown, is on injured reserve and out for the season. As Belichick astutely observed, “At some point, you got to as a coach be concerned about you know does the team think we have a chance to win because if they don’t then yeah you’re really in trouble.”

New Panthers GM Dan Morgan preached patience in July: “I’m not going to put any expectations on anything right now. What I do know is there is a lot of work ahead of us, not only from a personnel standpoint but from the players.” Judging by Belichick’s comments, however, such a strategy may have been short-sighted. Given the way that this year’s roster has been constructed to win immediately while leaving little margin for the future, it would seem that Morgan may not be far off track in his assessment of what lies ahead.

Now that the Panthers are calling on Andy Dalton in hopes of saving their season, they face an uphill battle. The final ESPN playoff predictor table gives them just a 2.0% chance to make it to the postseason and only a 0.4% probability that they will win the NFC South. This is a grim state of affairs for a team that just two years ago believed itself to have found its quarterback of the future. The Panthers’ plight is a warning to clubs throughout the league: sometimes, the grass isn’t always greener in front of or behind a draft pick and patience may well be the most valuable commodity for successful NFL teams.