That's the positive. But the Panthers have made too many mistakes in their first two games to leave with wins. The defense couldn't hold a fourth-quarter lead in Week 1, nullifying the offense's 30-point output. Then the offense committed four giveaways in Week 2, and that's always going to be challenging to overcome.
"We have tremendous competitive toughness," Rhule said. "We just have to put a total team effort together. It's coming. It's on the way."
Losing running back Christian McCaffrey for multiple weeks with a high ankle sprain won't help in that endeavor. He's tied for the league lead with four total touchdowns and accounted for 223 yards from scrimmage as the best player on Carolina's offense. So it'll be up to quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and others to help fill the void.
"I just have to continue to attack each day coming in with that mindset, let the guys around me feel me," Bridgewater said. "As long as they see I have that determination in my eye, I come to work every day with a chip on my shoulder, everyone's going to elevate their game also."
Bridgewater's experience from the 2019 season, when he started five games in place of Saints quarterback Drew Brees, is a good example of what can happen when a team loses one of its best players but finds other ways to win.
"Throughout the course of the season, you look around the league and teams are losing guys. That's the unfortunate part of this game," Bridgewater said. "We always talk about, 'I'm ready coach, just put me in.' But we have to ask ourselves, are we truly ready? I think this week is going to be good for guys to compete, fly around, and just prove themselves."
But the only way the Panthers are going to get from competitive to the win column is if they cut down on their self-inflicted wounds. Right now, the margin of error is too thin for the team to err in critical situations.
"If we can just get out of our own way," Bridgewater said, "I think we'll have a pretty good football team."
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September 23, 2020 at 01:48AM
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Panthers showing fight, but need complete performance to win - Panthers.com
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