Carolina Panthers
The Jaguars have identified another candidate for the defensive coordinator position on Liam Coen’s staff.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that the Jags have requested an interview with Panthers defensive passing game coordinator Jonathan Cooley.
Cooley has spent the last two seasons in Carolina and he was on the Rams’ staff for three years before heading to Charlotte. Coen was also coaching for the Rams in two of the seasons that Cooley spent in Los Angeles.
Both men also worked with Rams defensive pass game coordinator and head coach Aubrey Pleasant, who has interviewed with the Jaguars. Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Vikings defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach Daronte Jones, and Packers linebackers coach Anthony Campanile have also interviewed with Jacksonvile.
The Eagles are going to the Super Bowl and that means the NFL has to replace their Pro Bowlers on the NFC roster for this week’s festivities in Orlando.
A number of those replacements have been announced on Monday. The group includes Falcons running back Bijan Robinson, who will take the place of Saquon Barkley.
Robinson ran for 1,456 yards in his second NFL season and was fourth in yards from scrimmage. Barkley led the league in both categories.
Seahawks defensive tackle Leonard Williams will be taking the spot originally filled by Jalen Carter. It’s the second time that Williams has been selected to the Pro Bowl.
The Eagles had three offensive linemen selected for the Pro Bowl this year. Cam Jurgens will be replaced by Saints center Erik McCoy, Landon Dickerson’s place will be taken by Panthers guard Robert Hunt, and Lane Johnson will be replaced by Vikings tackle Brian O’Neill.
The Panthers have added a pair of players on futures deals.
Carolina announced on Tuesday that linebacker Carlos “Boogie” Basham and tight end James Mitchell have joined the club.
Basham, 27, was a Bills second-round pick back in 2021 and has appeared in 40 career games. He has recorded 4.5 career sacks with nine QB hits and six tackles for loss.
Mitchell, 25, was a Lions fifth-round pick in 2022 and has appeared in 30 career games. He’s caught 13 passes for 141 yards with a touchdown. He appeared in only one game for Detroit in 2024.
When the Colts drafted Peyton Manning with the first overall pick in 1998, they built an offense around his skills and with plenty of his input, and then let him run it year after year. Manning wishes other young, highly drafted quarterbacks would have the same luxury.
Manning told Kevin Clark on This Is Football that teams need to be more patient with young quarterbacks and do a better job developing those young quarterbacks within the same offensive system.
“It bothers me that Bryce Young is already on his third playcaller and he’s only played two seasons,” Manning said. “Caleb Williams is going to be on his third playcaller some time next September. That to me is a miss. If we’re gonna draft this guy, OK: Who’s the head coach gonna be? The coordinator, this is the system we’re going to run. If the coordinator leaves and takes a head coaching job, I want the guy that’s replacing him shadowing him 24/7.”
Manning said other first overall picks struggled early in their careers for the same reason.
“I think Baker Mayfield had to learn five systems in four years. Alex Smith, six systems in six years,” Manning said. “Tom Brady had the same system his whole career. I had the same system my first 14 years in Indy.”
Manning said asking a quarterback to learn a new offense is like asking him to become fluent in a new language.
“Don’t make him learn Latin, German and French all in his first two years,” Manning said. “That’s not fair.”
Manning noted that Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, whose creative play designs have made him a hot head-coaching candidate, has thrived alongside Jared Goff, who has grown as a quarterback playing in Johnson’s offense for four years.
“He’s not doing that if Jared Goff can’t handle it,” Manning said. “Once again, playcaller and quarterback, they’ve got to be very tight.”
The Texans have elected to move on from receiver Diontae Johnson.
Houston is the latest team to waive the veteran wideout after claiming him on waivers when the Ravens let him go earlier in the season.
Johnson appeared in the Week 18 win over the Titans and the wild card round win over the Chargers. He caught one pass for 12 yards on Saturday afternoon while on the field for 16 (22 percent) of the club’s offensive snaps.
Johnson previously caught 30 passes for 357 yards with three touchdowns in seven games with Carolina and one pass for 6 yards in four contests with Baltimore in 2024.
Additionally, the Texans have placed tight end Cade Stover on injured reserve. He caught four passes for 28 yards in the win over Los Angeles. The rookie fourth-round pick out of Ohio State had 15 receptions for 133 yards with a touchdown in 15 regular-season games.
There was no playoff berth on the line in overtime in Atlanta on Sunday, but it still turned out to be a memorable ending to the 2024 season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Panthers.
Young’s three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in regulation helped get the game into the extra session and he went 5-of-5 for 56 yards on the opening drive to move the Panthers to the lip of the end zone. Running back Miles Sanders got to score the game-winner, but Young’s play throughout the game put an exclamation point on a major jump forward for the first overall pick of the 2023 draft.
The Panthers benched Young two weeks into the season and turned back to him when Andy Dalton was injured in a midseason car accident. They got a more confident, efficient and successful quarterback when Young returned to the lineup and he closed out the year with his three highest single-game passer ratings.
For much of that 10-game run as a starter, head coach Dave Canales resisted any proclamations that Young was the established starter for the franchise. He dropped that a couple of weeks ago and referenced it with a joke in Sunday’s postgame press conference before praising what he’s seen from the quarterback this season.
“I’d say we’ll take it week by week. We got no more weeks, Bryce is our quarterback,” Canales said. “I’m so proud of the way that he just took the challenge and he just grew every week. He just took new lessons, new things [and] applied it to his game.”
The Panthers will look for continued growth from Young heading into his third season, but stabilizing things on that front should also allow them to spend a little more time working on the defense. The Panthers allowed more points this season than any team in NFL history, so that will need to be a focal point of their bid to build on what went right for them this year.
By the time overtime began between the Panthers and Falcons, Atlanta had already been eliminated from postseason contention with Tampa Bay’s victory over New Orleans.
But Carolina was still able to spoil any good vibes Atlanta could’ve taken into the offseason, as the Panthers won 44-38 on Miles Sanders’ walk-off, 1-yard touchdown.
Bryce Young had one of his best days as a pro, accounting for five touchdowns in the victory. He completed 25-of-34 passes for 251 yards with three touchdowns while also rushing for 24 yards with two TDs.
Young’s 10-yard TD run put the Panthers up 38-31 late in the fourth quarter before Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson tied the game with a 4-yard run with 46 seconds left in regulation.
But as had been the case for much of the day, Carolina’s offense got the better of Atlanta’s defense in overtime. It took 10 plays to go 70 yards before Sanders put the ball in the box from just 1-yard out.
The Panthers finished with 425 yards, good for their No. 2 output of the season. They finished with 155 rushing yards and 270 passing yards.
The Falcons’ offense didn’t have much trouble moving through Carolina’s defense finishing with 537 yards. But an interception that went off a receiver’s hands was likely the difference.
Michael Penix Jr. finished 21-of-38 for 312 yards with two touchdowns and that interception. Drake London had 10 catches for 187 yards with two TDs.
The run game was effective, too, as Bijan Robinson totaled 170 yards on 28 carries with two TDs. Tyler Allgeier had 52 yards on nine carries.
But the defensive performance was not effective enough for the Falcons to win.
The Panthers end the season 5-12 and can now go into the offseason feeling even better about Young as their quarterback.
The Falcons finish their first season under Raheem Morris 8-9. But Penix has displayed that he can be the present and future at QB for the club.
The Falcons have gone back-and-forth with the Panthers in the first half, but the club put together a strong two-minute drill to take a 24-17 lead into halftime.
Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. made a couple of big-time throws on the possession, finishing it off with a 20-yard touchdown to Drake London with just three seconds left in the half.
Getting the ball with just 40 seconds left and two timeouts, Penix started the drive with a 19-yard pass down the right side to London. Then Penix hit Ray-Ray McCloud with a 42-yard deep shot on the left side to put the club in scoring position.
Penix tried to hit London in the back of the end zone on first-and-10 from the 20, but the receiver was pushed out of bounds before he could get a second foot down. On the next play, Penix tried the same thing, and this time it worked for the 20-yard score. London was flagged for taunting after standing over the defensive back once he made the catch.
Penix ended the first half 12-of-24 for 204 yards with a touchdown. He also rushed for a 5-yard score. London has six catches for 107 yards with a TD.
Bijan Robinson has 93 yards on 15 carries with a 3-yard touchdown.
On the other side, the Panthers have been competitive as they try to play spoiler. Bryce Young is 11-of-14 for 106 yards with a TD.
As the scores currently stand, the Falcons would clinch the NFC South with a victory, as the Buccaneers are down 16-6 to the Saints early in the third quarter.
The Panthers will receive the second-half kickoff.
Needing a victory to potentially make the postseason, the Falcons have gotten themselves back in Sunday’s game against the Panthers.
Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has rushed for a 5-yard touchdown to tie the score at 10-10 midway through the second quarter.
Penix’s first touchdown run capped a 10-play, 70-yard drive.
Drake London had a 24-yard reception on the possession, which Bijan Robinson followed with 15- and 9-yard runs.
With no one open on third-and-goal, Penix rolled to his left and dove for the pylon, making it in for the score.
Additionally, Falcons Mike Hughes has been downgraded to out with a shoulder injury.
The Panthers look like they’re happy to play spoiler against the Falcons on Sunday.
Carolina has taken a 10-3 lead over Atlanta early in the second quarter.
Bryce Young ran in a 2-yard touchdown to cap an 11-play, 58-yard drive.
While the Falcons took a 3-0 lead on their first possession, the Panthers came back with a 35-yard field goal by Eddy Pinerio.
Atlanta has tried to be aggressive by going for it on fourth down. The Falcons got one of them on their second drive, but weren’t able to get another for a turnover on downs.
The Falcons need a victory over the Panthers plus a Buccaneers loss to the Saints to win the NFC South on Sunday.