CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers are looking to build on the momentum of a solid Week 1 win, while embattled second-year quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers will try to pick themselves off the mat following a history-making defeat.
The Chargers beat the Las Vegas Raiders 22-10 behind a strong performance from new running back J.K. Dobbins, who ran for 135 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
But coach Jim Harbaugh said he believes this will be a telling week for his team as it heads East for a 1 p.m. EDT game.
“I’ve always thought that over the course of the season, this is the one week where you have a chance to make the most amount of progress because you’ve already done it," Harbaugh said. "You know what you did good and things you can improve on. You go in and attack those and see how it works. And you know ‘hey, I like this, not this’ and do it again.”
Harbaugh is 14-6 (13-3 college, 1-3 NFL) in second games of his coaching career. He was 2-0 only once at San Francisco.
“To win and still have stuff to work on, that’s encouraging for everyone,” Harbaugh said. "There’s more meat on the bone.”
The Panthers have a monumental bone to chew on.
Carolina's 37-point loss to the New Orleans Saints was its worst season-opening defeat in the franchise's 30-year history.
Young struggled with his accuracy, completing 13 of 30 passes with two interceptions. The No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL draft is now 2-15 as a starter with more career interceptions (12) than touchdown passes (11).
Carolina's defense didn't do anything to help, allowing the Saints to score on their first nine possessions.
“My responsibility as the head coach is to say, OK, let’s look at all the processes," said Panthers rookie head coach Dave Canales. “It starts with me, it starts with the process and it starts with us combing through all of it to see.”
Herbert and the Chargers' passing game are looking to make noticeable strides after struggling to find any consistency last week. Herbert was 2 of 6 for 38 yards on passes of 10 yards or more in the air.
Besides not taking any snaps in a preseason game and missing two weeks of training camp with a foot injury, Herbert has a young and unproven receiving unit. Rookie Ladd McConkey led the way with five catches for 39 yards and a touchdown.
“There’s a lot of room for improvement. That’s stuff that we’re addressing and we’re definitely going to be better. As an offense, we need to move the ball better in all phases,” said Herbert, who has thrown at least two touchdown passes in seven straight games against an NFC opponent.
After having 1 1/2 sacks and a pass deflection to set up a game-clinching interception last week, Khalil Mack could be in line for another big game.
Mack will be lined up mostly against Carolina left tackle Ickey Ekwonu, who struggled last week against New Orleans' Chase Young. According to the NFL's Next Gen Stats, Ekwonu gave up six pass pressures in the 20 snaps where he was lined up against Young. Meanwhile, Mack had four pressures last week against the Raiders.
Going back to last season, Mack has a sack in three straight games.
The Panthers have allowed 69 sacks over their past 18 games, including four against the Saints.
The Panthers have a gigantic task ahead in figuring out how to replace Pro Bowl defensive end Derrick Brown, who set an NFL single-season record last year for tackles by a lineman with 103.
Brown tore the meniscus in his knee in Week 1 and will miss the remainder of the season.
The Panthers are expected to fill Brown's role on a by-committee basis. DeShawn Williams, who started 10 games last season for Carolina and was recently cut by the Buffalo Bills, was signed earlier this week to the practice squad and could be active on Sunday.
Canales didn't downplay Brown's loss, saying. “He’s one of our best players. That’s big shoes to fill."
Young said he will be doing everything he can to get wide receiver Diontae Johnson more involved in the passing game this week. Johnson, who is viewed as Carolina's primary receiver, was targeted six times and had only two receptions for 19 yards in Week 1.
Johnson was the target on Young's first throw of the game against the Saints that was intercepted.
Canales harped all offseason about the defense needing to force turnovers, but the Panthers were a minus-2 in the takeaway-giveaway battle.
“Let’s hone in on these focuses,” Canales said. “We’ve been crazy about the ball. We’re going to take it up another notch. We’re going to make sure that we emphasize it more in our meetings.”
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AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy contributed to this report.
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