Better late than never: Panthers say they’ve found their identity after win vs. Seahawks

It took 14 weeks, a head-coaching change, multiple staff revisions and a couple of notable trades, but the Carolina Panthers finally know who they are.

On Sunday, in a 30-24 win against the Seattle Seahawks, the Panthers produced their first road victory and first winning streak of the season. Captain and veteran linebacker Shaq Thompson said the seeds were planted for this win when the Panthers returned from their bye week.

“Once we had that first day of practice, we knew what type of team we were going to be,” Thompson said after the win. “We talk about playoff mentality, and I told them boys last night, I talked to the team, I said, ‘If you want to be a playoff team, these are the games you got to win — in these environments.’ And these guys showed up, they played, we created turnovers and got the offense the ball back in great field position.”

The Panthers ran for 223 yards on offense and produced six scoring drives. On defense, Carolina created two first-half turnovers and sacked Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith three times.

The Panthers were aggressive in their play-calling and their performance, and that mindset came from the top, specifically interim head coach Steve Wilks, who was emotional after the win on the road.

“With everything that we’ve gone through, they’ve gone through — with the coaching changes, getting rid of players, (the perception) that the organization is trying to tank it — you know all of those different things, and to see how those guys responded and came out and played today, it’s pretty thrilling emotionally,” Wilks said.

Players and coaches have bought into Wilks’ message of patience and process. Quarterback Sam Darnold threw the ball just 12 times in the second half, but he trusted the play-calling and the running game to deliver. That trust paid off.

Darnold — whose first two starts of the season have led to back-to-back wins — believes that trust has come with finding the team’s identity under Wilks.

“We’re a physical defense that flies around, makes plays, creates turnovers, and we’re an offense that controls the clock, can run the football and use that run game to create big plays in the pass game with play action,” Darnold said. “And if we’re able to drop back, we can do that, but I think we’re finding our identity as a team, and it’s fun to be a part of.”

Veteran defensive back Juston Burris — who was with Wilks and defensive coordinator Al Holcomb in Cleveland in 2019 — believes the locker room has rallied around Wilks — now 4-4 as interim head coach — because of how he delivers his messages to his troops.

“We’re following his leadership,” Burris said. “He’s a fiery guy, he’s a passionate guy, and we know he has our back. And that’s somebody that we want to play for. That’s somebody who you want to go out every day and just play your best for. So, we’re very appreciative of how he’s led this team and we’re just pushing for him.”

Darnold, who has played under four different NFL head coaches — including Wilks — echoed Burris’ statement.

“I think with (Wilks) being able to be honest with us, and tell us how we’re going to play the game, and what we want to do, and not shy away from that — he said early on, even when we were losing some games, it was, ‘Hey, trust the process and trust the game plan,’” Darnold said. “If we go into a game knowing that we want to run the football, and early we get down a score or two, we’ve got to just trust it and know that that game plan is going to come to fruition. I think Coach Wilks has done a really good job of messaging that to the team.”

The Panthers, who are undefeated at home under Wilks (3-0), now control their destiny in the lowly NFC South. Following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 35-7 blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Panthers are one game back in the race.

The Panthers still have a road matchup against the division-leading Buccaneers, and already own a 21-3 home win against them this season. With back-to-back home matchups against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions on deck, the Panthers could push their way into a very important rematch against the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay in Week 17.

But for now, the Panthers aren’t looking too far into the future.

“We ain’t thinking like that,” cornerback Jaycee Horn said. “We’re thinking one game at a time, one practice at a time, one meeting at a time. Just trying to find a way to get better — if you do that the wins will take care of themselves.”