The Carolina Panthers‘ defense allowed 40 points or more for the second time this season. They allowed over 200 yards rushing for the 12th time since Evero took over as defensive coordinator in 2024. While Evero has been a rising head coaching candidate in some circles, his job is on the line in others. Suggestions to fire Evero are coming from all angles, including Zach Roberts of Panthers OnSI.
“Does firing the defensive coordinator mid-season fix things? Maybe, maybe not,” admitted Roberts. “But something has to change, because the Panthers can’t afford to not know what sort of defense they’re going to get every time they run out of the tunnel.”
Josh Norris of Yahoo had a similar sentiment. He asked if Evero even tried to get the team ready.
any preparation at all?
“Did Ejiro Evero coach this week? Any preparation at all?” tweeted Norris.
While the calls from outside the building get louder against Evero, head coach Dave Canales continues to show faith in the third-year coordinator.
Carolina Panthers Defensive Coordinator Called to Be Fired
Before the Panthers loss to the Bucs, Canales talked about the growth the group made from Week 1 to this point.
“The way that the group came together, the way that Ejiro has got the group to buy in,” said Canales on the growth of the defense.
After the game, he held the line that the coordinator was not the reason for the setback.
“I liked our calls,” revealed Canales after the game. “We had good run calls to take care of some of that run game, and it just really came down to execution.”
Inside the building, the thought is that this was a setback, but the common theme of the season has been that the group has come together. Beyond that, injuries have not helped the Panthers.
Panthers Are Unlikely to Fire Evero After Week 7 Issues
The Panthers were without their two starting cornerbacks, Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson. Their top two edge rushers, Nic Scourton and Jaelan Phillips, also missed the game. Still, Horn, Jackson, and Scourton had all been missing for a few weeks now.
In the case of Phillips, he was an added injury that made things tougher this week. Still, they could not just fall apart this easily without him.
However, despite two horrific performances, the Panthers are not terrible in many league-wide metrics. They were a top-five rushing defense coming into the game, and that included the 200 yards allowed to the Chicago Bears. They also faced Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs. The two best running backs in the NFL were held to under 120 combined yards.
So, in chunks and in bits, the defense looks like it can hang. However, it has not been consistent enough to get the buy-in that Evero is the right coach for the job. The Panthers are now 3-3 but still sit in first place in the division.
They face the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay on Sunday Night Football next week.
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