By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers are still learning how to handle success.
While the Panthers have thrived in the underdog role this season with wins over Green Bay and the Los Angeles Rams, they continue to struggle winning the games they’re supposed to win.
Sunday was the latest example.
The Panthers, needing a win over the last-place New Orleans Saints at the Superdome to take full control of the NFC South, instead surrendered a fourth-quarter lead and lost 20-17, leaving them on the outside looking in at the playoff picture with a 7-7 record. They’re tied with Tampa Bay with two head-to-head games remaining against the Buccaneers, who are in the driver’s seat in terms of tiebreakers.
Carolina has now lost 12 straight games when listed as the betting favorite, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. The Panthers have not won a game they’re favored to win since Week 3 of the 2021 season.
Second-year head coach Dave Canales attributed some of that to a young team still learning how to win.
“I see the inconsistency of play that we can have at times, and to me this is a group that is still growing in terms of just finding week in, week out success that way,” Canales said Monday. “And that’s what I really attribute it to. That’s what it looks like on film.”
Canales pointed out that when a team begins to win big games, it tends to catch an opponent’s attention, and the attention to details needs to be amped up.
“I know that when you go into a game as a favorite or you start to build some momentum, the other team also sees that and they’re aware like, ‘hey, let’s go,’ and that calls on them to give their best,” Canales said.
What’s working
Carolina has converted more fourth-down conversions (23) than any team in the league and its 70% conversion rate is fifth best in the league.
However, the Panthers failed on the biggest fourth-down conversion attempt of the season on Sunday when the Saints blew up a fourth-and-1 run up the middle by Chuba Hubbard while Carolina was leading 17-10 early in the fourth quarter. If Carolina had converted the fourth down — or kicked the 53-yard-old field goal — that would have made it a two-score game.
Instead, the Panthers never scored again and lost.
The Panthers aren’t a team that runs the tush push, largely because of the diminutive nature of quarterback Bryce Young, who is listed at 5-foot-10 and a generous 204 pounds on the team’s website.
“It’s physics,” Canales said. “He goes about 190 pounds, and when you have a 220-, 230-pound quarterback leaning on a center, that’s an advantage.”
What needs help
Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn is considered one of the top cornerbacks in the league, but he continues to struggle against Saints wide receiver Chris Olave.
Olave, who burned Horn for a long TD pass in New Orleans’ 17-7 win over Carolina in November, was huge down the stretch and beat Horn in 1-on-1 coverage for a 12-yard touchdown on a slant route with 2:29 left to tie the game at 17. Olave had three catches for 47 yards — two with Horn in coverage — on the game-tying drive and finished with six catches for 85 yards.
Canales said the Panthers were “totally disjointed” on the back end of the defense after the Saints went “tempo” during that drive.
Stock up
Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker missed the first six games of the season but is rounding into form.
Coker had four catches for 60 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown on a well-thrown ball from Young. Coker now has 10 catches for 134 yards in the last two games, including two touchdown receptions. By comparison, struggling starting wide receiver Xavier Legette has just five catches for 40 yards over the last two weeks.
Stock down
Panthers rookie linebacker Lathan Ransom made a huge mistake on Sunday with nine seconds left when he hit a sliding Tyler Shough on the quarterback’s final carry of regulation. That drew a penalty that moved the Saints 15 yards closer to the end zone, turning a 62-yard field-goal attempt by Charlie Smyth into a 47 yarder.
Smythe made the kick to give the Saints the win.
Derrick Brown also was called for a penalty on the sliding Shough earlier in the game.
Injuries
The Panthers played without DT Turk Wharton because of a hamstring injury after he tripped on a teammate during a walkthrough practice on Friday. Canales called it unfortunate, adding that he has never seen anything like it in all of his years as an NFL coach.
Key number
4-0 — Baker Mayfield’s record against the Panthers since being cut by Carolina.
Next steps
The Panthers have two games left against the Bucs (Week 16 and 18) and may need to beat their NFC South rivals to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2017. If they don’t sweep the Bucs, the Panthers will need help in Week 17 from other teams.