One of the most frustrating aspects of Carolina’s overtime victory was the fact that it didn’t have to come to that point.

The Panthers held a 17-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter, and then the Giants scored 10 unanswered points. A key part of this happening was player execution, but the coaching should not get a pass.

Canales was, once again, inconsistent with his play-calling and play choices in certain situations– especially late in the game. Instead of simplifying the path to victory by leaning into Hubbard to open up the air attack, he may have overthought his philosophy.

In addition, defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero called a decent game, until late in the fourth quarter.

He made the questionable decision to play off-coverage in the overtime-clinching drive for New York, which did not tighten throwing windows for struggling quarterback Daniel Jones. Against New Orleans, the Panthers played press-man in the team’s final defensive play to win the game and were successful.

Carolina has the personnel on the perimeter to play press-man as much as they like. This could allow them to tee off from the edge and generate more pressure than they did today.

The simple things should be simple.