Three things Thomas Brown should do as the Carolina Panthers’ new offensive play-caller

The Carolina Panthers are 0-6. They had to do something, and something in this case turned out not to be firing anybody, but instead for head coach Frank Reich to hand over play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.

It remains to be seen whether this is simply rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic or something fruitful. We’ll start learning which one it is on Oct. 29, when the Panthers return from a bye week and host Houston (3-3) in a somewhat winnable game.

That Reich — a noted NFL play-caller — is suddenly abandoning the idea of calling plays and handing over one of the parts of the job he loves most does strike me as a little odd.

Yes, this was the eventual succession plan, but this soon?!

Rather than parse all of his word choices in his news conference Monday announcing the change, I’m going a different way in this column.

However the Panthers reached this decision, it’s done. But now what? Carolina ranks in the low-to-mid 20s in the 32-team NFL in most key offensive categories. That ain’t good. The Panthers scored two first-quarter TDs against Miami in a 42-21 loss Sunday, then never scored again on offense. That ain’t good, either.

So consider this thought exercise. Let’s say Reich handed those duties over to you instead of Brown. What would you do? Here’s my three-step plan for what I’d like to see from Brown and the Panthers’ offense for the final 11 games of this season.

A deep ball every quarter

Here’s one thing most Panther fans will probably agree with — Carolina doesn’t throw it deep nearly enough. Usually, it’s one time per game.

The Panthers’ offense under Bryce Young, even when successful, has had a grind-it-out approach. You could make a sandwich, eat it, take a power nap, rake the leaves, come back inside and Carolina still will be in the middle of the same drive, facing another 3rd-and-5 from the 40. This is partly because the team has yet to successfully replace DJ Moore — or Ted Ginn, for that matter — as receivers who are threats to go 60 yards with the ball.

But there are ways to do this, and even deep-ball incompletions loosen up defenses or occasionally draw a 35-yard pass interference penalty.

A fairly typical scoring drive for the Panthers this year has been like the second one the Panthers had Sunday — 10 plays, 74 yards, six first downs, 5:21 off the clock. The Panthers have tried to run a fair amount of no-huddle, and Young likes that, but the results have been mixed.

I know Miami is an outlier because the Dolphins are so speedy, but one of their fastest guys (De’Von Achane) was out Sunday. Still, every single one of Miami’s TD drives took less than time than that one, and that’s partly because the Dolphins know how to throw it deep and come up with explosive plays.

Teams are concentrating on Adam Thielen now, Carolina’s de facto No. 1 receiver and the master of the 11-yard catch from the slot. Thielen has been great, but the Panthers have got to sling it downfield more.

In fact, if I were Brown, I’d open with a first-play, 50-yard deep ball against Houston. What a crowd-pleaser, no matter whether it works or not.

More Hubbard, less Sanders

Miles Sanders was a high-priced and somewhat controversial free-agent acquisition for the Panthers, given that few teams pay big money to NFL running backs anymore.

So far, that Sanders contract is looking like a mistake. He just hasn’t been a difference-maker, and that 3.1 yards-per-carry average isn’t getting it done. Backup running back Chuba Hubbard, meanwhile, is averaging 4.5 yards per carry in more limited work.

In other words, Hubbard is making less than 20% of what Sanders is making, but at the moment looks like the more productive back with a better burst. It has also been telling lately that the Panthers prefer giving the ball to Hubbard more often on fourth-and-1 plays than to Sanders.

It doesn’t really matter who starts the game once Sanders (who missed Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury) returns. But Hubbard needs the ball more often, and Sanders not as much.

More ‘Max Protect’

One thing that Young tends to do is hold the ball. He’s used to being able to beat people with his legs, like he did in college at Alabama, and extend plays. That’s a lot harder to do in the NFL.

Another thing Young tends to not do is find Carolina’s tight ends open. As has been usual ever since Greg Olsen retired, the Panthers are getting very little pass-game production from the position.

So can we just agree that Carolina tight ends are more valuable right now as blockers?

If I were the Panthers, I’d use “maximum protection,” or max protect, on more plays. This offensive line gives up too many sacks.

Young only has five NFL starts, but in three of them he’s been sacked at least four times. He’s getting hit too much. Everyone gets a piece of blame for that. But you don’t want to bench Young right now for Andy Dalton — either for performance or for injury — because the rookie No. 1 overall draft choice is the future.

So keep the tight end in to block. And, for that matter, I’d keep the running back in a lot, too. Christian McCaffrey isn’t walking through that door, and Carolina’s not getting much production from its backs in the passing game. I’d like to see how teams do with seven Panther blockers instead of five protecting Young.

This was the strategy the Panthers failed to employ in Super Bowl 50, incidentally, once it turned out that Mike Remmers had no chance of blocking Von Miller, and I still think “max protect” in that game could have changed everything.

The stakes aren’t nearly as massive right now, but I’d give it a try. As Reich said Monday, we’re about to see “version 2.0” of Carolina’s offense.

OK, fine. But make it different. Because if it’s “same ol’, same ol’,” what’s the point of even making this switch?