That’s the positive. But the Panthers have made too many mistakes in their first two games to leave with wins. The defense couldn’t hold a fourth-quarter lead in Week 1, nullifying the offense’s 30-point output. Then the offense committed four giveaways in Week 2, and that’s always going to be challenging to overcome.

“We have tremendous competitive toughness,” Rhule said. “We just have to put a total team effort together. It’s coming. It’s on the way.”

Losing running back Christian McCaffrey for multiple weeks with a high ankle sprain won’t help in that endeavor. He’s tied for the league lead with four total touchdowns and accounted for 223 yards from scrimmage as the best player on Carolina’s offense. So it’ll be up to quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and others to help fill the void.

“I just have to continue to attack each day coming