CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Panthers coach Ron Rivera is hoping a bye week and some in-depth self-scouting will help the defending NFC champions salvage what is quickly becoming a lost season.Carolina (1-5) is marred in a four-game losing streak following a 41-38 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, a game in which his young secondary was shredded for the second time in the last three weeks.Oh, yeah. It really is a big challenge, Rivera said Monday. ... The easiest thing to do is quit, but shoot, weve got 10 games to play. Atlanta lost (Sunday). So heck, were not in a bad spot. What weve got to do is take care of our business and doing the things were capable of. That starts now.Big challenge might be an understatement.The Panthers are three games behind the Falcons (4-2) in the NFC South -- and 0-3 in division play. Theyve matched the worst record through six games for teams coming off a Super Bowl appearance, joining the 1987 New York Giants, 1999 Atlanta Falcons, 2002 St. Louis Rams and 2004 Panthers, who also started 1-5.Rivera encouraged players to get away from football following their practice on Tuesday.The Panthers are obviously frustrated as evidenced by Cam Newtons brief postgame interview Sunday -- which he ended after about one minute.During their time off, the coaching staff plans to do extra self-scouting to figure out how a team that went 17-2 last season and reached the Super Bowl has fallen off course.Hopefully we get some answers, Rivera said.The biggest focus will be the teams pass defense, which is allowing 282 yards per game and has surrendered 13 touchdowns through the air since jettisoning All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman.The Panthers have failed to generate much of a pass rush with their starting defensive ends Charles Johnson and Kony Ealy combining for one-half sack this season. That, combined with a young secondary that has been riddled by injuries and lacks game experience, has led to some poor results.Atlantas Matt Ryan threw for 503 yards and Drew Brees put up 465 against the Panthers, the two biggest totals by an opposing quarterback in the franchises 22-year history. Both threw for four touchdowns.Well, thats probably the biggest disappointment is we havent had the production we would have liked out of the front, Rivera said. The front has done a nice job. Weve done a good job stopping the run. But (the run defense) is not whats killing us.Rivera said the Panthers will look at ways of being more creative on defense to get additional pressure on opposing QBs.The problem with blitzing more is it leaves Carolinas young cornerbacks -- the Panthers have three rookies on the roster -- exposed more in coverage. Carolina has already given up eight passes of more than 40 yards, second most in the NFL.Rivera said the Panthers are seeing more double teams on defensive tackle Kawann Short, more play-action on first and second down and more chipping on their defensive ends on third down.There are some things weve got to be able to do to counter that stuff, Rivera said.The Panthers were counting on third-year defensive end Ealy to have a big season after he came on strong at the end of last season and had three sacks, a forced fumble and an interception in the Super Bowl. But Ealy has been completely shut down this season, and Rivera acknowledged the team hoped he would be further along in his progression as a player.Right now, for a six-game stretch youd like to see a little more production, Rivera said. Its not like hes not trying. Its tough because of the way people approach us now and look at us.Defensive end Wes Horton said Monday the biggest difference from last years defense that finished in the top 10 in the league overall and first in takeaways is the lack of communication and consistency.There are flashes where were doing well and other times when guys just arent in the right place, Horton said.If nothing else, the bye should also help the Panthers get healthier.They played Sunday without three starters: cornerbacks James Bradberry (toe) and Robert McClain (hamstring) and left tackle Michael Oher (concussion). Defensive tackles Vernon Butler (ankle) and Paul Soliai (foot) also sat out with injuries.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Connor Murphy Jersey . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Brandon Gormley Jersey .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. https://www.cheapcoyotes.com/868z-wayne-gretzky-jersey-coyotes.html . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. Brendan Perlini Jersey . Its sharpness matched my mind. This was no night to go to sleep. Paul MacLean Jersey . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. There is losing, and then there is being completely and totally outplayed. For the last three times that Ireland have played ODIs against Full Members, it has been the latter. They were beaten by 255 runs by Pakistan, and before that, by 136 runs and 76 runs by Sri Lanka, making for grim reading. However, William Porterfield, their captain, managed to find the positives.Weve done a lot of things well for 80 to 85 overs in a lot of those games, Porterfield said. Against Pakistan, we pretty much had an off day, and Sharjeel (Khan) had a very good day. He was the big difference in the game. If we kept him out of it, it would have been a decent enough contest. We probably lost the Sri Lanka game in seven or eight overs on the field. Those things can happen if youre not right on it.Realistically, that is a generous analysis. Sharjeels 152 off 86 balls accounted for almost half of Pakistans total of 337, but even if he had been kept quiet, Ireland only managed 82 in response. Similarly, they were unable to muster strong replies against Sri Lanka after conceding heavily in both the matches they played in June.The real reason for Irelands recent struggles may lie a little deeper, and Porterfield was willing to acknowledge that. The biggest thing for ourselves was that we had quite a few debutants in those games, especially with our bowling attack, and the experience they have taken from that is going to be key.Against Sri Lanka, Barry McCarthy earned his first cap to join a young pace pack that included Andy McBrine, who has played 16 ODIs, and Max Sorensen, who has 13 ODIs to his name. Add that to new faces in the batting line-up such as Stuart Poynter and Sean Terry, and you have a team in a transition of sorts, which makes the dip in consistency understandaable.ddddddddddddThat makes it particularly important for Irelands stalwarts like Porterfield and the OBrien brothers to perform well in the two matches in South Africa, but even more important that Tim Murtagh provides influence and inspiration through his presence. Murtagh joined the squad early on Saturday morning after winning the county championship with Middlesex, and Ireland will see the value of having someone with that success.Whether Murtagh plays the first game remains to be seen, especially as he would only have had little more than 24 hours of recovery time, but simply having him around will boost Irish spirits. He is here today, training, Porterfield said, his tone notably lighter than when he was dissecting Irelands last few performances. He has got 20 years of experience behind him, so he knows what he needs to do and how his body is going to feel, and he will be pretty open and honest himself, how he is feeling.How Ireland are feeling is also transparent. They are both nervous and excited at the possibilities that lie ahead in the next four days, and they are determined to make the most of them, so that they can be asked back to these shores in future. Having the opportunity to come to South Africa and play them in their own backyard, and to play the world champions - Ireland play Australia in a one-off ODI after the South Africa match - in different conditions is what we have been building towards, Porterfield said. Weve got to keep improving and keep putting in performances to merit the games that we get. Were not here to just make up numbers for a couple of games, but we are here to win games of cricket. ' ' '