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-NFLTony Romo Womens Jersey . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Amari Cooper Youth Jersey . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. http://www.shoptheofficialcowboys.com/Elite-Roger-Staubach-Cowboys-Jersey/ . The Vikings announced Thursday that Priefer will be one of seven holdovers from the previous staff, along with offensive line coach Jeff Davidson, wide receivers coach George Stewart and others. Norv Turner will mark his 30th year of coaching in the NFL as the offensive co-ordinator, as widely reported for weeks, and George Edwards will be the defensive co-ordinator. Daryl Johnston Womens Jersey . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. Randall Cobb Jersey . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night.TORONTO -- Patrick Kane was on the verge of tears as the final horn sounded on another American loss to Canada.A 4-2 wipeout eliminated the United States from the World Cup of Hockey on Tuesday night, ending what was perhaps the best chance for this generation of players to win an international competition. Instead, the U.S. flamed out in two games, leaving disappointment, frustration and plenty of questions about the direction of the program.In the aftermath of a dominant, clinical performance by the tournament favorite, and a lackluster showing by the U.S., top players were shell-shocked by the early exit.Two games here and youre done, said Kane, who doesnt have a goal in nine consecutive games in a Team USA uniform. Its just amazing. Its crazy the way hockey is. Its definitely frustrating being an American and having these opportunities and have nothing to show for it.A shutout at the hands of Team Europe, a group of players from eight countries, and then a mistake-prone loss to Canada was enough to keep the U.S. from reaching the semifinals. Canada and Europe clinched spots.What Kane called a dud against Europe put the U.S. in a must-win mode against its biggest rival. Regulation victories against Canada and the Czech Republic wouldve advanced the Americans, and now the final round-robin game Thursday is a matchup of lame-duck teams.U.S. general manager Dean Lombardi said in June that his goal was to build a team that could beat Canada. The American roster, heavy on size and grit and light on speed and skill, was widely panned when it was announced, and it took more hits this week.You guys can beat up the roster all you want, coach John Tortorella said. You look at some of those players on our roster, there are some pretty good skilled players and we just simply did not do enough offensively and we self-inflicted quite a bit in two games.Tortorella said hes still waiting for the U.S. to generate some offense. It got an early goal by defenseman Ryan McDonagh and a late one by T.J. Oshie well after the game had been decided.Forwards Phil Kessel, Paul Stastny and Kyle Okposo, and defensemen Justin Faulk and Kevin Shattenkirk were among the players left off the roster who could have provided more offense.Minutes after the game went final, Kessel tweeted : Just sitting around the house tonight w my dog. Felt like I should be doing something important, but couldnt put my finger on it.ddddddddddddIt was just his third tweet in the past year, one of which was a picture of him raising the Stanley Cup.After mistakes led to two Canada goals by Matt Duchene and one each by Corey Perry and Patrice Bergeron, U.S. players brushed off Kessels tweet and criticism of the roster construction.Everyone that was here deserved it, said captain Joe Pavelski, who like Kane and fellow star Zach Parise struggled to generate scoring chances. Theres decisions made and thats the way they went and thats the way that group was put together. It doesnt matter who has here or who wasnt. It was a job for us to get it done, and we were not good enough.The U.S. continued to be not good enough against Canada, falling to 1-5 against the worlds top hockey power dating to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. On Tuesday night Canada was the better team from about the five-minute mark on, getting two goals 14 seconds apart to move past McDonaghs and benefiting from 34 saves by Carey Price.Prices international shutout streak ended at 228:41, but Canada got the job done.There was times tonight that I didnt think we were even close to being as good as were capable of being, Canada coach Mike Babcock said. We werent as good as were capable of being tonight.The U.S. was not nearly as good as it was capable of, despite the star power left at home. Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien left Duchene alone on his first goal, and winger Max Pacioretty failed to clear the puck on his second, the kinds of mistakes no team can make against Canada.It was very important that if they were going to get something, they had to earn it, Tortorella said. I thought we had a good start, but we gave them a couple of freebies there and you just cant do that.Goaltender Jonathan Quick continued his strong international play, stopping 30 shots to keep the score from being even more lopsided. But like Kessel sitting at home with his dog, Quick couldnt get goals at the other end to keep the U.S. from another head-shaking loss.I feel like we let our country down, we let ourselves down, defenseman Ryan Suter said. You come into this not knowing how many more chances youre going to get and to be out after two games is extremely disappointing.---Follow Stephen Whyno on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SWhyno. ' ' '