CHARLOTTE— DeShawn Williams remembers what the Panthers locker room felt like last season.

The defensive end played in 16 games for the Carolina Panthers in 2023 as the franchise skidded to a 2-15 record. It's a feeling one doesn't soon forget. It's why he knows this feeling is so different.

"It's no panic in this room. Being here from last year, feeling this locker room to this year, it's a totally different vibe. I just think, you know, last year, you could feel more like 'ugh,'" Williams shared, dropping his shoulder with a sigh to indicate past attitudes.

"This year, it's like, no, it's what we didn't do."

The 10-year veteran has a point. On Sunday, following the Panthers 34-24 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the locker room wasn't sad or downtrodden, depressed with what seemed inevitable.

They were mad. They were upset at the game's outcome and themselves with easy-to-pinpoint missed opportunities that led to the loss. And more than anything, they were juiced because not only were those opportunities addressable, but the game was also winnable and competitive and within the grasp of a team that feels on the verge of turning a corner.

"I just know we're getting better as a team; there's no moral victory. A loss is a loss," corner Jaycee Horn said. "But at the end of the day, you could feel the vibe that we are getting better as a team. So can't deny that. We just going to find a way to shake back and then go out there next week and get it done."

Last season, the Panthers averaged 13.9 points per game, to opponents 24.5. The offense averaged 294.9 yards per game, 34.14 percent on third down, and 104.1 yards on the ground.

In the last two weeks of the season, in which the Panthers went 1-1 and started to find a sense of who they could be with quarterback Andy Dalton, the offense averaged 406 yards per game, with an average of 143 of those yards coming on the ground. They averaged a 46 percent conversion rate on third down during that time.

Those numbers coming from the last two weeks are why Diontae Johnson—who wasn't here in 2023–says this is actually a different team than the one that started 0-2.

"We just believe in ourselves and the game plan each and every week," Johnson said. "These past two weeks, going out there and being comfortable is the main thing. We're just playing as a unit and just letting Andy lead us, and we're just rallying around him and making plays for him. And that's what everything—you build confidence throughout the whole unit doing that.

"It just boils down to the details, the little things. Once we harp on, get those down—the whole team, the energy is just different. I feel like it's a different team," Johnson continued, pointing to the team fighting well into the fourth quarter despite it being a two-possession game at that point.

"That shows you we still got that dog in us and we not going to give up till that clock hits zero."

Dalton concurred, telling reporters: "Yeah, I mean, I definitely feel it. I think, I mean, just of what this team has been through the last several years. And, I mean, we were in this game to the very end. And so, I think just for us, it's like, all right, how can we change that? How can we, when we get to be in these moments where we have a chance to win, go drive down and win the game?

"And I think that's, you know, what we're trying to find. We know we're close and so it's something that we just, we've got to find a way to, to get it done."

Since Dave Canales arrived, he has been preaching—among other things—finding an identity. The first-time head coach hasn't been afraid to admit that this team does not yet know who they are or who they will be in the future, other than a club focused on the ball. Canales also knows that identity can be found, even in a loss.

Sunday provided the first touchdown of the first-round rookie receiver Xavier Legette, the growth of Jonathan Mingo with Adam Thielen injured, Xavier Woods's best interception return of his career, corner Mike Jackson second game in a row with nine tackles, Jadeveon Clowney adding a sack and two quarterback hurries, signs of aggression on fourth-down and enough moments that add up to momentum.

"So, we're going to be fine, man," Williams promised. "Like I, I love this team. This team is totally different from last year and we got the right guys to do to get the job done."