CHARLOTTE, N.C. – New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton was 37 years old in 2000 when he got his first job as an NFL offensive coordinator with the New York Giants. Seven games into his third season, with the team struggling at 3-4, coach Jim Fassel took away his play-calling duties.

The Giants had gotten away from the running game, instrumental to winning the Super Bowl in 2000, and Fassel felt that had to change. They immediately won three straight, averaging 144.6 yards rushing, 55.1 more than they averaged the first seven games.

Sound familiar?

Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule isn’t ready to take the play-calling away from his youthful offensive coordinator, 32-year-old Joe Brady, but he’s been adamant the past two weeks about being more committed to the run.

It has yet to happen.

“I wouldn’t say that’s my thought right now,’’ Rhule said of replacing Brady as the play-caller after their fourth straight loss, while quarterback Sam Darnold has struggled. “But we have to get something fixed.’’

The Panthers (3-4) averaged 31 carries and 105.6 rushing yards during their 3-0 start before Christian McCaffrey was sidelined by a hamstring injury. They have averaged 23.5 carries for 99 yards during their four-game losing streak without him.

They had a season-low 17 carries for 56 yards during Sunday’s 25-3 loss to the Giants -- after Rhule said he wanted at least 33 rushes. Seven of those came on the opening drive that resulted in a field goal. The other 10 were spread out over the final 11 series.

This, in a game in which the Panthers trailed only 5-3 until a New York touchdown with 59 seconds left in the third quarter.

“You need to stay on the field and wear on people, and we’re not doing that,’’ Rhule said.

McCaffrey's absence not an excuse

Former Panthers coach John Fox understands Rhule’s frustration. He was the defensive coordinator with the Giants during Payton’s first two seasons there and saw the emphasis on the run game decrease.

“You have to be able to run the ball in this league,’’ said Fox, who took Carolina to the Super Bowl in 2003 with an offense that ranked seventh in rushing. “You also need more than one back. I’m not saying [the Panthers] aren’t better with Christian McCaffrey. They are. But you’ve got to plug and play.’’

You can’t blame the drop in rushing attempts totally on not having McCaffrey (hamstring) the past four games. Rookie Chuba Hubbard has averaged 3.6 yards a carry since taking over, slightly down from McCaffrey’s 3.9 the first three weeks.

What has changed is the run-pass balance. The Panthers ran designed runs 42% of the time the first three weeks but only 32% the past four, according to ESPN Stats and Information.

They now rank 20th in rushing, six spots lower than the first three games.

Run-pass balance can help Darnold get on track

Not running has put more pressure on the offensive line to pass protect and more pressure on Darnold to complete passes.

The injury-plagued line has failed, as Darnold has been sacked 15 times since Week 3.

Darnold has failed, throwing seven interceptions and making other poor decisions during that span.

His footwork has gotten out of rhythm, and his completion percentage dropped from 68% the first three games to 56% the past four.

“I feel sometimes my feet can be very fast, in a bad way,’’ Darnold said.

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky agreed, as he broke down a play in which Darnold’s dropback was so fast the receivers didn't have time to complete their routes.

“That’s why this play looks so funky, because he’s ready to throw and those routes aren’t married together,’’ Orlovsky said.

Darnold was so bad Sunday that Rhule benched him early in the fourth quarter, though he quickly declared Darnold his starter for Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons (1 p.m. ET, FOX) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“With the defense we have, if we can just run the football, protect the football, we’ll win games,’’ Rhule said. “The formula’s pretty simple. It’s just not being executed.’’

Pressure is on Brady to balance the attack

Rhule met with Brady on Monday to discuss what happened.

“Joe's an excellent coordinator,’’ Rhule said. “I just think we have to do a lot of things better.’’

Former NFL offensive guru June Jones agreed. Even in his run-and-shoot spread offense, he demanded balance. In his first three seasons as an NFL offensive coordinator in Atlanta (1981-83), the Falcons ran 49% of the time.

Jones’ situation with Houston was similar to what Brady faces with Darnold, who was 13-25 the past three season with the Jets. He had to convince the Oilers to keep Warren Moon, who in three previous seasons had a 12-33 record with 59 interceptions to 40 touchdowns.

Moon went on to make the Pro Bowl nine times and was ultimately selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Jones sees similar potential in Darnold, a player he studied coming out of Southern Cal.

“He’s one of those quarterbacks that may be a top-seven or -eight type guy as he gets comfortable in the system,’’ said Jones, who made Carolina backup P.J. Walker an XFL star during their 5-0 start with the Houston Roughnecks in 2020 before the league shut down.

Jones also believes in Rhule, having faced Rhule’s Temple team while coaching at SMU.

“He understands what it takes to be successful,’’ Jones said.

Fox agreed, recalling how Payton being stripped of play-calling duties made him a better coordinator and one of the top offensive minds in the NFL today.

“Sometimes you’ve got to make changes to get the point across,’’ Fox said. “I’m not beating up Joe Brady. But there’s no doubt that’s something they’re going to have to work on because they’re struggling on offense.’’