By DjackThe Carolina Panthers are now 1-5 to start the season, after a surprise Super Bowl run where they were basically unbeatable all season, they're now struggling to stay relevant in the playoff discussion. They look like a mere shell of themselves from last season, after a heartbreaking loss to the Saints in which the Panther mounted a comeback from 21 points down, they were unable to surmount it, and were handed their 5th loss in just 6 games. Drew Brees is obviously still an elite quarterback, so his offense will put up points on anyone, but letting up 41 points is unacceptable, especially for a team coming off a Super Bowl appearance. I've praised this Panthers front 7 all season, calling them one of the best in the league, yet week after week they fail to assert their dominance, and have now let up 40 points in 2 of their last 3 games. I guess I can't blame the front 7 completely for the Panthers shitty defensive performance since they've only let up 100 yards rushing twice this season, so the run defense hasn't been the problem. The Panthers are getting fried in the secondary, they lost a veteran presence in Charles Tillman, and they lost their #1 guy Josh Norman this offseason so you had to anticipate some setbacks in the secondary, but nobody expected the secondary to get fried the way they are right now. They're letting up about 300 YPG in passing alone, that's horrible, and definitely not a recipe for success. Cam Newton as much as I'd love to fry him for being awful, none of this is his fault. His protection has been poor, Jonathon Stewart has been out for the majority of the season leaving him with no running game to lead on, and the defense has been letting up score after score forcing the Panthers to play from behind in the majority of games this season. Am I saying it is impossible for the Panthers to turn this around and make the playoffs, no, but it sure is looking more and more like that is going to be the case very soon. The Panthers can afford to lose two more games at most, even then their playoffs hopes will be riding on the downfall of another NFC team. Their division hopes might be all but vanished now that they're in dead last in their division, Ron Rivera should be very worried about his job security at this moment, there was very high expectations coming into this season for Carolina. As for Carolina fans, isn't this exactly what happened in the early 2000's after you made the Super Bowl, the next year the team laid a complete egg, well at this point it should just be ritual then. This is karma for Cam being an asshole all of last season, ain't so much fun when you're getting your ass kicked, now is it Cam.
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AuthorDjack- Chief editor Archives
April 2018
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