So, I am a Carolina Panthers fan. And… they aren’t doing quite the best. Just kidding, they are doing terribly. I was born in North Carolina and my entire family is Panthers fans. I inherited my passion for football watching from my dad, and my knowledge of the sport increased every year. So, we would always be excited when the Panthers did well. However, after 2 weeks, they have won zero games, and the only solace is that they lost those games by 3 points or less. The real problem is how mismanaged the team is. Here is why I am a troubled Panthers fan.
Around the league, every team has shown improvement in some shape or form. However, the Panthers are going the wrong way. They are using their talent incorrectly and cannot bring a sense of winning to the Keep Pounding team. Let us look at the previous two game
s to illuminate this. In Week 1, the Panthers faced the Cleveland Browns. The Panthers starting quarterback, Baker Mayfield, was a former Browns quarterback, so this was supposed to be a revenge game for him. Even so, the Panthers’ offense got dismantled in the first half. Basically, every other throw that Baker threw got batted, and the Panthers were lethargic on offense. On the other side, the Browns’ offense with their backup quarterback, Jacoby Brissett, punched through the Carolina defense with their running ability. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt were not threatened as the running backs, and Nick Chubb ran 141 yards for the afternoon. The Panthers showed some life in the fourth quarter as Baker led the offense to two touchdowns, one huge pass to Robbie Anderson, and another on the ground. The revived Panthers managed to gain the lead 24-23 with a minute left in the game. But, a couple of questionable penalties or missed penalties caused the Browns to get within field goal range, and Cade York hit a 58-yard field goal to win the game. One penalty call, on Brian Burns for roughing the passer, was doubled down with a fine when replayed looked more of a situational thing rather than targeted roughing. The other one was a no-call on an intentional grounding because Brissett held the ball for way too long to be just a spike. Should the Panthers have won? Probably, but the offense did not deserve to win that game, because they were slow.
In Week 2, the Panthers faced the New York Giants. In this game, the offensive struggles continued. There were two fumbles in the first half, and while the defense kept the Giants from scoring touchdowns, they did get field goals. The Panthers matched that with a pair of their own field goals, and the score was tied 6-6 at the half. In the second half, both teams quickly scored touchdowns, but the offense on both sides continued to be slow after that. In the end, the Giants scored one more field goal than the Panthers winning the game 19-16. Overall, everyone agreed that this was not a fun game to watch, and I have to agree due to the lack of high-flying offenses that some fans are used to. There was minimal usage of DJ Moore and Christian McCaffery. I feel like they should have been used more.
What I find the most troublesome part of the Panthers is their inability to properly use their talent. Starting from their offensive line, their new draft pick, Ikem Ekwonu let a lot of rushes pass by him, making Baker Mayfield more pressured at having to throw more quickly. Mayfield didn’t quite have the accuracy, and his passes were frequently batted. DJ Moore, Robbie Anderson, and Christian McCaffery just weren’t used as much as they should have, and the defense was getting soft.
Jemery Chinn looks like he’s out of his zone, and Jaycee Horn is still learning. However, any mistake the Panthers make, the opposing team will capitalize on it. Looking forward to the next five games for the Panthers, none of them seem winnable with teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Los Angeles Rams. It seems like the Panthers are going to be 0-7 after Week 7. They also currently have the longest losing streak in the NFL. Oh boy. It seems my troubles will last for a while. The mystery remains, when will the Panthers patch things up and start winning?
So as this detective finishes this report for the side quest, he can move on, back to the main case.
Hey Aarav, as you know, the Panthers are my 2nd favorite team, so I feel your pain. While I have not been able to watch their first 2 games, from what I’ve read and looked at the box scores the Panthers are struggling. This is Matt Rhule’s 3rd season, and while I typically want a coach to have 3 seasons before possibly firing them, losing 2 very winnable games early on this year has shown that he has not improved as a coach, and should possibly be shown the door during this season. I agree that Christian Mccaffrey and Dj moore have been underutilized, they are 2 very talented players, and the offense should be based around their skillsets, especially Mccaffrey. Also, as you mentioned the offensive line, and especially Ikem Onkongwu have been a problem. Ikem’s pre-draft report was that he would start out as a great run blocker, but that his pass-blocking technique needed some refinement, which has been very true to start the season. The Panthers game is on right now, and currently they are beating the Saints, who seem like the better team on paper. If the Panthers are able to close the game out, that may give them some momentum, but if they end up losing, the rest of the season is probably going to be pretty rough for the Panthers.
Hi Aarav, it was really nice to read your blog post this week! While I am not personally a football fan, I could definitely see your passion for the sport. You touched a bit on this at the beginning of your piece, something I would love to hear about further is why you enjoy football so much – is it the bonding experience you’ve had with your dad growing up, or the just love of the game you’ve had over the course of your many years watching football.
I personally have very little experience with football, but I’m really glad as a reader that you broke down your analysis of the first 2 games into something more in lamens terms that I could understand. It was really interesting to hear about how offenses could be slow (they always look very fast to me!)
Ps – I love the detective theme of your blog – so original!
I don’t understand football, but I do understand drama…I love sports drama! Great post!
Hey Aarav, as a big football fan myself I can understand your pain of your team not doing well. Even though I am a Patriots fan, believe it or not, we have had some recent years where our Coaching staff has let us down quite a bit. On another subject of fantasy football, I had the first pick in one of my drafts this year and decided to take Jonathon Taylor instead of CMC which was a massive mistake as even though the Panthers offense has been struggling with Baker Mayfield as the quarterback, McCaffery has been getting a decent amount of touches. I also happen to have DJ Moore who has been extremely, and I cannot emphasize this enough, extremely disappointing this year. In my opinion, the Panthers should consider trading CMC and since it has already been a rough start to the season, look to get as many drafts picks as you can and build your young core. The panthers defense isn’t horrible, and I think they have a lot of potential. I hope that the Panthers can turn things around before its too late in the season!