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Panthers' Chuba Hubbard could teach us all a lesson on handling disappointment Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer The chant rose up from the crowd - unlikely and unbidden - during a Carolina Panthers offensive series where most football fans know you're supposed to be quiet so the players can hear quarterback Bryce Young's snap count. But the fans at Bank of America Stadium couldn't help themselves in the third quarter of what turned out to be an extraordinary, 31-28 win over the Los Angeles Rams Sunday. They chanted "Keep!! Pounding!!" first across the stadium. And then a yell organically sprung up for the man who would carry the ball eight times on that one drive, who would be one of the stars of the upset win and who has given us all a lesson in the graceful handling of disappointment over the past few weeks: "Chuba! CHUBA! CHUBA!!" Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard got demoted earlier this year. In a very public way. Hubbard was benched in favor of the little-known Rico Dowdle, who had begun the season as his backup but was now the hotter back. And while it was the right thing for head coach Dave Canales to do, because Dowdle was simply playing better and his first loyalty must be to the team, that didn't make it any easier for Hubbard. The Canadian is being paid very well to be one of Carolina's stars and he had clearly been Carolina's best offensive player in 2024 (1,195 rushing yards, 11 total TDs). Now he was hardly getting the ball at all . In a four-game stretch before Sunday, these were Hubbard's total carry totals for the day: 5-3-4-3. Fifteen carries in four games! The fifth-year back used to sometimes get 15 carries in a single half of a single game. In the meantime, Dowdle was getting the ball handed off to him 15-20 times a game for the surprising Panthers, who are 7-6 after Sunday's win and in the playoff hunt as they enter their bye week. So what did Hubbard do when he got demoted and disappointed? First, let's step back for a moment and ask ourselves regarding our own jobs: "What would I do?" If tomorrow you got demoted, or fired, or didn't get the promotion you thought you should, or didn't get the praise or the raise you think you're entitled to, what would you do? Blame somebody else? Lash out at the boss? Sulk? Call in sick for a few days? See if you can get other co-workers on your side to commiserate about how unfair it all is? I probably would do at least one of those things. Hubbard did none of them. Said Canales on Monday: "I just love the way Chuba went right back to work…. He's just a first-class pro." Hubbard kept saying he just wanted to win, and that's understandable because every team he's been on since the Panthers drafted him in 2021 has lost and lost and lost. He had already missed two games this year with a calf injury - this was when Dowdle first shone (with 206 and 183 rushing yards in back-to-back games) - and it looked like Hubbard might be Wally Pipp-ed forever out of the starting job. Hubbard would later admit he rushed back a little from that injury, and when he came back he wasn't as explosive. Canales tried to alternate Hubbard and Dowdle series by series, but Dowdle was way more explosive. After a couple of games of that, Dowdle got the ball 25 times against Green Bay and Hubbard only five. It was hard to argue with the results. "Rico has been amazing," Hubbard said. For the past month, it's been like that. But as Hubbard has gotten healthier, some trends have emerged. He's a better blocker in pass protection than Dowdle, for instance. And while he's not going to break off a big run - Hubbard has 111 carries this year and the longest one only went for 14 yards - he's good in the passing game, where he has scored three times this season and went for a 35-yard TD on a well-blocked perimeter screen Sunday. After close to a month of Dowdle dominance, Canales blew it and barely ran the ball at all in a 20-9 Monday night loss to San Francisco on Nov. 24. Dowdle got only six carries; Hubbard got three. This was legitimately bad play-calling and game-planning, which Dowdle criticized with a carefully placed emoji. Canales and his staff, smarting from that defeat, tweaked the game plan again vs. the Rams. This time Hubbard would be the full-time third-down back, and Dowdle would often carry the ball on first and second downs. And occasionally Hubbard would get a series to himself. What resulted was an even split, where Dowdle carried the ball 18 times for 58 yards and Hubbard 17 for 83 and the Panthers played such good ball-control offense that they won a game almost everyone (including me) thought they would lose. Said Canales of Hubbard: "In the last couple weeks, he's looked really strong. Really powerful. Just making sure that he's a weapon for us in different ways. And for Rico, giving him, the lion's share of some of those first and second down (carries), that is a great way to just get him the ball. So I like where we're at. I like the balance." Which brings us back to those third-quarter chants. "I did hear a little bit of that," Hubbard said. "It was definitely cool." On that drive, Hubbard carried the ball eight times, and they were all bruising runs. The yardage, in order: 5-2-6-6-10-9-2-4. In a fairytale, that last carry would have been into the end zone. Instead, that last carry was wiped out due to a holding call on tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders, and then came a Young sack, and then Carolina had to punt. Still, Hubbard proved himself over the entire afternoon. Dowdle was good. And now the Panthers have two potential No. 1 backs for the final four games of the season as they try to make a playoff push. Hubbard attributed his restraint during this trying season to his faith. "I've been praying, I've been keeping faith, staying close to the Word, and I just attribute everything to Him," Hubbard said after the game Sunday. "I would not be able to get through this or be here without Him." As for Canales, he recognizes Hubbard as one of the team's leaders and remains appreciative as to how selfless Hubbard has been. "I'm just really proud of the way that he's worked himself back in," Canales said. "All he wants to do is win. All he wants to do is help his teammates. I love that about him."

Like you’re posting offensive stats like it wasn’t a defensive bloodbath in six inches of mud It fuging ruled. Was the best panthers game since 1999 season finale.

Caleb Williams is hardly completing passes to anyone. His downfield accuracy is some of the worst in the league

I was there too. At no point was it ever nearly a winnable game. The defense played well, and got turnovers. I will give you that.

also you people have awful recency bias. Green Bay was just as much a buzz saw as the rams were heading into the game with them this season. Just like the rams, the panthers won with a bunch of fluky turnovers and bad weather. and that game was in Lambeau.

I never base "great performance" choices on stats. There's soooo much more to football than stats.

My favorite thing about football is it's unpredictability. Jake was a living embodiment of that But man, when it was good, it made for some amazing memories. That 2003 season was just...

I just don't understand how we want a third year QB to "ball out" with a rookie WR as his #1, a rookie TE as his #1 TE, 2 sophomore WRs (one is a 1st rounder that is being outplayed by the other who is an UDFA), a sophomore TE that struggles with blocking, and Tommy Tremble. And all of that with what's now a 2nd year HC, who's calling plays for his third time - ever! This is a super young team that is outperforming expectations right now. The Panthers are winning games against better teams and the QB is a big reason why. You have to give Bryce, TMac, Legette, Coker, Evans, Sanders and Canales time. Otherwise we could just be the Browns or the Jets. No one wants that anymore. If they were going backwards, then yes, blow it up again. They aren't. They're getting better. They look like an actual competent NFL team. They're wildly inconsistent because they're incredibly young and inexperienced. All of them. Not just Bryce. But they're arrow is pointing up, so we should be patient and ride it out. It could be alot worse. A lot worse.

I think Bryce gets the 5th year option picked up, but I do not think that means the team doesn't pursue an upgrade at the QB position through the draft or free agency.

Mud tinted because I was at the game. Panthers were up 9-3 going into the 4th quarter. The play of the game was a pass to Warren sapp. As bad as fasani was (1/13 on 3rd down lmao) that was a winnable game with literally one play.

Quirky doesn't even begin to cover it. I went to the best AI portal available and asking to explain the 2025 Panthers. It's response was "Look dude, I'm just a computer" I'm not a Bryce believer, but I can't discount or explain away wins. Making an effort to do so just ends up being nonsensical. It's chaos, but as long as it favors us...

Honestly, it's up there. Given our injuries going into the game and how the Rams had been playing I think virtually everyone being honest with themselves thought we were gonna get throttled. Going into that game I think the vast majority of Panthers fans would've been perfectly willing to accept a competitive loss fully expecting another ass whooping along the lines of the Pats or Bills game.

Well, the care….is about having a weak pass attack in the modern NFL. Which we have. And being weak there is largely going to make you overall irrelevant outside of some quirky season.

Sometimes....

Jake pulled off some miracles that would have left Moses impressed.

I think you have a very sepia-toned memory of that game. We had 4 turnovers, 130 total yards, and Fasani racked up 40-something yards passing. Sacks put the team passing yards to 20 that day. We complain now about Young having 150ish. His performance was so terrible, it spawned a phrase, Fasani Magic, that would have been a meme if memes existed then. There was no nearly about that game.

Yeah, Jake was the anti Bryce.

What they've done with Ickey boggles my mind

I get it, but objectively speaking I'm not even sure Bryce is the most frustrating player on our current roster. That honor goes to Xavier Legette

NFCC was one of those games that if you were there you’ll remember the good feelings/vibes for the rest of your life. The 2013 game against the Saints in the rain, Cam to Dominik Hixon in the 2 minute drill to win the NFC South was one of the other loudest games from a fan perspective I’ve been to. Ditto 2013 MNF game where Cam had the crazy all over the field run for a crucial first down and Luke stopping Gronk on the final play. 08 MNF game against the Bucs were Williams/Stewart mauled them. 03 season opener with Jake’s halftime debut, 03 playoff win against the cowboys are coming to mind too as great atmosphere. It’s the reason I always push back about the bad rep our fanbase because they show up when there is hope, just like most others.

It's been a shocking turnaround, from the FA pieces of Lewis & Hunt being a success and then stacking that with depth pieces that have contributed on top of Ickey progressing. Turned around the offense on a dime.

It was front page Charlotte observer. I have it saved somewhere

Brain transplant? Heaven knows he has the physical tools. Just...

I am pretty certain I recall seeing that photo. I remember a blue Panthers jersey in a sea of red.

I’ve seen that photo before but could never find it again when I try to google it