Khyber53

Honestly, there's some talent on this team, still. A decent pro coaching staff and a wise GM could get this team back on its feet and competitive in one off season.

That was not a professional football team we fielded yesterday, on the o-line or any positions grouping. That was an entire team trying to get someone fired. Even idiots who were trying would have done better.

I stand corrected.

Keep Morgan, send Fitterer packing. Fitterer left the Seahawks in shambles, a shell of their former selves. I don't remember anyone vocalizing how they hated to see him go. He may have been part of the problem there rather than part of building their success. Morgan has an emotional stake in the Panthers and comes to this from a player's perspective. He can evaluate and help develop. We have a hatchet man and negotiator on staff to help him. And grab Eric Bieniemy right off the bat. He can build a team without a lot of horseshit like we've seen this last couple of seasons.

In Greek Mythology, heroes rarely end their days well, typically going on one last quest that ends disastrously. Still, they are remembered for their glory days, not for their downfalls. So ends the tale of brave Ulysses.

Is it time to talk about hiring fly-over banners again?

Non-professional coaching leads to unprofessional teams. Unprofessional teams decide to start their bye weeks early. They also start the off season in December. Oh look! Here comes a bye week followed by December. Cue Don Meredith singing, "Turn out the lights, the party is over."

The only thing that will save our draft next season is if we rid ourselves of Rhule and Fitterer. We have to replace them with experienced people at their posts.

He was just that. We have to remember, though, that the teams seeking coaches were all really, really bad teams. We were one of the least bad teams. That's a lot of organizations with terrible ownership groups, bad track records, decades of losing, sometimes even potential curses (looking at you Lions). If you think about it, a wise team would avoid the coaching candidate most wanted by the bunch, unless they were a proven NFL coach (and there were none in the race). This may be how eternal bottom feeding teams in a parity league stay at the bottom. We pretty much went all in on the most popular candidate among the special ed students at the NFL school. And here's where we ended up.

No. This is not a professional football team, in any phase of the game. Our offense sucks from top to bottom. Our special teams are always a timebomb, ready to go off at any moment. Our defense has some statistics, but that's because they haven't averaged out some games at the first of the year when we played against some truly bad offenses. Today, the lowly Miami Dolphins marched at will against us. Last week, the WTFs did as we tried to laugh at how bad we thought Rivera and Heinicke were. Let that sink in. The Giants did it to us, too. And a good portion of our problems were the people brought in and drafted by Fitterer. He was so proud of his trades and finds. He is a moron the Seahawks were happy see go.

The problem is not Cam. Cam could not fix our problems. And he didn't make them. And I feel bad that he couldn't save us from this mess. But, he's only human.

We need to completely clean house: Coaches, GM, scouts, trainers. And we need to do it soon so that we can have the stink of this season aired out before we get to the beginning of free agency and contract negotiation. We cannot let Rhule and Fit have any input on who we take or retain. Their incompetence can be given no more places to take root. We will be stuck with Darnold and Robby and a host of other bad pulls for the rest of next season already, let's not cripple our team for even more years down the road. Can't coach, can't evaluate. Can't stay.

Nah. They've all got to go. Even Snow.

They beat us in all three phases of the game. When they got done having their way with Cam, Rhule gave them PJ and they started all over again. We had, I think, one starting quality player out. It looked like our third stringers in a pre-season game. We were outcoached by a team that was seriously looking to fire their head coach and ditch their first round draft pick guy. We made those two look like geniuses. It was embarrassing.

God bless y'all. Good to hear from you. We'll be here when you get back.

How'd that go? We got beat in all three phases. Never seen such a bad game. It's over for me this season folks. We're going nowhere as long as these morons are in charge.

Our big guys on the line don't seem very strong. Fox has the technique but he might be a bit undersized for a DE in a 3-4, or 5-2 as we seem to do it. There's some scheme issues here and the more I watch, the more I keep coming back to the idea that there's a reason the 4-3 defense has ruled the game for three or more decades now.

Just give us a win. I know, Cam is hope in a lot of ways, but as we saw last week you can't have your game plan be "Cam will make it work". I really think if we lose this, then Rhule loses the team, then his job.

Spare turkey Sunday here! No leftovers from the in-laws (big turnout), so I'm roasting a whole turkey here. (They are dead cheap right after Thanksgiving). Big pan of dressing, too.

Here we are, looking at a floundering Dolphins team as our opponents for this afternoon. They are desperate, wounded and their coach is playing for his job. And we, the fanbase are looking at this game with trepidation, a feeling of dread and the possibility that our team will underperform, again. I don't like this feeling. I don't like being a game shy of .500 at this point in the year. I don't like not having that most important thing to a sports fan -- hope. We lose to teams like the Dolphins now. It's apparently our thing. The Eagles, Vikings and Giants, all have coaches struggling with deep team problems and potential pink slips waiting at year's end. We don't do well against teams who are desperate. There are teams like those every season, fighting for their lives like cornered rats. Most of them collapse and they are just fodder for the wins column of better teams, steadier teams, teams on the rise. Today, we need you Coach Rhule to prove that we aren't one of those teams ourselves. That this idea of building for the future is for real. That you can lead us to a better land, that we can beat the teams we're supposed to beat. We need hope. Right now. Right now because it doesn't look like we are anything. Right now because you brought back Superman. Right now because if we lose today there is no way we're having a winning season from here on out. Right now because, well, because we deserve better than this. Beat the Dolphins. Grind it out. Win the game. Don't get cute, don't get careful. Go in there and put the L in their column. Their guy is already on his way out, don't give their fanbase the hope that we need. If we lose today, the Dolphins coach will still be out of a job by the end of the season. If we lose today Coach Rhule you may find yourself competing head to head with him again, in the job market.

We'll look good until the third quarter, but post few points. Then it'll all go to crap. Again. Dolphins 24 Panthers 10 Man, I hate this.

How about a creative way to get out of Rhule's contract? Sam's is another year of expense with nothing to show for it. Rhule's will be many years with potentially even less to show. Listen, if Rhule can't turn this around and show some real progress before the end of this season, then having an overpriced, skittish, back-up QB on the payroll will be the least of the franchise's problems.

He's the 32 year old version of his 2015 self. And that's okay. He's older, but wiser. Slower, but smarter about the runs and sack evasion. His arm isn't the cannon it once was, but it's stronger than it has been and pretty accurate. He can read defenses better, thanks to more experience and the additional perspective he picked up under Belichick (that couldn't hurt). He can still inspire and lead teammates and fans alike. He actually seems less of an icon and more of a leader. A good coach, a smart coach, can do a lot with Cam over the next couple of years. If they are smart, they don't just work with him as a starter, but actually get him to help pick and train a replacement, someone who has a similar skill set and gifts. Let the guy sit on the bench behind Cam for a year or two, then let Cam sit behind him as the mentor. Get Cam a professional coach who won't be intimidated by him and you'll see solid dividends.

If teams regularly get into and past the second level of the defense with rushing plays, the problem is your MLB. A MLB must be able to diagnose both offensive line push, backs movement, play calling tendency and be able to react to the breakdown of the defensive line on every play. That's the hardest, most cerebral job on the defense. MLB, more than any other position on the entire team, has been the feature the Panthers have been known for throughout their existence, from Luke on back. The absence of such a guy is pretty glaring.

Making Chantilly mashed potatoes and a big bowl of roasted Brussels sprouts for my contributions to the holiday feast today!