PanthersATL

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/carolina-panthers-nfl-playoff-picture.html#& Let's have some fun Currently, the widget says we have a 64% chance to make the playoffs based on current information and 50k+ simulations. Let's go down the chart and see how our chances change with a given win/loss: Win vs Philly: our chances for playoffs go to 76% Beat the Falcons twice: 84% I guess this is the difference between AFC and NFC opponents: (based on how I have the win/loss columns selected for a generic 9-8 season) if we WIN vs the Patriots and lose to Arizona, we have a 43% chance of playoffs. If I flip-flop the Patriots and Arizona games where we beat ARI, then our playoff chance goes to 66%. Clicking around back and forth on the various win/loss columns, the widget suggest that the Arizona game is key to our playoff appearance. It also makes a strong case for having to beat the Saints too... Generically speaking, it looks like a minimum of 9 wins will be needed for any playoff percentage. 10 wins makes a huge difference vs 9. (Hey, I know it's still early in the season - but as long as you don't take this widget seriously beyond the number crunching game, it's no different than guessing at lottery numbers right now. As the article says, with 208 games remaining there are about 411 novemdecillion different ways the N.F.L. regular season could end. Still, it could be handy to help determine those "we must win" or "must cheer for other teams to lose" games )

The Eagles’ top priority against Carolina is keeping Burns away from Hurts. Hurts is one of the more mobile quarterbacks in the NFL, but that isn’t going to matter to Burns. The star pass-rusher already has 3.0 sacks this season and will be able to bring Hurts down if he gets close to him. The terrifying aspect of this scenario for Philly is that they’re currently missing both of their starting offensive tackles. Left tackle Jordan Mailata missed Week 4 with a knee sprain and just returned to practice sporting a massive knee brace, while right tackle Lane Johnson is expected to miss his second consecutive game dealing with a personal issue. Philly is also missing both starting guards due to injury. Four backup linemen against Burns and the Carolina D-Line? That’s a recipe for disaster. https://www.sportscasting.com/eagles-qb-jalen-hurts-staring-down-absolutely-terrifying-scenario-against-brian-burns-carolina-panthers/

Singer Meghan Trainor says that she and her husband have side-by-side toilets in their master bathroom.

My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with a girl who saw CMC having a sundae at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it’s pretty serious.

Why can't we create an O-Line the way we used to?

To me, ALL our games are "must win", but I understand the point you're trying to make.

The Charlotte Observer knows what Panthers fans want: wall-to-wall Philly Cheesesteak coverage: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/charlottefive/c5-food-drink/article254826167.html

can't say we can argue with this week's ranking GIF. https://twitter.com/bylindsayhjones/status/1445877993449029645

what I like about Fitt is that I think we have a better idea of what he's doing day-to-day vs what our other GMs were doing at work. Hurney: Gettleman: Fitt:

[unless we trade up or have other first-rounders available, think there'll be a center available with our default 32nd pick?]

Instacart has released halloween candy shopping habits for the country. I think we can all agree that homes passing out that candy for trick-or-treat in Washington DC get what they deserve. https://www.instacart.com/company/company-updates/the-great-halloween-candy-debate/

I've enjoyed FX's American Horror Story over the last 10 years. Still working to catch up to current on the newest season. Generally speaking, I've found the plots to start off a bit slow in epi 1, get rolling along merrily to epi 5 or 6, then on occasion plummet in plot quality to wrap the season up. Good example of that would be the Freakshow season, which should have kept its "A" plot rolling for longer. Here's one writer's opinion of their "favorite" AHS season rankings. They're careful not to use the word "best": 9. HOTEL 8. ASYLUM 7. FREAK SHOW 6. MURDER HOUSE 5. ROANOKE 4. CULT 3. COVEN 2. APOCALYPSE 1. 1984 https://bleedingcool.com/tv/american-horror-story-10-our-ahs-ranking-murder-house-to-1984/ I don't agree. Aside from the "you need to watch all the seasons in order" to fully appreciate the Apocalypse season, here's my "favorite" ranking: 9. CULT -- tried to watch it, gave up after 2 episodes due to total and complete boredom. Meh. I believe this opinion is supported by various online reviews 8. ASYLUM - didn't watch it, so can't put a ranking on it. I've heard it was fantastic 7. COVEN - didn't watch it, but the clips I have seen suggest I would have liked it a lot. Also heard it was fantastic. 6. FREAK SHOW - would rank this higher if not for the aforementioned weird plot pacing of the final episodes vs the initial ones. 5. MURDER HOUSE - Solid beginning to the series, but thought subsequent seasons were executed better. 4. HOTEL - I enjoyed the Shining-like vibe of a haunted hotel. Weird and occasionally amusing. 3. ROANOKE - Found this to be more creepy than other seasons, liked the reality-tv conceit of the plot 2. APOCALYPSE - a bit sci-fi themed. found it more entertaining than I expected. Plus, it made the other seasons more interesting. 1. 1984 - just pure fun if you're looking for a Friday the 13th vibe. So far, I'm enjoying the current double-feature season, would probably rank it in the 6-5-4 range, depending on how it plays out.

Probably too late to talk spoilers, but westworld season one doesn’t get rocking until about episode 5. If you haven’t read WW spoilers, give the whole of season one another chance .

Dammit, the list isn't a ranking, it's alphabetical. And 200 artists makes it almost impossible to leave anyone out. Would have liked to have seen a "top 50" and the discussions that would come. As I scroll through the list, I'm basically going "heard of them, heard of them, who the hell is that, heard of them, whatever, you're kidding me, that makes sense, heard of the them, who's that (rinse, repeat)" Carly Rae Jepsen made the list! Good for her. Janelle Monae made the list! If she hadn't, I'd be concerned about the list writers' sanity. Questlove! I'm okay with this. Not a lot of country, folk-punk-pop, or euro-centric bands here, though. https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/most-important-artists/

I'm 100% behind Darnold. (I was also 100% behind Teddy most of last season, and 100% behind Cam for the decade before that. And 100% behind Jake, Rodney, Vinny, Steve etc. Not so much He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named-Because-He-Quit-The-Team, but that's a different story ) After evaluating the entire 2020 season, I agree that Teddy was a stopgap and not going to be our long-term QB solution - to me, he sorta checked out a bit as the season trudged along and became less effective vs how he was the first few games with us. I believe that if we had gone from Cam straight to Darnold, that Sam would have a much harder road to fan acceptance and perhaps would not be as successful as he has been thus far. Teddy was like a rebound girlfriend/boyfriend. Good for the time-being, but not the long haul. (And I think he knew it, regardless of the $$ thrown at him)

Note the "again" in the OP. Yup, they're getting use out of that logo gear costumes. On the bright side, they weren't mocking the teams -- and fortunately, not mocking Greg Olsen in the broadcast booth. Plus side: Kacey Musgrave performed nekkid.

Prepping for the upcoming JAX london game? "Mind the gap."

https://theathletic.com/2275503/2020/12/21/meet-megalodon-the-fox-camera-that-made-a-splash-in-this-made-for-tv-nfl-season/ has some example shots.

The video is a bit more.... something.... than the still happens to be. Maybe he was being super nice and offering to share his stool with a guest, due to the lack of available seats at the bar?

For what it's worth, I'd rather lose to a worthy opponent then lose a game considered to be a cupcake. And (aside from that 3rd quarter and some awful officiating calls), for the most part we stayed competitive and didn't get totally blown out score-wise.

So we're 3-1. While not as nice as 4-0 would have been, it's still better than alternatives at this point in the season. Let's learn from this, regroup, and take care of Philly next week. Keep Pounding