Raleigh PF

Let's see how they respond at home vs. Philly. The mark of a good team is the ability to put a loss behind them and get back to playing good football. Next Sunday will be more indicative of the type of team the Panthers are than this last one against the Cowboys. I had no expectation for them this year and still stick with my 9-8/10-7 prediction (last 4 games are @Bills, Bucs x2 and @Saints). Anything more is gravy. I want to see what they look like next year. You know, when the OLine is addressed.

The Panthers time is coming, but it is not this day. Jerry Jones will envy the Panthers org, but it is not this day. At the end of this day, the OLine deficiencies are really exposed and the Panthers have trouble scoring. The defense gets overworked and this turns into a rout. Cowboys 27, Panthers 9. Just an FYI, I predicted an easy Saints win in week 2, so...

I'm fine with them thinking the Panthers are not worthy. Let's hope the Cowboys think the same.

It gets better? Worse?

The 2015 team was rather top heavy in talent. This year's team has better overall talent throughout the roster.

CMC is a lock, provided he stays healthy. If Burns and Reddick continue to terrorize QBs, I could see them in there, too. Shaq is an outside possibility, if he continues to up his game. Brown and Jones just aren't going to get the recognition. Horn *might* get some, but to do so, QBs are going to have to throw his way and help improve his counting stats. Chinn doesn't look like he's going to be included, as his counting stats are on the way down. He's still playing well, but in his new position, I don't think he gets the attention.

Figured Payton would be pretty hot after being taken to the woodshed, but dayum...

To be determined... If they continue to improve then yeah, they probably are, but injuries happen to every team. Hoping they won't be significant ones for the Panthers.

Marshall could have a big day.

Saints 24, Panthers 13. That OLine... It's close until the 4th quarter until the Saints score to make it a 2 TD lead. Panthers squander a couple of Winston interceptions along the way.

Dallas Cowboys @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers W Philadelphia Eagles @ Atlanta Falcons W Pittsburgh Steelers @ Buffalo Bills W W Minnesota Vikings @ Cincinnati Bengals W San Francisco 49ers @ Detroit Lions Arizona Cardinals @ Tennessee Titans W W Seattle Seahawks @ Indianapolis Colts Los Angeles Chargers @ Washington Football Team W New York Jets @ Carolina Panthers W W Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston Texans Cleveland Browns @ Kansas City Chiefs W Miami Dolphins W @ New England W Green Bay Packers @ New Orleans Saints W Denver Broncos @ New York Giants Chicago Bears @ Los Angeles Rams W W Baltimore Ravens @ Las Vegas Raiders

If it comes from ESPN, it should immediately be discounted as bullshit. ESPN has always had a northeast bias and Max is from New York. He's probably butt-hurt that Darnold didn't work out with the Jets and was traded away. He's a boxing analyst trying to pose as an NFL pundit. Please.

Seattle signed Muse to the practice squad. I really thought this would be a no-brainer for Carolina to bring him in. And that's all I've to to say about that.

Also thinking the game will be closer than expected. Panthers win 20-16 with the Jets final drive ending in a sack or interception. I think the defense is way ahead of the offense at this point.

Part of the problem is the market the Panthers are in. When teams are being evaluated, let's just face it, the Panthers are not a sexy team, which means most articles written about the Panthers are lacking depth. Part of that is just lazy reporting. Peter King usually does a pretty good job covering all teams, even if he has a northeast bias. He has the Panthers as a near .500 team with either eight or nine wins and points out that the last month of the season is going to be incredibly tough. The Panthers really need to win early to have a shot at the playoffs. I agree with King.

If the guarantee is no other championships, then no. From just what I can gather, Tepper is free to voice his opinion to Fitt and Rhule, but they have the authority to make the call. Time will tell.

Is he vaccinated?

The ranking makes sense. No one knows what Sam Darnold will do nor what the Panthers are capable of. I hope they are really wrong, but time will tell.

I have concerns for both Sam and Jameis. For Jameis, he loses the script...often...resulting in bad plays at the worst times. I don't care for Sean Payton at all, but think he'll have a better influence on Jameis than anyone the Bucs had. Having said that, sometimes he's just not wrapped too tight. It's bound to pop up sooner or later. For Sam, I just don't trust him. I don't see the fire in his belly or the overwhelming desire to win. I see a guy who can be comfortable doing what he's doing and hoping for the best. He's not an alpha and at the QB position, that's not a great thing. I'm hope I'm wrong, but am expecting to be underwhelmed.

On the flip side, who would want to trade for Shaq Thompson and that contract? He's a fairly league-average linebacker making better than league-average money. Besides, it would put Carolina on the hook for nearly $19M in dead cap money.

Don't we have other linemen that have experience at center?

Seems extreme to make a trade for a player just because you don't want to change the name on the back of the uni.

Quite honestly, unless Fletcher was just horrible, I'm trading JJ. Hate to see him go, but he is 35. Might not be a better time to make the change.

The conspiracy would be around the decision not to draft Fields. That move seemed at least somewhat questionable at the time. This could explain the thinking.