raleigh-panther

The talent on this offense, and parts of the defense, isnt as good as we homers think they are His winning two more games at most does nothing for this franchise my thing is simply this, over two years, Rhule’s personnel mistakes are egregious. They are not easily recoverable and some to the point of blatant stupidity why give him a chance to dig that ditch a little closer to hell. Right now we are on hell’s front porch and that’s bad enough

Come on now there is zero comparison between Brady and Byron. Please, that’s a reach

Well…they are playing the Falcons

Hey at least Ron had division titles. This guy cant get to .500

No

Again, Byron played the QB position in the NFL. He is the OC under Arians he is instantly credible to the players l would take him any day of the week and twice on Sunday

I would add Byron Leftwich. He has p,aged the game and coached the game and had a chance to learn from Arians and others

I hope you are right the preponderance of mistakes made by Rhule in staff, free agency, draft, game plan, game day execution is mind boggling and egregious everyone knows it. Everyone I don’t like piling on anybody but every damned issue with this team is self inflicted by the coach who thinks he is the smartest guy in the room he needs to go back to the ncaa. No shame. He will have millions to help him sooth his ego The team he ruined in two years, another story. He will become a cautionary tale of what not to do in the nfl

Some one has to rage the fall for Rhule there will be others

Sorry but that defense against better teams, bigger lines, is a poo show

Frankly, it’s not a bad thing that the Charlotte paper shouts ‘the Emperor has no clothes’ as you know, the Observer typically doesn’t It reaches the community at large, people who neither now or care about this board i do think, however, the only thing that is going to extricate Rhule from his contract is if Oklahoma comes a callin. the rumor came up again today on the Sirius xm nfl radio.

Jones plays for Bellinchek…the greatest pro coach of all time who does Fields play For? Coaching matters.

Yep and almost each week, the ‘smartest guy in the room’ stands at a podium and says ‘we got outplayed. We got outcoached. We got out hit. Credit to them’ And by the way, that’s what we heard last year and high probability, it is what we hear in 2022 …. thats the coach with the 6 year 65 million dollar contract. Well done, Tepper. Well done

It’s fact. You can call it negative. You can call it objective. You can call it an honest assessment. No matter what the label is, the facts of the moves happened. The impact of the moves failed in dramatic fashion

Pretty much I just can’t fathom giving the conductors of this train wreck the keys to do it again

1)My interpretation of the Bottom line, Rhule and Fitterer overestimated their team and made decisions thinking, quoting George Allen that ‘the future is now’ They failed with Darnold and they failed with their own self evaluation and here we are. We all know this 2) if I am Tepper and I look at this objectively, I get a new coach and GM dead serious these are egregious errors 3) the coach and GM are out of their league how can the same coach a d GM that got the La there in this position, be trusted to right the franchise, I don’t see it http://Analysis: Panthers went all-in on winning now with nothing to show for it. At what cost? https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article256286917.html Analysis: Panthers went all-in on winning now with nothing to show for it. At what cost? BY ELLIS L. WILLIAMS [email protected] 45 minutes ago The bye week is a time of self-reflection and introspection. Teams usually delegate resources to internal scouting, searching for answers that explain their on-field strengths and weaknesses. The Carolina Panthers (5-7) have plenty of the latter entering their Week 13 bye. They rank 29th in overall offensive DVOA, 31st in passing and 21st in rushing. Defensively, they dropped outside the top five in DVOA and are trending in the wrong direction. (DVOA measures a team’s efficiency by comparing success on every single play to a league average based on situation and opponent.) The Panthers have allowed 60 points over the past two weeks in losses to Washington and Miami. Both games held important playoff implications as Washington currently holds the final wild-card spot. Carolina has just a 6% chance of making the playoffs according to FiveThirtyEight. How did the Panthers get here? That is a question Carolina should attack this week. It’s a challenging proposition that coach Matt Rhule and general manager Scott Fitterer must answer realistically. During the offseason, rookie and free agent evaluations dominate most football conversations. There is such a hyper focus on what new players can be brought in and how those external additions can improve a team’s situation. However, more challenging and equally important is accurate internal scouting. A team cannot adequately forecast its range outcomes until it fully understands its own roster. Confirmation biases and wishful thinking should be a decision maker’s sworn enemy. Instead, such practices are to blame for the Panthers’ uncomfortable situation. Losers of seven of their last nine, they are heading closer toward a top-10 pick than a playoff berth. Trading for quarterback Sam Darnold and cornerback C.J. Henderson cost them all but one top-100 selection in 2022. They weren’t a Stephon Gilmore away from breaking their three-year playoff drought, either. Let’s unpack how the Panthers miscalculated their situation and project where they can go from here. Not ready to “win now” The Panthers’ 3-0 start feels like it happened another season ago. Venture back to those days and remember the energy surrounding Carolina. They led the NFC South entering Week 4 and made two splash trades over two weeks, signaling they were ready to win. Fitterer acquired Henderson and a fifth-round pick from Jacksonville for tight end Dan Arnold and a third-round pick. Fitterer took an opportunity to fill a hole left by cornerback Jaycee Horn — who broke his right foot — while also building toward the future as Henderson was the No. 9 pick in the 2020 draft. Then Gilmore, a former defensive player of the year, became available. Fitterer and Rhule pounced on another opportunity to land a talented defensive back. By trading a 2023 sixth-round pick to the Patriots and agreeing to pay his remaining $5.8 million contract, the Panthers told their locker room, fan base and the rest of the league they believed they were a playoff contender. “This is the way Scott’s wired, and I don’t want to sit around and wait to win,” Rhule said after the Gilmore trade. “We have a good team right now and we’re trying to become a great team.” Fitterer added, “C.J. is the future. Stephon is to win now.” Panthers players agreed. Cornerback Donte Jackson said, “they’re confident we can win right now.” Defensive tackle DaQuan Jones said he thinks everyone in the building believes that’s the case. Quarterback Sam Darnold bought in, too. “We’re ready to win now,” he said. “I think that’s the biggest thing. We’re all aware, we can win games, and we’re capable of doing that. So that’s really the message it sends.” Gilmore wasn’t eligible to play until Week 7 because he started the season on the PUP list with an injured quadriceps. He made his Carolina debut in Week 8, helping smother Atlanta, 19-13. But in between acquiring Gilmore and his first start, the Panthers lost three straight games. Minor concerns during their first three victories started showing as long-term problems. Carolina struggled to stop the run or protect the quarterback, trends that persist. Darnold injured his shoulder in Week 9, landing him on injured reserve and Cam Newton returned to save a season in disarray. The Panthers paid him $4.5 million, plus $187,500 per game activation. Assuming Newton stays healthy and Carolina doesn’t make the playoffs, he’ll make $6 million for eight games. The Panthers weren’t a win-now team. Instead, they were covering up their inefficiencies with a soft schedule. The Jets and Texans will each have top-five picks; New Orleans is having a down year and had seven starters missing that week; Atlanta is rebuilding and the Cardinals played Carolina without Pro Bowlers Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins. What’s next? Carolina exemplifies the costly ramifications of compounding a problem. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater wasn’t enough, so Fitterer and Rhule acquired Darnold for three draft picks — a 2021 sixth-round selection, and a second and fourth-rounder in 2022. Those mid-round picks would help bolster either their defensive or offensive lines this offseason, but they were wasted. It’s unclear whether Darnold will be back in Charlotte next season. The Panthers owe him $18 million for picking up his 2022 fifth-year option in May. Misjudging their talent has pinned the Panthers into a corner. It started with Bridgewater, turned them to Darnold and back to Newton. While they couldn’t figure out their quarterback, wide receiver Robby Anderson signed a two-year, $29.5 million contract, including a $11.5 million signing bonus. Anderson is on pace for career lows in receptions and receiving yards. His Pro Football Focus grade of 54 ranks 192nd among 200 qualified receivers. Internally, it sounds like Anderson’s seismic production drop stems more from the Panthers’ quarterback and offensive line issues than his own regression. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady isn’t helping, either, with simplistic schemes and unimaginative offense. There aren’t many valid excuses for how the Panthers arrived at this stagnant place. Sure, they are playing without All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey, who was placed on injured reserve for a second time following an ankle injury he suffered last week. But star running backs Dalvin Cook (Vikings), Nick Chubb (Browns), Aaron Jones (Packers), Derrick Henry (Titans), Alvin Kamara (Saints) have all missed extended time and their respective offenses aren’t crumbling. Unless the Panthers win at least four of their next five games, their season is likely over. The offseason brings even more questions. Lucrative extensions await defensive end Brian Burns and receiver DJ Moore. Edge rusher Haason Reddick will earn a massive payday from either Carolina or elsewhere. At cornerback, Jackson and Gilmore will both be looking for new deals. Once again, quarterback remains a mystery. The Panthers could bring Newton back or finally select one in the first round. From quarterback to an offensive line rebuild and defensive free agents, the Panthers have plenty to figure out. Hopefully, their coaches are using the bye week to reflect and solve their self-inflicted issues. Panthers 2022 NFL draft picks First round (1) Fourth round (1) Fifth round (2) Sixth round (2) Seventh round (

Tepper has shown he is slow on the trigger that trend continues and Rhule is still here in 2022 …a bit concerning as the probability of Rhule succeeding here dwindles by the month. The guy simply doesn't get, can’t get, or refuses to get the NFL Might as well get used to another season of press conferences starting with a lost looking Rhule stating ‘we got out coached, out hit, and out played today, credit to the other team’. That is just what I’d want to hear from a guy I signed to a 6 year 65 million dollar contract

I know a lot about ND as I said, Rhule was never, ever going to be the pick there

Because killing QBs is the one thing the Panthers seem to do,well

I think Snow needs to get his happy ass down on the sidelines and pretend to coach his players. .players screaming at each other isn’t fixing their mistakes . Same with Brady though he is a total lost cause

They wouldn’t pay Kelly, a proven winner for them, but they will pay Rhule who was not nearly as successful in the NCAA… Wishful thinking Don’t get me wrong, I’d like him to leave, I just don’t see him there.

I guess maybe the cupboard was pretty bare after Rivera was let go.

I think in the current era of the NFL, the rebuild is every year and the normal turnover with retirements, cap casualties, and free agent departures are around 30 to 40% anyway my concern is not rebuilding. My concern is that during this rebuild there is massive regression which points to not only mishandling the normal % of departures but failing at coaching, drafting and free agency to improve holes and plug in replacements One of Rhule’s core philosophies of versatility vs doing on position to the highest level is incredibly stupid in the nfl. The reverse is actually true. Players need to be the best of the best at their core position and if they have ability to play any other position with a degree of competence, that’s a plus.

If Tepper has shown anything, he is slow to pull the trigger we all wish he would see the backward progress and read the probability but I don’t see it his past handling of Rivera and Hurney is the indicator

It’s bad news for the franchise …all the way around who knows, maybe he is some miracle worker all I know is I watch a lot of pro teams play that look like pro teams, the Panthers aren’t one of them