Cold dose of reality.. It will take a miracle for the Panthers to make the playoffs this year...

[Bronn]

I mean, you know I am going to be hoping and watching for us to win out, get into the playoffs, and stomp folks on the way to winning SB 51...

But, I guess what I am getting at is that my days (this season) of shouting at the TV or pounding a fist on a couch cushion in frustration of Mike Shula's ineptitude are probably gone. I'm at the crossroads of "It is what it is" and "Bad day to have a bad day" and just hope nobody gets hurt and we at least play spoiler while Cam dances in the end zone and little kids get TD balls.

[Gipetto]

What the fug is wrong with me wanting my team to win and not hope they lose. You people need help.

[Kakarot]

Honestly, my playoff hopes died after the KC lost. All I want is the winning record. Back to back winning seasons for the first time, and I believe we'll have an overall winning record as a franchise. I would be a happy camper with all that transpiring. 

Draft well, stop shopping at the thrift and purchase a Tiffanys class FA, and come back next year and kick ass.

[Salisburysean98]

Well if we have Klein back this week and Johnson plays, with Gino who is a solid backup center. There's no reason to think we can't have a chance against Oakland. We need to control the time of possession and run the ball against a team weak vs the run. Same thing against KC and we couldn't. Here's to hoping Stewart has a monster game because we will need him in his late 2014 playoffs 2016 form  going forward. And Cam.... Cam has to make better decisions. We need him to ignite a fire in our offense to win out. This all depends on Cam. This offense is capable of scoring 35+ a game if Cam would just be Cam. But at the moment idk who that guy is. Plus his offensive line woes don't help, but getting a run game going will help. 

[Wolfpredator]

Our next 2 games will pretty much tell you where the dice fall.  Oakland and Seattle will be the biggest tests of the season ( not including Denver in our opener ).  If we do not come away with W's from both of those games, our season is over.  Can that happen?   Of course, this is the NFL....any given Sunday but I will remain realistic and say our chances of beating both the Raiders and Seahawks in back to back west coast games are about slim to none.  

[LA_Panther]

Dumb post. We just need to win the division. Why even bother with wildcards? It's like you have a plane ticket to Mexico and you are dreading the drive

We are 2 games behind Atlanta. If we win out and they lose 2 games, we are in 

[Bronn]

14 minutes ago, LA_Panther said:

Dumb post. We just need to win the division. Why even bother with wildcards? It's like you have a plane ticket to Mexico and you are dreading the drive

We are 2 games behind Atlanta. If we win out and they lose 2 games, we are in 

If only it were that simple...

[Saca312]

7 hours ago, hepcat said:

At this point it's far better for the Panthers to lose out than to win out. There are some critical areas of depth that could be addressed in the draft, and the team should have cap space to fill a few key starter positions. Grabbing a premier pass rusher or OT in the top 10 would be crucial. Let's keep in mind the best Panthers players, Cam and Luke, were both top 10 selections.

Pass rusher I agree with. OT, please don't. This year's draft is muddled with average OTs at best, and it'd be like getting a rookie Remmers for the most part.

[CPantherKing]

7 hours ago, Paintballr said:

Just makes you think,

How much different would this convo be if Mike and the offense didn't poo the bed in the second half of the KC game...or the Minnesota Game...


Sent from my iPhone using CarolinaHuddle

The Panthers have the worst 4th quarter defense in the NFL.

• 25th takeaways
• 31st forced punts
• 32nd scores allowed
• 32nd FGs allowed
• 30th TDs allowed

The Panthers are just as bad with their 2nd half defense:

• 22nd takeaways
• 24th forced punts
• 31st in scores allowed
• 28th FGs allowed
• 27th TDs allowed

The defense is bad in the 2nd half, and they are the worst in the 4th quarters.

Only 8 teams have carried a lead into the 4th quarter more than the Panthers.

The Panthers defense is 31st in the NFL at giving up scores when leading in the 4th quarter. The Browns are the only team that is worse.

The defense has only forced 2 punts in 6 games on 20 drives while leading in the 4th quarter.

Any team with that type of defense is going to struggle no matter what offense they have. Expecting perfection from any offense is a pipe dream, and the Panthers have always shut down their offense in the 2nd half with the exception of those rare occasions when everything goes right with their execution in the 2nd half.

The correct question to ask is... why is the defense so much worse than 2015 when it comes to closing out a game?

[Saca312]

9 minutes ago, CPantherKing said:

The Panthers have the worst 4th quarter defense in the NFL.

• 25th takeaways
• 31st forced punts
• 32nd scores allowed
• 32nd FGs allowed
• 30th TDs allowed

The Panthers are just as bad with their 2nd half defense:

• 22nd takeaways
• 24th forced punts
• 31st in scores allowed
• 28th FGs allowed
• 27th TDs allowed

The defense is bad in the 2nd half, and they are the worst in the 4th quarters.

Only 8 teams have carried a lead into the 4th quarter more than the Panthers.

The Panthers defense is 31st in the NFL at giving up scores when leading in the 4th quarter. The Browns are the only team that is worse.

The defense has only forced 2 punts in 6 games on 20 drives while leading in the 4th quarter.

Any team with that type of defense is going to struggle no matter what offense they have. Expecting perfection from any offense is a pipe dream, and the Panthers have always shut down their offense in the 2nd half with the exception of those rare occasions when everything goes right with their execution in the 2nd half.

The correct question to ask is... why is the defense so much worse than 2015 when it comes to closing out a game?

Is the defense better than 2015 at closing out a game?

Let's take a look.

Against the Colts: Week 7

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Colts	0	6	0	17	3		26
Panthers	10	0	7	6	6		29

Notice how the Colts were able to get 17 points to force OT. If we didn't get that INT by Harper that game, we could've lost easy.

Against the Packers: Week 8

	1	2	3	4	Total
Packers	7	0	7	15		29
Panthers	3	24	3	7		37

15 points gained by the 4th quarter to nearly spark a comeback. Lucky save by the defense to keep that from happening.

Against the Saints: Week 12

1	2	3	4		Total
Panthers	0	13	14	14		41
Saints	14	2	8	14		38

 

Score was close all around. Panthers basically let the Aints march down the field most of the time, much like how our first meeting this year was. Just Saints were lucky to get our last year score and Panthers unlucky with Aints score. Offense bailed out the defense.

Against the Giants: Week 15

           1    2       3     4   
CAR    7    14    14    3    
NYG    7    0       7    21

Panthers defense crumbled in the 4th quarter, almost letting Eli Manning and Odell win. However, offense bailed the defense with a stunning drive by Cam Newton, solidifying him as the clear league MVP.

Against Seattle: Divisional

          1    2    3       4   
SEA    0    0    14    10    0
CAR    14    17    0    0    0

Our offense was shut out, but our defense was lucky to hang on to give us a chance in the nfc championship against an overrated Cardinals team. We still gave up a lot of SHORT passes this game, much like this year, so obviously losing Norman isn't the problem.

Honestly, there are other times where luck played out, and defense looked bad. But it's been consistent that our 4th quarter defense is never the same as our first 3 quarter defense, and it's a consistent problem.

Arguably, based on this trend, it's fairly obvious the real culprit involves the coaching overall. The staff needs to learn we need to play hard all 4 quarters, and make sure the players get it. No more prevent, easy, dink and dunk defense. We need a solid defense for all 4 quarters.

[Clicheking]

Playoffs??? playoffs??? I'm just trying to win a game

[gorillamilitia13]

I'd be feeling so much better if we won the damn chiefs game, that loss really deepened the stab in our hearts.

[Paintballr]

The Panthers have the worst 4th quarter defense in the NFL.

• 25th takeaways
• 31st forced punts
• 32nd scores allowed
• 32nd FGs allowed
• 30th TDs allowed

The Panthers are just as bad with their 2nd half defense:

• 22nd takeaways
• 24th forced punts
• 31st in scores allowed
• 28th FGs allowed
• 27th TDs allowed

The defense is bad in the 2nd half, and they are the worst in the 4th quarters.

Only 8 teams have carried a lead into the 4th quarter more than the Panthers.

The Panthers defense is 31st in the NFL at giving up scores when leading in the 4th quarter. The Browns are the only team that is worse.

The defense has only forced 2 punts in 6 games on 20 drives while leading in the 4th quarter.

Any team with that type of defense is going to struggle no matter what offense they have. Expecting perfection from any offense is a pipe dream, and the Panthers have always shut down their offense in the 2nd half with the exception of those rare occasions when everything goes right with their execution in the 2nd half.

The correct question to ask is... why is the defense so much worse than 2015 when it comes to closing out a game?

What's the offense stats for 2nd half? How many 3 and outs do they have? The offense does the defense 0 favors with no adjustments and no sustaining drives

Sent from my iPhone using CarolinaHuddle

[ickmule]

I have no expectations of playoffs for this year. We aren't beating Seattle, Dallas or any other good team even if we did luck up and make it, which we won't.