Hard questions, what are the answers

[raleigh-panther]

As a long time PSL holder and fan, really troubled by this year's Panthers product.  What do you all think?  I am at a cross roads with a team I have loved and followed for 20 years  this may be the end of my financial support. 

Is this  the right owner, GM, coach combination to bring sustained excellence to the Panthers?

Do we know, or suspect, how  hands on Jerry Richardson  really is at his advanced age

How accountable is this GM to the owner, to the fans for the personnel debacle on the field this year?

Has the collective psyche of this team been bothered by this GM's handling of:  Josh Norman, Deangelo Williams, Steve Smith, Jordan gross?  I am not asking whether or not the moves were necessary, I am asking about the handling of them.

did the players observe Rivera's lack of standing up for Newton during the opening game to the officials, the first time, and not react well to it?

Will Rivera continue to stubbornly hold onto Shula?  Will Gettleman force a change?  Will Richardson?  Give Shula position not involved with play calling if they feel some allegiance to his father but this is not working.

will KK Short who has done nothing this year to earn that big contract be given one anyway ?

will graham gano finally be shown the door?

Will the offense finally get pro worthy tackles ?   Decent running backs, a true second TE?

will they finally get a true QB coach and offensive coordinator which holds Newton accountable for his poor mechanics and decisions and forces Newton to grow?

 

 

 

 

 

[PandaPancake]

After the first paragraph I question your loyalty. 

 

[LinvilleGorge]

After 20 years, you're at your breaking point one season after we go 15-1 and make a Super Bowl run?

That just doesn't make sense.  There were plenty of far better quitting opportunities than this along the way.

[RoaringRiot]

Duces 

[csx]

Your questions are being discussed in every thread here since week 1 if not evey day of every year.

It's your life and money so you need to do what's right for you.  If you don't have fun at games unless the team wins you IMO are missing the concept behind attending an event on a beautiful day with friends or family. But do as you see fit for you.

[Saca312]

You're overthinking this; we've had worse years. This is a one down year, but if I were a PSL owner I'd wait until next year before jumping ship.

Here's some things to note:

-We've had 3 playoff appearances and NFC South crowns since Gettleman was GM.

-5/7 of our losses were decided by a FG or less

-Injuries will give any fan flashbacks of 2004

-Shula still sucks, per usual

-We got a lot of potential next year.

Now, I'll answer some of your questions:

As a long time PSL holder and fan, really troubled by this year's Panthers product.  What do you all think?  I am at a cross roads with a team I have loved and followed for 20 years  this may be the end of my financial support. 

1. Is this  the right owner, GM, coach combination to bring sustained excellence to the Panthers? The owner is someone who has done a ton for the community, and believes in every coach and player to eventually reach that excellence standpoint, but will pull the trigger when things are in disarray for a sustained period of time. Look no further than the 2010 debacle to see that example. Rivera has grown a lot honestly recently, but he still lacks time management, but he's around an average coach at worst. Hate it or not, he's really grown and developed, but Riverboat Ron needs a reappearance. Gettleman is indefinitely a good choice for the franchise. This would be our last year being relevant if he'd signed Norman to his deal or tag deal (which Norman would only last 2-3 years max being in his "prime" before taking a Revis turn, and we would indefinitely lose Star, KK, Norwell, CJ, Addison, Norman and not have an upcoming young secondary with lots of potential). We would be cap-strapped without him, but really one has to see the FA moves he makes with all this CAP next offseason - he should be making some big moves with the cap.
2. Do we know, or suspect, how  hands on Jerry Richardson  really is at his advanced age I'm sure Jerry, while old, still is aware and hands on with what's going on. It doesn't take an Einstein to be able to tell whether the product you're seeing is going to be like this for a sustained period of time, or not. This is one bad year; 
3. How accountable is this GM to the owner, to the fans for the personnel debacle on the field this year? Not very; really this is the same personnel that brought us to Superbowl 50, like it or not. Bronco fans would tell you how much they hate Elway right now, even though they won the Superbowl. They hate their offensive line just like we do, along with every team not named Oakland, Titans, or Dallas. If you wanted us to be a one year flashpan this year while losing integral parts of our team next year to free agency; then yes, 
4. Has the collective psyche of this team been bothered by this GM's handling of:  Josh Norman, Deangelo Williams, Steve Smith, Jordan gross?  I am not asking whether or not the moves were necessary, I am asking about the handling of them. Yes, the handling was bad, and Gettleman even said himself he regrets how Steve Smith was handled. Gross is another story one could argue for and against. DeAngelo was a lazy fat rb; any panther fan would agree he needed to be rid of with his bad work ethic. Josh Norman - that's his agents fault, and Norman's fault for an inept agent. The agent wasn't doing his job, and relaying what Norman wanted.
5. did the players observe Rivera's lack of standing up for Newton during the opening game to the officials, the first time, and not react well to it? Doubtful. Most players love Rivera, believe it or not, and they respect him. There's always more to the story than is told to the public, and I assume some repercussions might have occurred with Rivera doing stuff. I doubt Rivera really doesn't stand up for his QB.
6. Will Rivera continue to stubbornly hold onto Shula?  Will Gettleman force a change?  Will Richardson?  Give Shula position not involved with play calling if they feel some allegiance to his father but this is not working. Again, as much as I hate Shula, he brought the Panthers to Superbowl 50, (or I should say Cam brought them to Superbowl), but given the public reception, one might assume Shula is on a short leash. But honestly, Shula just doesn't know how to use Cam with our offensive line. Cam likes going for the deep plays, but our line doesn't allow it. We haven't had a healthy oline since week 3, which may be part of the issue. But still, I think Shula should be gone, but I don't know about our staff getting rid of him.
7. will KK Short who has done nothing this year to earn that big contract be given one anyway ? Short has recently got a decent bit of pressure. He's still a contributor, but no where near last years dominance. Team's figured out he's a threat, so they start focusing on him, and our old DE rotation never got any pressure that Allen brought last year. Though with our new DE rotation, he's been consistently decent, so I'd say he gets a decent sized contract, or shown the door if he wants to consider himself Cox level good.
8. will graham gano finally be shown the door?  Probably. His job is to kick clutch field goals and extra points. He's as unreliable this year as Minnesota's old kicker. Expect him to be shown the door.
9. Will the offense finally get pro worthy tackles ?   Decent running backs, a true second TE? Daryl Williams starting at RT was pro worthy. He's a substantial upgrade over Remmers looking at his game. Oher would be solid at LT too. But understand; our oline hasn't been healthy since week 3. If Oher comes back and doesn't retire, we just need Oher and Williams at our tackles to really have a good oline.  Also, Stewart's a pro RB, but our depth behind him consists of poor blockers. Expect a RB of the future to be taken from this upcoming RB heavy draft, and maybe even a TE. Though really our starters aren't inept, except maybe DIckson at blocking. But, with our interest in TEs last offseason, don't be surprised for Dave to fill a need there by pulling the trigger draft day. 
10. will they finally get a true QB coach and offensive coordinator which holds Newton accountable for his poor mechanics and decisions and forces Newton to grow? I do hope so; that's one thing that needs to happen.

 

[FootballLivesMatter]

1 hour ago, PandaPancake said:

After the first paragraph I question your loyalty. 

 

Easy to question someone's loyalty when your bank account isn't tied up to the Panthers every single year. 

 

 

[FootballLivesMatter]

Get rid of your PSL.

 

we'll never win a SB under Jerry Richardson

[raleigh-panther]

I don't care about people who throw out the ridiculous 'question your loyalty' business, after they pay for. PSL and $5k a year for tickets for 20 years, and gas and travel, and are something other than TV fans, I'd take the comments seriously

what is bothering me is the problems with the Panthers were exposed in the Atlanta game, and clearly in the Super Bowl and yet the personnel paid millions to be the brain trust does nothing, nothing, to fix any of it, and made it worse, at a time when our veterans' windows are closing and Josh Norman sure seems to be playing well

maybe just time to sell the PSLs. Everything has a shelf life sadly

[raleigh-panther]

5 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

After 20 years, you're at your breaking point one season after we go 15-1 and make a Super Bowl run?

That just doesn't make sense.  There were plenty of far better quitting opportunities than this along the way.

No, there weren't. None of those teams came close to what this one should have been

not many teams have the QB and LB the Panthers have and the chances they had at long running success

A few key pieces smartly added and nine stupidly subtracted and this team could have been something for years but as usual, gone

 

[tiger7_88]

As long as we have a head coach insistent upon riding a non-existent running game to victory in addition to milking a 2 point lead for 30 minutes by turning it over to his non-existent defense, what you see is what we'll continue to get.

[Jangler]

If I could afford it I would have it. But the world if f'in crazy now, and if money concerns are real, can't say I blame anybody for evaluating money priorities. Panthers for Life, but Life is not the Panthers

[Saca312]

TL;DR. There's a ton of upside for the Panthers. It all depends on next season if you want to keep the PSL's until that point. There's a very high chance we hit on free agency and the draft and plug up holes and become competitive next year, and then you'll gain major profits.

I say wait out a year and see how things turn out. We got so much upside next season for a dynasty, but it all starts out with what happens this upcoming offseason.

[LinvilleGorge]

11 minutes ago, raleigh-panther said:

No, there weren't. None of those teams came close to what this one should have been

not many teams have the QB and LB the Panthers have and the chances they had at long running success

A few key pieces smartly added and nine stupidly subtracted and this team could have been something for years but as usual, gone

 

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I also think we'd be a lot better had the injury bug not bitten us in the ass big time.

We had a disappointing season coming off of our last SB loss too. The year after that disappointing season, we went 11-5 and we're right back in the NFC CG again.