Jump to content
  • Welcome!

    Register and log in easily with Twitter or Google accounts!

    Or simply create a new Huddle account. 

    Members receive fewer ads , access our dark theme, and the ability to join the discussion!

     

Good teams win games they have no business winning


TN05

Recommended Posts

I’m actually pretty confident about our team after last game. We did virtually everything we could to lose and still won. The fact we are winning games like this now is a sign we’re good enough to win even when we aren’t playing our best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, TN05 said:

I’m actually pretty confident about our team after last game. We did virtually everything we could to lose and still won. The fact we are winning games like this now is a sign we’re good enough to win even when we aren’t playing our best.

I think there is some truth in what you're saying. NE is 9-2, but until recently they haven't played that well and won some games they could have (or should have lost).

Houston, TB, and NYJ, all had them on the ropes in the 2nd half and managed to lose the games because of poor play calls/decisions (Texans) , failure to execute in critical moments (TB), and suspect calls by the referee in big moments (Jets). The team didn't fold in either of those games and managed to pull them out in the end.

NE should be 7-4 or even 6-5,  but now they appear poised to get home field advantage again for the playoffs, which gives them an easier road to the SB. They could be on the verge of winning the SB 3 times in 4 years for the 2nd time during the Brady/Belichik era.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NE is going to be the #3 or #4 seed. Pittsburgh is probably gonna be the #1 on the AFC side. NE isn't gonna just coast. They are gonna have trouble with Buffalo this week, I think.

That said, we NEED to beat NO, MIN, and ATL to be legit. GB looks like a gimme game, and TB doesn't scare me in Charlotte.

I actually think we could lose all three of those NEED games and still make a #5 or #6 seed, but nobody wants to back into the playoffs.

We owe both NO and MIN... NO for our last game in Charlotte, and Minnesota for the past two times we've faced them.

I think we still owe ATL for marring our regular season in 2015.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Bronn said:

NE is going to be the #3 or #4 seed. Pittsburgh is probably gonna be the #1 on the AFC side. NE isn't gonna just coast. They are gonna have trouble with Buffalo this week, I think.

That said, we NEED to beat NO, MIN, and ATL to be legit. GB looks like a gimme game, and TB doesn't scare me in Charlotte.

I actually think we could lose all three of those NEED games and still make a #5 or #6 seed, but nobody wants to back into the playoffs.

We owe both NO and MIN... NO for our last game in Charlotte, and Minnesota for the past two times we've faced them.

I think we still owe ATL for marring our regular season in 2015.

How do you figure they are gonna be a #3 or #4 seed?

They close with 3 straight road games (Buffalo, Miami and Pittsburgh) and the final 2 at home (Buffalo and NYJ). I think they will (or should be) the favorite in all 5 of those games. Miami usually plays them tough at home so I could see an upset there. Pittsburgh actually has a more talented roster from top to bottom so they could win at home, but until they can figure out how to beat the Pats in a game that actually matters I'm going with NE.

Even if they lose those 2 or 3 that's a 12-4/11-5 record.  That should still get them a 2nd seed for the playoffs. Every other team in the AFC already has more than 4 losses (amazing isn't it) except Tennessee and Jacksonville. I can't see either of those teams finishing with a better record than NE and one will probably be a wildcard considering the fact that they play in the same division.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

Champions win the ugly games. And that one was ugly.

That being said, if DA rides off into the sunset soon, think we could grab McCown again? The guy's still got it. Heck, I don't remember him ever playing that well before.

 

McCown has always been a passable backup at least.  A while back he was showing up Cutler in Chicago before Bears brass decided they had to stick with Cutler regardless of whether it was the best option or not.

That one decision to try and throw it away rather than just holding the ball and taking the sack cost them, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Bronn said:

NE is going to be the #3 or #4 seed. Pittsburgh is probably gonna be the #1 on the AFC side. NE isn't gonna just coast. They are gonna have trouble with Buffalo this week, I think.

That said, we NEED to beat NO, MIN, and ATL to be legit. GB looks like a gimme game, and TB doesn't scare me in Charlotte.

I actually think we could lose all three of those NEED games and still make a #5 or #6 seed, but nobody wants to back into the playoffs.

We owe both NO and MIN... NO for our last game in Charlotte, and Minnesota for the past two times we've faced them.

I think we still owe ATL for marring our regular season in 2015.

If we beat all three of those teams we are probably the best team in the NFC. I mean thats 3 playoff games. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, SCO96 said:

How do you figure they are gonna be a #3 or #4 seed?

They close with 3 straight road games (Buffalo, Miami and Pittsburgh) and the final 2 at home (Buffalo and NYJ). I think they will (or should be) the favorite in all 5 of those games. Miami usually plays them tough at home so I could see an upset there. Pittsburgh actually has a more talented roster from top to bottom so they could win at home, but until they can figure out how to beat the Pats in a game that actually matters I'm going with NE.

Even if they lose those 2 or 3 that's a 12-4/11-5 record.  That should still get them a 2nd seed for the playoffs. Every other team in the AFC already has more than 4 losses (amazing isn't it) except Tennessee and Jacksonville. I can't see either of those teams finishing with a better record than NE and one will probably be a wildcard considering the fact that they play in the same division.

 

Jacksonville OR Tennessee could both beat NE for the #2.

NE, I think, will lose to Pittsburgh, Buffalo at least once, and potentially the NYJ. Their defense still isn't that great, and if you can shut down Gronk and their run game, they are pretty much just like the Panthers on offense. hit and miss. Buffalo is a good team when they can put it all together. Like it or not, they are basically the Panthers with a slightly worse offense and defense. Their defense actually can hang with most teams, and they hope their offense keeps them competitive. I think they match up well with NE and both games could be close.

People are sleeping on Jax. I was a little disappointed in their outing yesterday, but they are a good team. Tennessee has a good squad too, just inconsistent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This game reminded me of a few games over the last few seasons:

2013: Starting in Week 12 we had multiple games that were too close for comfort against teams that we had no business losing to. Remember... we had literally pulled a 2017 Saints, going 1-3 before ripping off 7 games, some in epic fashion (@SF and vsNE on MNF). Those games included @Miami (20-16), vsNYJ (30-20), vsNO (17-13 in a monsoon), and @ATL (21-20). 

2014: After going 3-8-1 the Panthers trashed the Saints in New Orleans and proceeded to have two close home games against the Bucs and Johnny-Football-led Browns before trashing Atlanta to win our second division title in a row (unprecedented in the NFC South to this day). 

2015: After steam rolling the entire fuging league to go 11-0, the Panthers faced New Orleans in the Dome again. It was a game that got out of hand early, but the Panthers recovered and gutted out a close win to win our 12th in as many games. After trashing the Falcons via shutout the next week, the Giants surprised us at MetLife and the Panthers won on a last second field goal. For those who don't remember, the Panthers jumped out to a 28-7 lead and then blew it, necessitating the last-second game winner. The following week, the Falcons handed the Panthers their first loss of the season when the Panthers barely showed up to play. 

Point being, despite our stellar Nov/Dec record under Cam/Rivera, the Panthers are not immune to lackluster games late in the season. Lets hope Rivera is reminding the boys of this and doing everything he can to keep them focused.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • PMH4OWPW7JD2TDGWZKTOYL2T3E.jpg

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • With Freddie Slavin and Svech both playing at MVP levels, no one can touch us. Burns playing well.  Imagine if Jarvy and Aho get going…
    • Just because all draft picks are a gamble doesn't mean you don't have a better chance at hitting on a better player the higher you're drafting. It would literally be like someone saying, I'll give you 1 or 2 free spins on a slot machine, and you say you'll take the 1 because you're not likely to win anything anyways with 1 or 2, so why bother? The Cowboys desperately wanted T-Mac, but because they were 4 picks behind us, they weren't able to get him.  If you told Cowboys fans that had they lost 2 more games last year in a lost season, that it would get them the player they wanted so badly, would they in retrospect go back and lose those games to get their guy? 95% of them would take that trade off in a heartbeat, and the others who wouldn't are the fans who would rather enjoy an extra win or two in a poo season to then set themselves up to be better for the next decade. I also think the fans who argue against this thinking, get too caught up in the "well that means you're going to be rooting against us late in the season even if we still have a shot at the playoffs." Which isn't true, it's saying if you're telling me right now we'd make the playoffs but lose in the first round, that I'd rather end up 8-9 or 9-8 and just miss the playoffs because in our opinion, the benefits that come along with that outweigh the benefit of the players getting 1 game of playoff experience.
    • In relation to tanking. I think you can count on one hand the number of people here who actually want us to lose football games. When accounting for it across the fanbase it amounts to maybe 2% of the entire Panthers fanbase. But you engage with some internet trolls and think haters are coming out of the woodwork and hey look at that it's all a conspiracy that leads to Bryce Young haters. Do you hear yourself sir? If it sounds ridiculous that's because it is. I mean at this point do you see Bryce haters in your dreams? As far as the culture of this franchise goes we seem to be doing better in that department via what we are building right now and with the people we have in place. But we also shouldn't just make assumptions just yet either. The rubber still needs to meet the road. And going back to previous seasons I think we can acknowledge although tanking obviously isn't a thing there were some times where we thought our culture was improving but really it wasn't. Yes I'm looking directly at some of those wins under Wilks. If the culture had truly changed we would not have lost to the Steelers who have been mediocre for years at home the way we did and they were starting Mitch Trubisky ffs. We did not change our culture for the better and we won games that ultimately meant nothing. It was just a brief mirage. We've done this for years now. The harsh truth of the matter is the Panthers have not had a winning season or been to the playoffs in going on 8 years but in those years they've been trying to convince themselves they aren't poo but in the process all they've done throughout most of that time period is squander better draft position and we were still the worst team in the league for our troubles. At the end of the day we should be able to just be adults and reconcile with that. And no that isn't being "pro tank" or any other boogeyman term it's simply recognizing reality.
×
×
  • Create New...