This fan base has absolutely checked out of this season in a way I haven't seen since 2010

[Sam Mills Fan]

Look around you. Attendance is down at the stadium. Conversation on here is down. WFNZ is getting less Panthers calls. It's really just the hardcores left playing out the string. Pretty sad. Feels like we're at our lowest point since late 2010. At least last year when we were losing 100 games in a row, we were still thinking we were going to have a healthy Cam back in 2019. This year? Outside of McCaffrey, there is absolutely nothing I'm invested in.

[pnthrs]

meh.  Casual fans maybe.  Real fans know this is temporary.  The only person who is affected negatively by attendance is Tepper's concession/merch sales.  If Teppers bottom line drops - he makes changes to reverse that.  We get a new coaching staff/players.  The NFL is very fickle, teams can go from the top to the bottom in a few games and visa versa.   Enjoy the low anxiety of the rest of the season and let your cholesterol levels balance out before next year.   Even if I can't see the puzzle pieces right now, I am highly optimistic about the future of this team because I know that we have an owner who is absolutely committed to excellence. 

[cookinwithgas]

At the start of the season we were supposed to be getting our star QB back and better than ever, with a decent O line to protect him and young frisbee catching dogs to offset some of the deficiencies of the young defense, and it all came crashing down.

[Zaximus]

3 minutes ago, pnthrs said:

meh.  Casual fans maybe.  Real fans know this is temporary.  The only person who is affected negatively by attendance is Tepper's concession/merch sales.  If Teppers bottom line drops - he makes changes to reverse that.  We get a new coaching staff/players.  The NFL is very fickle, teams can go from the top to the bottom in a few games and visa versa.   Enjoy the low anxiety of the rest of the season and let your cholesterol levels balance out before next year.   Even if I can't see the puzzle pieces right now, I am highly optimistic about the future of this team because I know that we have an owner who is absolutely committed to excellence. 

But it's not temporary.    Nothing has shown that.   This franchise has been consistently inconsistent.   If anything, this season is pretty normal for the team.    People are just not going crazy when it's time for down years which always happens.    Have winning back to back seasons, go to playoffs more, give the fans a reason to invest year to year and this will build a fan base.    I'm banking on Tepper's competitive spirit and ego to get this team on track, not the bottom line.   He didn't buy this team to make money.    Besides profit sharing almost guarentees no owner is going to have money issues.    

[FeelTheBurns53]

I'm truly baffled as well. We're still sitting at 5-5 with playoffs still a possibility led by a rookie qb who has had his fair share of ups and downs but in no way has displayed complete ineptitude at the qb position where we all should be jumping ship.

Its funny, Allen just 2 weeks ago in the frozen tundra playing in some of the worst football conditions imaginable almost led the Panthers on a game tying 18 play drive. He made some phenomenal throws, and even though we lost, it was one of Kyle's best games to date. 

That was 2 weeks ago. 2 fuging weeks ago. 

The dude is still 6-3 as a starter, and most panther fans are completely giving up after one pretty shitty performance. 

The huddle in a nutshell

[TheRed]

The reality is even without all the questions swirling about the future at QB, the Panthers defense which is the teams identity has been trending downward the last few years. Add into that our record within the division since 2015 on top of what we are witnessing behind center, and welp, it isn't difficult to see how we've gotten here.

[uncfan888]

5 minutes ago, TheRed said:

The reality is even without all the questions swirling about the future at QB, the Panthers defense which is the teams identity has been trending downward the last few years. Add into that our record within the division since 2015 on top of what we are witnessing behind center, and welp, it isn't difficult to see how we've gotten here.

It's one thing if the offense is losing games, but we're getting embarrassed on defense. That's Ron's bread and butter. If that isn't reason enough to cut ties with him, I don't know what is

[Mr. Scot]

Previously, it had a lot to do with the fact that the games where we faced a truly good team, we folded.

Then this past weekend we faced a terrible team... and folded.

Probably shouldn't be that shocking.

[Mage]

It’s what happens to any team that isn’t good and doesn’t have a franchise QB (healthy), unless they play in a big market 

 

[Zaximus]

We just got dominated by a 2-7 division rival with nothing to play for AT HOME.    A team in disarray crushed us.    Fans have a right to be a bit disinterested.  

[My Goodness My Guinness]

6 minutes ago, FeelTheBurns53 said:

I'm truly baffled as well. We're still sitting at 5-5 with playoffs still a possibility led by a rookie qb who has had his fair share of ups and downs but in no way has displayed complete ineptitude at the qb position where we all should be jumping ship.

Its funny, Allen just 2 weeks ago in the frozen tundra playing in some of the worst football conditions imaginable almost led the Panthers on a game tying 18 play drive. He made some phenomenal throws, and even though we lost, it was one of Kyle's best games to date. 

That was 2 weeks ago. 2 fuging weeks ago. 

The dude is still 6-3 as a starter, and most panther fans are completely giving up after one pretty shitty performance. 

The huddle in a nutshell

I agree for the most part, but the issue is that even on that last drive he made 2 poor decisions which should have been intercepted. The bigger issue is that these poor decisions have been gradually increasing since the 49er game which may have rattled him a bit.

Throw on top that the coaches have backed off running the ball with an MVP candidate which has put us behind in games early, causing us to rely on passing the ball with an O-Line that's performing at historically bad levels, which is leading to more bad decisions by Allen. It's been a vicious cycle and it starts with the coaches. 

[thefuzz]

I can't really quantify "hard core" and what that actually means, but I know of a LOT of what I would consider loyal fans that just aren't tuned in any longer...at least not "all in".

I think there are a few reasons for this.

1:  Awful stretch last season...just awful.

2:  Nothing changed about this team that had that awful slide last season.  Literally nothing.  Looking at you Ron and Marty.

3:  Cam not being able to get, or stay healthy enough to play, forcing us to play a lesser talent at QB.

4:  A lot of fan favorites walked off into the sunset last season.  TD, Pep, Kalil.

5:  We aren't a fun team to watch, outside of CMC.

[onmyown]

Damn right we’ve checked out. We all see this is Rivera’s lame duck season. We all see we aren’t going anywhere with this qb situation, oline and run d. No ones ever made it to the playoffs with just one of those issues ranked where they are let alone 3 lol. You think we’re the team that’s going to break that tradition 3x in over a hundred years? Or maybe you think in the next 6 games all three areas will improve their rank 10-20 spots...get real.

Hell at this point I don’t care if we started tanking. As Panther fans we have a lot to be excited about. A new owner is truly going to clean slate and install our future. Hopefully Cam comes back healed next year but if not so be it, draft the future and let’s get rolling.

Watching a rebuilding team flash but lose is so much better than watching Rivera in his decade of coaching making the same exact mistakes and have the same, outdated philosophy, slowly die.

Tepper’s has the team for a little while and I don’t blame him for not being rash and coming in and blowing things up without getting a feel for things, it’s what smart businessmen do, but the time has come and we can finally see what he really wants to do with his team.

[rhyslloyd]

It's a culture of apathy built by 25 years of Jerry Richardson's poor leadership and the last 8 years of Ron Rivera's poor coaching (and Fox before him).  2015 was an absolute miracle season.  It's an anomaly.  It's hard to maintain the energy and commitment when there's been nothing to really be excited about.  We've pretty much been going through the motions as a franchise the entire time.