Just when we thought it was over

[HeelsPanthersCanes]

15 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I just stopped watching. I haven't watched the last 10 quarters. Don't plan on changing that. I'm out as long as we're stuck in this Bryce purgatory. It's just wild watching from the sidelines while people embrace the purgatory. Most everyone agree that the worst possible outcome this season was the not get a definitive answer on Bryce but to win just enough games to give hope and have us stick with the status quo moving forward. Currently that's exactly how we're tracking.

I get what you're saying.  And don't disagree, but ....

It's week 6.  I could see if it's week 13 or 14 and we're eliminated from the playoffs.

By not watching, you missed a pretty epic game and finish.  The fun me and about 40 other Panther fans had at the bar far outweighs the frustration I have with the front office.

And not trying to win for a higher draft pick isn't applicable to this staff.  They've proven whether we pick 1st or 31st they will most likely mess it up.  I also haven't seen any QB in college that is a no-miss pick this year.

This post, and my positive spirit expires in 7 days when we lose at the Jets.  Haha.

[Move the Panthers to Raleigh]

On 10/12/2025 at 9:32 PM, LinvilleGorge said:

Fast forward to April and we're likely lamenting these wins when we draft a LB at #13 and pickup Bryce's option.

Brother, I can't jive with this anymore. I'm usually looking at draft position early, but that game yesterday was different. I was there, and it felt like old-school Panther ball. There will be more losses, but these guys are coming together. The coaches are forging an identity as a running team as well. 

[LinvilleGorge]

4 minutes ago, Move the Panthers to Raleigh said:

Brother, I can't jive with this anymore. I'm usually looking at draft position early, but that game yesterday was different. I was there, and it felt like old-school Panther ball. There will be more losses, but these guys are coming together. The coaches are forging an identity as a running team as well. 

I get it. All I'm saying is that we have a massive limiting factor at the most important position in the game. If we fug around and commit to that massive limiting factor we're cooked. If I had a line in with the front office and staff that I knew that they knew this and they're committed to keep their options open at QB moving forward while playing lip service to Bryce in the press, cool. I get that. But I don't have that line. Winning some games against terrible competition while our backup RB plays like prime Adrian Peterson is cool but not if it leads to a huge mistake. That's my big concern.

[Chaos]

Let’s see how we do on the road against a team we can beat. 
 

While the Jets are mega ass, they did manage to put up 27 on Tampa a few weeks ago and barely lost. We can’t take them lightly. 

[OldhamA]

On 10/13/2025 at 2:32 PM, LinvilleGorge said:

I'm not upset. I'm just done being duped. 

We're beating bad teams while our backup RB is playing out of his mind looking like the best player in the league. Is that trend like to continue or likely to translate into beating teams that aren't bad? I very seriously doubt it.

If y'all want to celebrate being stuck in purgatory be my guest.

It's all about what they do at QB.

It's clear the rest of the roster is improving. If they commit long term to Young because he's being carried to wins then we're fuged. I think that's a separate issue to finally being competitive again. 

There's no QB in this Draft that's going to ride in on his white horse on day one and save us, so we absolutely shouldn't be playing for Draft position. 

Edited October 14, 2025 by OldhamA

[strato]

40 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I get it. All I'm saying is that we have a massive limiting factor at the most important position in the game. If we fug around and commit to that massive limiting factor we're cooked. If I had a line in with the front office and staff that I knew that they knew this and they're committed to keep their options open at QB moving forward while playing lip service to Bryce in the press, cool. I get that. But I don't have that line. Winning some games against terrible competition while our backup RB plays like prime Adrian Peterson is cool but not if it leads to a huge mistake. That's my big concern.

I haven’t watched either. Planned on it Sunday and two places I wanted to go were both closed. It was the nor’easter slamming us hard here on the coast and I just went with the radio and the game thread. 
you can find every snap by Sunday night anyway. That is my MO since last December. 
Radio broadcast was great. I missed Greg Olsen but wasn’t getting that in a bar environment anyway. 
That was the best game in YEARs. Even better than Andy vs LV which to me had the top slot for the Bryce era. 

Edited October 14, 2025 by strato

[LinvilleGorge]

10 minutes ago, OldhamA said:

It's all about what they do at QB.

It's clear the rest of the roster is improving. If they commit long term to Young because he's being carried to wins then we're fuged. I think that's a separate issue to finally being competitive again. 

There's no QB in this Draft that's going to ride in on his white horse on day one and save us, so we absolutely shouldn't be playing for Draft position. 

Yeah, if I knew the feeling in the building was that we're improving but we can't hitch our wagon to Bryce I could sit back and enjoy the games. But the thought of extending Bryce as a franchise QB is horrifying. If he continues to function as an effective game manager I wouldn't be opposed to picking up his 5th year option to buy us another year but hell to the no extending him as a franchise QB and it wouldn't shock me to see us do it.

[strato]

4 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Yeah, if I knew the feeling in the building was that we're improving but we can't hitch our wagon to Bryce I could sit back and enjoy the games. But the thought of extending Bryce as a franchise QB is horrifying. If he continues to function as an effective game manager I wouldn't be opposed to picking up his 5th year option to buy us another year but hell to the no extending him as a franchise QB and it wouldn't shock me to see us do it.

He was good Sunday. But that was with us dominating in the run game and really not under much duress. 
Start to finish his most consistent effort in his NFL career. 
The bar that set is so high compared to his typical performance. And again the conditions were ripe for him to succeed 

It was like, okay great but you need to do that every week. 
Abd he will never have the gun I consider essential to make people defend the whole field. 
So we’ll see. 

[PNW_PantherMan]

1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Yeah, if I knew the feeling in the building was that we're improving but we can't hitch our wagon to Bryce I could sit back and enjoy the games. But the thought of extending Bryce as a franchise QB is horrifying. If he continues to function as an effective game manager I wouldn't be opposed to picking up his 5th year option to buy us another year but hell to the no extending him as a franchise QB and it wouldn't shock me to see us do it.

He's coming back barring an epic collapse.  If we end up with a mediocre record, it won't matter what his film looks like.  They'll bring him back.  They're looking for any excuse to pull the trigger on year 5.  That's the feeling I get.

[LinvilleGorge]

6 minutes ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

He's coming back barring an epic collapse.  If we end up with a mediocre record, it won't matter what his film looks like.  They'll bring him back.  They're looking for any excuse to pull the trigger on year 5.  That's the feeling I get.

Same. I just hope they're only feeling itchy on the 5th year option. That wouldn't be disastrous. A multi-year extension at franchise QB pay would be disastrous.