Tillis, Morgan, and Canales

[PNW_PantherMan]

We’re not a Super Bowl winning contender but the stars are aligning for that home playoff game from winning the NFC South.  It’s only going to complicate things further.

[CRA]

10 minutes ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

We’re not a Super Bowl winning contender but the stars are aligning for that home playoff game from winning the NFC South.  It’s only going to complicate things further.

Yep, we really have risen from being so that you almost have to try to be that bad….to average (which the league is basically engineered for you to be average)….and I do worry that the brainiacs at BOA will do and treat that as.  We basically have a team that doesn’t stink yet not a thing scares someone.  Division being down also complicates real perspective.  Bucs and Saints have the 2 easiest schedules to date this season and one team stinks and the other likely is .500ish off that advantage 

[L-TownCat]

37 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

"Exposed" was the buzzword of the day and everyone was certain that our season was about to dive straight into the toilet.

Yeah, all teams needed to do was fake every FG and run surprise onside kicks and badabing badaboom, down goes Carolina. 

[Mr. Scot]

7 minutes ago, shaqattaq said:

Us and 32 other teams.

I find all the "what ifs"  and "yeah buts" kind of amusing

Back during the 1985 NFL season, there was one team in the league who figured out a way to beat the Chicago Bears... and they did so in convincing fashion.

Ironically enough, it was the Miami Dolphins. 

When the Dolphins made the AFC Championship game, it set the stage for an epic rematch in the Super Bowl. The generationally dominant 85 Bears were going to have the chance to avenge their only loss and cement their legacy while the Dolphins could potentially gatekeep the mystique of their 72 team by keeping the Bears from winning the big one. 

Would have been amazing

Unfortunately, Miami blew it in the AFC Championship and the season ended with the Bears destroying a badly overmatched New England Patriots team in what was not exactly a fun, competitive Super Bowl

Similar thing happened in the NFL's 75th season, which could (and maybe should) have ended with a matchup between the 49ers and the Steelers.

Both teams were 4-0 in Super bowls at that time And it could have been billed as a war to determine the ultimate Super Bowl champion of that time...

... except the Steelers didn't make it, so we wound up watching yet another uninteresting blowout with the 49ers stomping the San Diego Chargers.

As a football fan, I'd absolutely love to have seen the games that could have been.

But in hindsight, I kinda doubt the Bears and 49ers fans lose any sleep over the fact that their championship trophies were in part aided by other teams' stumbles. Hell, that sort of thing happens on an annual basis.

So am I gonna be bothered if, in the end, a good finish to this season is owed in some part to someone else's ill-timed failures?

Lemme think about it

...

No.

[Mr. Scot]

5 minutes ago, L-TownCat said:

Yeah, all teams needed to do was fake every FG and run surprise onside kicks and badabing badaboom, down goes Carolina. 

I remember it vividly. A twenty point loss after what had looked like a fairy tale start set a pretty predictable mood. Most of us went back to our default mode (gloom, despair and agony on me).

Rest of the season ended up turning out okay, though

[Mr. Scot]

24 minutes ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

We’re not a Super Bowl winning contender but the stars are aligning for that home playoff game from winning the NFC South.  It’s only going to complicate things further.

I'm honestly okay with that as a final outcome.

[*FreeFua*]

1 hour ago, CRA said:

I'm waiting until this entire odd season plays out fully to really judge anything.  Or maybe I should say, change what the last several years has locked into place.  This is one of the weirder seasons I have seen and hardest teams to really judge.  Its a very schizophrenic team/season.    And there are 2 very different ways the finish could present and the board would view things vastly different from both ends of the at finish spectrum. 

 

Yep this.

This board will do a 180 if we lay a stinker in NO on Sunday and rightfully so. So let’s pump the brakes here

[*FreeFua*]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I'm honestly okay with that as a final outcome.

Same it’s been too long

Cam’s third year we got a home playoff game and got bounced pretty harshly. That stung more because we were 12-4

Id love for us to make playoffs just for Bryce and these young guys to get that same experience heading into next season. I’ll view this more like 2014 when we had no business being in the playoffs but got in. Playoff experience is never a bad thing especially for a young team like us

[CRA]

15 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

Yep this.

This board will do a 180 if we lay a stinker in NO on Sunday and rightfully so. So let’s pump the brakes here

Yep, the board has amnesia to the weekly swings and declarations made.  The same cast of characters has been talked about vastly different repetitively and you only have to go back as far as the game before the last one....and just keep repeating that pattern largely backwards. 

I personally feel confident that this team is not bad and it is not good.  And while that is nice to get back to be out of the literal dumpster......I don't view this team as an average team w/ a puncher's chance.  All average teams are of different molds.  We are more the, if a really good team plays bad, you will lose to us variety.  We aren't bad enough where you can get away with a bad day vs us anymore. 

[CRA]

16 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

I’ll view this more like 2014 when we had no business being in the playoffs but got in. Playoff experience is never a bad thing especially for a young team like us

 and we won a game in the playoffs.....where our leading receiver was Fozzy Whitaker w/ just 39 rec yards.  That feels like a 2025 Panthers type winning setup. 

[GarthMcGrath]

1 hour ago, WhoKnows said:

One or two injuries to our stars and we suck.

We were very banged up going into that Rams game. Our second best player (Horn), our best safety, and both starting ILBs were out. I feel like our defense has really been impressive considering a year ago. If our offense learns how to be balanced like they were against the Rams, we can honestly beat anyone. Those losses to the Saints and 49ers may have been what we needed to figure out that when we depend too much on either running exclusively or passing exclusively that we are no good. That Rams game showed what we can do when we are in sync offensively and it was so much fun to watch. If that offense shows up this week then go ahead and cancel your plans the second weekend in January as you will have a game to watch.

[*FreeFua*]

18 minutes ago, CRA said:

 and we won a game in the playoffs.....where our leading receiver was Fozzy Whitaker w/ just 39 rec yards.  That feels like a 2025 Panthers type winning setup. 

And the Cardinals had to start Ryan Lindley that game as well. They were actually winning at halftime 14-13. That game summed up that season and we limped our way into Seattle standing no chance whatsoever but the team gained valuable playoff experience imo 

I’ll sign up for that again versus missing the playoffs. It would be good for this team. Even though we’ll most likely be one and done

[CRA]

12 minutes ago, GarthMcGrath said:

We were very banged up going into that Rams game. Our second best player (Horn), our best safety, and both starting ILBs were out. I feel like our defense has really been impressive considering a year ago. If our offense learns how to be balanced like they were against the Rams, we can honestly beat anyone. Those losses to the Saints and 49ers may have been what we needed to figure out that when we depend too much on either running exclusively or passing exclusively that we are no good. That Rams game showed what we can do when we are in sync offensively and it was so much fun to watch. If that offense shows up this week then go ahead and cancel your plans the second weekend in January as you will have a game to watch.

if you didn't watch 3 plays.....the D that played the Rams looked exactly like last years.  I mean the Rams are a very good offensive team but just how easy that walked the field us on all game is a tad concerning.

and the Panthers should 100000% roll out the same gameplan vs the Saints.  All you need is Jaycee Horn not to give up 2 massive TDs and it's an easy ugly win.   We know how the winning forumula.  It isn't balance.  It's leaning on the run and having Bryce make very few throws that matter.  Hope he can when the few moments call.