Is this the lowest IQ “winning” team we’ve fielded?

[strato]

I will allow that sometimes the players sound smarter than I expected, vocabulary seems broad and seems like they know what the words mean when they use them. A lot of them. 
Some others are perpetuating the cliche. 
 

But our organizational IQ? Bryce Young is our starting QB and we have no one to challenge him. Low end of the bell curve. 

[kungfoodude]

5 hours ago, SmallAxe said:

I am not going to internet argue with you. By your stats Bryce isn't even the worst quarterback this year.

2025: 25th in NFL (not the worst)

I was arguing the point that someone posted he is the worst starting quarterback in all of NFL's  history. He is not.  Sorry

Lol. What? You were saying he was the best in franchise history which was demonstrably false.

 

[Dragoon11]

On 12/30/2025 at 5:41 PM, ProcessBlue2 said:

That’s more discipline. 
 

IQ? Half the team in 96 were dumbasses

But that was because of the steroids. They had to stop after 2003. Then they became smart!!

[Dragoon11]

5 hours ago, TD alt said:

This hasn't got a thing to do with X's country leanings and southern drawl (I may be perceived as having one, particularly from Yankees or Midwesterners of which I grew up with), but regarding football IQ he may just be unduly affecting the entire perception of the OP's perception of the team on that front.

I could be wrong (let's get that out of the way), but in general, I just think that the team's inconsistency of lack of execution is due to a lack of talent, a lack of coaching--specifically a failure to utilize personnel effectively, and, along that same vein, a lack of scheme fit to maximize players' skills, and/or simply an inability to overcome weak links at pretty important positions on both sides of the ball. It could be some, part, or all of those things. And, the fact is, we just don't appear to be ready for the big time. We need some more pieces and more experience. Only then will we have a team whose IQ is not questioned, and a that wins and is expected to win.

 

Good point. It's a "product of their own success" kind of scenario. At the beginning of the season no one here expected this team to be playing for the division title in week 16 or 18 this year. Fans have been SOOO hungry for winning that they cannot stay objective with a very young team that is still developing. It's so obvious the Panthers need a few more pieces and consistency all around. But, it seems the microscope suddenly became bigger when they exceed expectations. When the reality is, they're the same team we thought MIGHT win 7 games at best this year. It's just that the rest of the teams in the division have performed well below expectations, so there's a bit of a false hope now. Not saying they cannot continue to exceed, but this time of year the real NFL talent emerges. No room for error anymore.

[Gapanthersfan]

They lack field generals.

I watched Luke highlights last night. My God how far we’ve fallen. He was a cheat code. He ran the defense, make no mistake. 

Offense had Greg. He knew everybody’s assignments and made sure everything was straight before the huddle was broken.

Now, there’s none of that. Not even close. They frequently look like they don’t even know the play book. Students of the game? I don’t see it. The most cerebral players are an UDFA receiver they hit lotto on and a second round rookie edge.

Still desperate for a field general. 

[DeAngelo Beason]

On 1/1/2026 at 10:49 AM, SmallAxe said:

I am not a Bryce fan, but I am not a hater either.  He's not the worst in NFL history, he's not even the worst starting quarterback this team has had.  Look at this list:
 

Frank Reich

Kerry Collins

Chris Weinke

Matt Lytle

Randy Fasani

Vinny Testaverde

Matt Moore

Jimmy Clausen

Brian St. Pierre

Kyle Allen

Taylor Heinicke

Teddy Bridgewater

And he has the highest completion percentage of any Panther quarterback ever. He not great. but worst in NFL history? Come on......

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Carolina_Panthers_starting_quarterbacks

I didn't say he's the worst in history.  I said he's one of the worst in history.  This is statistical fact.

[kungfoodude]

9 minutes ago, DeAngelo Beason said:

I didn't say he's the worst in history.  I said he's one of the worst in history.  This is statistical fact.

Not to mention a chunk of the QB's on that list are better than Bryce.