Former NFL Network’s Lindsey Rhodes on Carolina Panthers

[SmokinwithWilly]

On 2/27/2026 at 7:23 PM, VintagePanther said:

All i ask of him right now  is win, and get us to the playoffs . But playoffs is standard now for him and this team . If we regress yes move on . But if he have another season like he had this year and we make the playoffs sign him . Idc if it’s ugly i like winners . 

But we didn't win. We only got into the playoffs because another team got us there. We are a 6 win team realistically. You don't usually win games scoring 13 and 16. Those are anomalies not to be relied on year in and year out. If backing our way into the playoffs every year with a losing record is the standard, we need another fugging standard. 

[strato]

Technically Young was 8-8 regular season. 8-9 overall.

List games he carried the team please. 

I’ll give him a couple. Top of my head…

Yardage record vs Atlanta, played well vs Dallas. IIRC, 4 qtrs of good play which was almost a career 1st. 
Some spurts in the second half - vs LA Rams comes to mind. 
Played well in the WC game. Whole team did. 
Failed at the end. 
 

Laid a lot of eggs too. You don’t get a great record after a loss unless you have a lot of losses. 
Jags,

Cards - sorry most of that 2nd half was Cards prevent (like we use to do in 2015 - go up big fast and slack off let them back in, have to turn it on again at the end) 

Jets

Saints

Saints 

9ers

Seahawks

On the fence Re Green Bay due to the wind and the strategy employed but he was not great there. 

 

[VintagePanther]

20 hours ago, SmokinwithWilly said:

But we didn't win. We only got into the playoffs because another team got us there. We are a 6 win team realistically. You don't usually win games scoring 13 and 16. Those are anomalies not to be relied on year in and year out. If backing our way into the playoffs every year with a losing record is the standard, we need another fugging standard. 

Every game we won last year we scored over 20 except for two games . So when they did win they actually were scoring  . You are what your record says you are . You can’t erase wins to fit your narrative lol . 

[Khyber53]

Is Bryce the answer? Probably not.

Do you see another answer out there right now?

Well, do you?

Retreads and dice rolls, that's all that's available right now. Maybe  work a trade for Mac Jones, send Bryce to them with that fifth year deal. Maybe San Francisco can work their magic with him like they did Purdy, Jones and Darnold.

And we'd have Jones for a couple of seasons.

[SmokinwithWilly]

1 hour ago, VintagePanther said:

Every game we won last year we scored over 20 except for two games . So when they did win they actually were scoring  . You are what your record says you are . You can’t erase wins to fit your narrative lol . 

And our record says we were a losing team that lucked into getting into the playoffs. Playoffs are not our standard because we didn't earn our way in, the Falcons had to do it for us. We also got in because the NFCS sent another losing record team to the playoffs and the Panthers are the only team in the NFL to go twice with a losing record. That's not something to be proud of.

The reason I brought up the 13 and 16 point scores was those are not typically wins most weeks in the NFL. In fact, there were 31 wins this season where the winning team scored under 20. 7 of those happened in week 18. That means this past season, only 11% of the time, the winning team scored under 20. Prior to week 18, that was 9%. Week 18 was a statistical anomaly. 

How often does a team go into the red zone 6 times and come away with 13 points? Not often. GB did and we won that game. And we played a Jets team (0-7 at the time) that was offensively inept. Teams also don't consistently win one score games as often as we did either. Those things tend to balance themselves out the following year. I'm not erasing wins. I'm looking at how this team actually performed during the season. We defied the odds winning 2 games scoring under 20. The record, and the stats across the NFL, show we are in reality closer in performance to a 6 win team than we are to 8. 

 

49 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

Is Bryce the answer? Probably not.

Do you see another answer out there right now?

Well, do you?

Retreads and dice rolls, that's all that's available right now. Maybe  work a trade for Mac Jones, send Bryce to them with that fifth year deal. Maybe San Francisco can work their magic with him like they did Purdy, Jones and Darnold.

And we'd have Jones for a couple of seasons.

If Bryce was a FA for another team would we be looking at him? Probably not. He's in the retread and dice roll category. It just so happens we just signed him to the option. There's not a lot of good options out there right now. That's why I'm not in the sign a vet as QB2 club. Bring in a retread or dice roll. Trotting a vet out a couple of games isn't going to get us anywhere long term. 

Edited 2 hours ago by SmokinwithWilly

[VintagePanther]

44 minutes ago, SmokinwithWilly said:

And our record says we were a losing team that lucked into getting into the playoffs. Playoffs are not our standard because we didn't earn our way in, the Falcons had to do it for us. We also got in because the NFCS sent another losing record team to the playoffs and the Panthers are the only team in the NFL to go twice with a losing record. That's not something to be proud of.

The reason I brought up the 13 and 16 point scores was those are not typically wins most weeks in the NFL. In fact, there were 31 wins this season where the winning team scored under 20. 7 of those happened in week 18. That means this past season, only 11% of the time, the winning team scored under 20. Prior to week 18, that was 9%. Week 18 was a statistical anomaly. 

How often does a team go into the red zone 6 times and come away with 13 points? Not often. GB did and we won that game. And we played a Jets team (0-7 at the time) that was offensively inept. Teams also don't consistently win one score games as often as we did either. Those things tend to balance themselves out the following year. I'm not erasing wins. I'm looking at how this team actually performed during the season. We defied the odds winning 2 games scoring under 20. The record, and the stats across the NFL, show we are in reality closer in performance to a 6 win team than we are to 8. 

 

If Bryce was a FA for another team would we be looking at him? Probably not. He's in the retread and dice roll category. It just so happens we just signed him to the option. There's not a lot of good options out there right now. That's why I'm not in the sign a vet as QB2 club. Bring in a retread or dice roll. Trotting a vet out a couple of games isn't going to get us anywhere long term. 

Who said they were proud of it ? Read what i wrote then come back to me . I said this team is literally trending in the right direction. If they take a step back next year . Get rid of him . If we make the playoffs again now we expecting a win. FYI we should’ve won the playoff game . We were more than competitive and Bryce was a key factor in that game hate it or love it . He’s getting better . I was on the Bryce hate train but it’s so many of yall now, I’ve transfer back to backing him up lol he’s a Panther and I’m rooting for him not against him . 

[rebelrouser]

On 2/27/2026 at 3:41 PM, TheSpecialJuan said:

They can't throw a ton of money around in FA to "make a run now". They need to be intentional about building a solid foundation. (IMO)

Agree with this statement but not the one below which directly contradicts it:

Quote

They need to put pieces around him to do that. Can't be left wondering what he would have looked like with "better OL play" or "more pass catchers". They have to know.

I will say Bryce needs a serviceable LT or we might as well cut him now because he isn't making it through the season.  After we replace the starting LT, it is time to spend some draft capital and free agency money on the D.  

[strato]

1 hour ago, VintagePanther said:

Who said they were proud of it ? Read what i wrote then come back to me . I said this team is literally trending in the right direction. If they take a step back next year . Get rid of him . If we make the playoffs again now we expecting a win. FYI we should’ve won the playoff game . We were more than competitive and Bryce was a key factor in that game hate it or love it . He’s getting better . I was on the Bryce hate train but it’s so many of yall now, I’ve transfer back to backing him up lol he’s a Panther and I’m rooting for him not against him . 

Getting better, might be fairly charitable. We finished 1-3 with the pressure on. That is for sure not trending up.  I don’t see a clear run of performances that prove he has taken it to another level. Not yet. 

I would say he played really well in the WC game. And folded on that last series where we still had a chance. I think he threw one good ball. That last series is the kind of thing a player is supposed to learn from and not repeat. We have to see him do it before we can credit him for doing it. 
 

I would also say he has not done enough of playing at his ceiling and what we should expect as the game in game out norm is still not established. 
We gonna get MNF in SF or we gonna get the WC game? Seattle or Atlanta yardage record?
 

Besides that he has three years of horrendous play to start the season hanging over him. Are we going to get that again or will he be over that? We can’t know that. Mind you, that isn‘t two of three it is three of three he has yet to play well to start the year as a pro. Ofer. 
 

So, many questions remain. 
 

As far as weapons and help… said it before. Fix the OL so we can protect him. 
It is time for a 1.1 pick in his 4th season, third year in the same offense, to elevate the players we have given him. You can’t keep up the level of investment dedicated to propping him up, you have to prop up the defense too and get some balance. 
 

[frankw]

2 hours ago, SmokinwithWilly said:

And our record says we were a losing team that lucked into getting into the playoffs. Playoffs are not our standard because we didn't earn our way in, the Falcons had to do it for us. We also got in because the NFCS sent another losing record team to the playoffs and the Panthers are the only team in the NFL to go twice with a losing record. That's not something to be proud of.

The reason I brought up the 13 and 16 point scores was those are not typically wins most weeks in the NFL. In fact, there were 31 wins this season where the winning team scored under 20. 7 of those happened in week 18. That means this past season, only 11% of the time, the winning team scored under 20. Prior to week 18, that was 9%. Week 18 was a statistical anomaly. 

How often does a team go into the red zone 6 times and come away with 13 points? Not often. GB did and we won that game. And we played a Jets team (0-7 at the time) that was offensively inept. Teams also don't consistently win one score games as often as we did either. Those things tend to balance themselves out the following year. I'm not erasing wins. I'm looking at how this team actually performed during the season. We defied the odds winning 2 games scoring under 20. The record, and the stats across the NFL, show we are in reality closer in performance to a 6 win team than we are to 8. 

 

If Bryce was a FA for another team would we be looking at him? Probably not. He's in the retread and dice roll category. It just so happens we just signed him to the option. There's not a lot of good options out there right now. That's why I'm not in the sign a vet as QB2 club. Bring in a retread or dice roll. Trotting a vet out a couple of games isn't going to get us anywhere long term. 

Some people have been beaten down so long they have no standards. Can't be reasoned with.