Monday Morning Thoughts: You Are What You Are
The Panthers lost their sixth straight game on Sunday by falling to the New Orleans Saints, 18-10. The loss drops the Panthers to 5-11 on the season as they head into the final week of the season against the defending Super Bowl champion, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who just beat them 32-6 two weeks ago.
The biggest gripe I have with the fan base is saying you want something to happen, it coming to fruition, then wanting to "clean house" afterwards. All I've heard the past couple weeks is they just want to see this team be competitive. Well, they had the ball in their hands at the end of the game to tie things up on the final drive before Sam Darnold threw an interception. I get losing the game is frustrating, but they were in this game from start to finish, a stark contrast from a week ago.
The effort is still there in Week 17 despite having nothing to play for other than pride. All that tells me is the players still believe in Matt Rhule's process, they just don't have the horses to get the job done. I don't understand why some people believe that this team is all of a sudden, in Week 17, going to figure things out offensively and start to trend in the right direction. You are fooling yourself if you have believed this over the last month. Those from the #FireRhule crew always point to Ron Rivera's record in December in his first two seasons in Carolina. What they fail to mention is that Rivera had a much better roster, both offensively and defensively.
Meanwhile, Rhule has the youngest team in the NFL with the average age being 25.4. Not to mention, his best offensive player, Christian McCaffrey has managed to play in just 10 games in two years. The Panthers’ 2021 1st round pick, CB Jaycee Horn, went down in Week 3. Quarterback play has been a real issue, but Sam Darnold missing five games threw a wrench into things as the QB carousel began. And oh yeah, they've had eleven different starting offensive line combinations - ELEVEN. You know, it almost looks like an offense that has issues at quarterback, poor offensive line play, and the best player playing in a grand total of seven games.
What it boils down to is the Panthers have been stuck in a rut since about the middle of the season due to all of the injuries. Yes, injuries happen to every team in the NFL but for Carolina, the margin of error is small and when injuries start to pile up, all you can do is weather the storm the best you can and get to the offseason. This team isn't going to get better until we reach free agency, the draft, and when the trade market opens back up.
Matt Rhule may or may not be the right guy to turn this franchise around, but firing him after two years makes absolutely zero sense. If the same struggles pour over into 2022, then yeah, it's time for Carolina to cut ties.
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