The Panthers Are In Hell
Two seasons ago after a dismal week 1 and a Dak injury I made this comic about the Dallas Cowboys. It would not age well, as Cooper Rush kept the team afloat just fine until Dak came back, and the Cowboys playoff season was barely affected in the long run. So I write this post with the understanding that this is still just week 1 reacting and that there is a chance the Panthers figure it out and this week does not reflect the actual way things go down the road.
But boy does it sure feel like Carolina is in absolute hell.
There weren’t high expectations entering the year for the Panthers. New Coach (for like, the 8th time in 2 years), a gutted roster, no Brian Burns anymore, Bryce Young’s struggles being so rough that it would need quite an improvement to fix. This was a year that really only needs a few steps forward to feel worthwhile. Instead they came out against the Saints and looked worse than ever.
Bryce Young is confounding, honestly. He is, unless something changes VERY fast, maybe the worst #1 QB pick I’ve ever witnessed. He might be saved from the top slots by folks like Russell or Leaf simply because the rookie wage scale keeps him cheaper than those guys were. But Young’s failure is simply confusing to me. Russell was talented but lazy moron. Leaf had major mental issues. Other massive QB busts like Lance have an extreme lack of experience to blame. Bryce doesn’t appear to be a headcase or a problem child. His IQ and his maturity were frequently cited as his strengths in the draft process. His only major knock was his small frame. But he’d been very successful and played very well at Alabama, against quality college competition. But Young on the Panthers looks like he doesn’t even belong on a football field. I have no idea how it has gone so wrong. It doesn’t really make any sense. What the hell is wrong with him? Is he stupid?
Dave Canales is a first-time head coach and he got utterly embarrassed by Dennis Allen. Canales was brought on specifically because he helped Baker Mayfield mature in Tampa. His story has been a big deal, he’s a hyper-optimist who found Jesus after a life of sin and addiction. He’s already had to meet with Tepper after week one’s blowout to discuss “the state of the organization“. Canales is probably safe for the year even if things stay bad simply because I think even Tepper knows how bad it would look to fire another coach that fast. But never say never. If this team looks Saints Game bad all year, who knows.
Derrick Brown is out for the year already. The team is already woefully untalented and this just makes things worse.
But we all know the real albatross circling above this discussion. The problem that one season will not solve. The black mold infestation poisons the walls. The bed bugs that force you to burn your house down to get rid of. It’s Tepper. The worst owner in the NFL. There he sits, on his mountain of shit, at the top of this franchise. He leaks corn laced diarrhea down upon everyone below. The fans. The staff. Random people who wear hats he doesn’t like. If Bryce is a failure (and he sure looks like one!) the team can draft a new QB at season’s end. If Canales is a failure they can hire a new coach. Everyone can be replaced. Except the cancer himself. It feels like Snyder all over again. No matter what positive steps this franchise takes there he is, worming his slimy sweaty hands into the mess, making everything worse. He might make a few decent decisions from time to time but he will still find a way to involve himself and make things fall apart.
I don’t know what is ahead for this franchise. It probably won’t be as bad as game 1 was down the stretch. But that is such a deep hole to climb out of with very little help in sight. Honestly, maybe Panthers fans should take the year off.
Dave at the end there it sounded personal, did Tepper take your hat?
Tepper shall suffer for eternity in nogoloth, his eyes will be full of pulsating maggots for choosing young over stroud.
As a panthers fan (they are my second team followed by rams, lions and Texans) I feel the pain and basically have taken the year of because how much the suck I even said they should draft stroud and they didn’t. They chose this path of shitty football.
Last year it was easier to displace blame from Bryce because the o-line was awful, the receivers were worse, and Frank Reich was running a scheme that was outdated half a decade ago.
But Sunday was just rough. People were getting open, the o-line was blocking, and somehow Bryce Young was missing open passes and bailing clean pockets.
Dave Canales was also the QB coach for Geno Smith during his Cinderella, writing-back, comeback player of the year run. Given how both Geno and Baker are relatively fine in Canales’ absence I’m convinced that Canales wasn’t that much of an influence over their successes.
This comic describes me as a Giants fan last Sunday as well. I still have some hope too as it’s only week 2, but I’ve got the towel ready to throw after week 3 if we continue to look terrible.
Last season, young was sacked like, I think the 3rd most in the league. The o-line is a major problem and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s shell shocked. Not to mention the panthers traded away the guy that would’ve been his top target. Now he has bad oline, no weapons to speak of. Very few guys would succeed in that kind of environment.
I’ve been lucky with my football fandom, but in other sports I follow I know from experience: two years like this in a row will absolutely cost a team fans, even if only in the sense that fewer people will be shelling out cash on tickets, merch, etc. Yeah they will still say they are fans of the team, and may even buy their kid a tee shirt at Christmas. But that’s all they will do. No one will be buying 200+ dollar jerseys, or saving in other areas to pay for tickets and concessions.
I’ve seen how empty the White Sox stadium has gotten as a Chicago resident. Southsiders still wear their hats, but they aren’t buying new ones.
I’m not saying Young isn’t bad, but the Panthers as an organization are. I believe that starts at the top and rushes down like an avalanche, destroying anything in its path. Young obviously had a great college situation. Coming into an organization that was so vastly different with little good about it, the dude’s confidence is probably shot and may already be irrepairable. Hopefully things improve as the season goes on.
I’m not gonna say Dennis Allen himself outcoached Canales though. The Saints offense was basically run by Klint Kubiak, who for all we know might be the next Kyle Shanahan. I think it’s more likely that the Saints offense improved that much as opposed to the Panthers getting that much worse. We’ll see though.
Also, no one expected Stroud to be as good as he was last year. It’s easy to say he’s good now but Ohio State QB’s have had a bad rep for a long time so there had to be a lot of people who were just hoping he would be solid. He far exceeded that. And the Texans as a franchise completely turned their culture around practically overnight. They built a good foundation for a rookie coach and QB to succeed in. I’m pretty sure Tom Brady and Joe Montana in their prime couldn’t pull the Panthers to a winning season.
For stroud specifically, lots of people’s issue is more that it’s p much known that the FO wanted him and tepper didn’t, so the fact it did turn out that way just makes meddlesome tepper look even worse. It would’ve been more tolerable for the FO to have been allowed to take stroud and he sucked than what actually happened, for me anyway.
Ive got some bad news for you Dave, interested in the numbers I did a quick google search and some math:
-Caleb Williams is getting 39,5m over 4y fully guarenteed (255m total capspace)
-Bryce Young is getting 37,9m over 4y fully guarenteed (225m total capspace)
-Whoever goes first in the next draft will be the first rookie QB to get +40 million
-JaWalruss on the other hand signed a 68m/6y contract with only 31m guaranteed (109m total capspace)
Granted, that was back in 2007 and inflation and yadayadayada. Point being, Russell didnt get 68m, he got 31, divide that by contract length and you got ~5,17m per year for 4,74% of the 2007 cap. Meanwhile Young is getting 9,5/y or 4,22% of the 2023 cap. So Young isnt quite in JaWalruss territory yet in % terms of total cap but he will actualy make ~7 million more (again, ignoring inflation here) Again, point being, the first overall pick isnt actualy all that cheap anymore
Really captured the slow descent into unfathomable horror that the quarter felt like. bravo dave