Dear Mr. Richardson,

It is with a somewhat heavy heart that I write to you today.  This whole year has been terribly frustrating to us, as it must also be for you.  In the Carolinas, we set the bar high for our team.  We expect great things out of the Panthers year in and year out and the cloud of dejected resentment that permeates throughout the region is only a product of fierce desire to see the successful team we all believe the Panthers can be...

But this has got to stop.

As sad as it is to say, the Panthers this year simply are not contenders in anything but the wrong kind statistical of statistical record holders.  Barely competitive, we have limped our way into a 1-6 record behind an impressive defensive framework that is on the field too long, an offensive coordinator that cannot find ways to get our playmakers involved, and a head coach that is looking past this season for his next job.  But it's not just the coaches who are at fault here. The team struggles because everyone from the coaches to the front office to the players can shoulder the blame.  And maybe, just maybe, the fan expectations were too high for easily the youngest team in the league.

The complications with the Panthers are deep and profound.  I don't believe anyone expected this season to be so terribly bad.  It's more than just passing up on a few WR signings and cutting a few aging veterans (although those would certainly help now).  In fact, many of the offseason moves or expectations have simply backfired.  And I could list them, one by one, and outline the struggles we're having and why.  But that won't solve the problem and that won't change my expectations.

And at the end of the day, my expectations for the team are going to carry over to you.  I expect you to do something, say something, to explain the situation that we all find ourselves in today.  I'm not asking you to fix the problems now because many of them (hiring a new head coach, for example), can't be solved until the season ends, but something must be done now to show that this team has a course and a direction and that we will have something to look forward to next year.

Signed,

~B. Sweeney, the aceofsween