The Carolina Panthers are stuck in a land of crappy options. This team is learning in mid-October just how devastating the roster problems from May really are. Sunday was a complete and unmitigated disaster, and following the blowout loss to Green Bay we are approaching the time that heads might roll. At least the season won't be boring.
Cam Newton played his worst game of the season on Sunday, and you know what? He still wasn't the problem. The box score is ugly, the film is uglier -- but a quarterback can't be expected to play behind an offensive line of UDFAs and castoffs. Couple that with Clay Matthews dominating Byron Bell every snap and it was a horrible situation.
The issue isn't even Mike Shula, not really. He was saddled with a terrible offensive line that is greatly hampering his ability to run a ball control offense. One problem he did have on Sunday was falling back into bad habits. It's almost as if getting Jonathan Stewart back into the rotation was the worst kind of safety blanket he could have. A week after winning through turning the show over Newton, the Panthers went back to their standard, conservative offense that simply doesn't work behind a terrible offensive line.
Stewart wasn't terrible, but he wasn't good either. It was all such a mess.
Offensively the Panthers were a train wreck, defensively it was a dumpster fire. I'll buy that Dave Gettleman didn't really have any good options this offseason. I'll entertain the idea that a poor salary cap situation paired with lost players caused a vacuum for which there wasn't a good solution. That said, talent evaluation is supposed to be Gettleman's strong suit, and every free agent signing the Panthers made this offseason was been an mistake outside of Jerricho Cotchery and Jason Avant.
On Sunday a trio of aging defensive backs showed precisely why they were let go from their previous teams. It was uncanny how Antoine Cason, Roman Harper and Thomas DeCoud each found a way to fail in succession with machine-like precision. I've never seen anything quite like it. Sure you might see one guy having a bad day, but on every passing play one of these three was doing something wrong.
And then there's Charles Godfrey.
Man, I don't even know what to say about Charles Godfrey. In all honesty, I kind of feel bad for the guy. Here's why: Charles Godfrey cannot tackle. He's never been able to tackle. Throughout his career he's been the guy who plays the ball well in the air, but too often takes bad angles to runners and is in love with delivering the big hit, rather than sensibly wrapping up.
Godfrey has never been a cover corner in the NFL, but he is now -- for some reason. I'd hoped the switch might work, but it's been devastating so far. He simply can't do it. Putting him in the slot against team's fastest and most-elusive wide receivers is just unfair. He's being exposed and made to look foolish every down and getting all the flack for being the same guy he's always been.
The Panthers have hit a dangerous zone on defense where Luke Kuechly is needed to be transcendent every single play. He's the league's best linebacker, of that there's no question, but asking him to take over the defense like Cam Newton can on offense is unrealistic. Linebackers simply can't always be in the position to influence every single snap, which was one of the criticisms about selecting him so high in the draft. A great linebacker can be a game-changer, but not a player who can take over a game.
Kuechly had a rough day against the Packers, insofar that eight tackle afternoon is a "rough day" for him. The ejection was one of the most ridiculous calls I've ever seen, and while the NFL will likely uphold the referees decision it's utter stupidity that an official can inject himself into a non-essential situation, then assume the player is going after him when it's clear Kuechly thought a member of the Green Bay offense was hanging on his back.
Another loss or two like that and we'll see a firing. Now it's a matter of predicting who. With John Ramsdell waiting in the wings on offense the obvious choice is Mike Shula, and while he may not deserve it, he will be the most deserving if it means dropping one of the Panthers' big three.
What I liked...
Garbage time -- Not sure how to feel
Enjoying weird late-game moments when nobody cares is like trying to see in the good in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Which is to say I'd rather hide in a lead-clad refrigerator.
Two nice moments came from hucking the ball around when the game was over: It padded Kelvin Benjamin's stats which will help his quest for offensive rookie of the year, and it was really sweet to see Brenton Bersin get his first NFL touchdown.
Greg Olsen -- Extremely Optimistic
It took far too long for the offense to start running through Olsen, but when it did he was unstoppable. The only question: Why was he only targeted eight times? Granted, that's a lot but consider Cotchery was also targeted eight times and Jason Avant five. There comes a point where playcalling and the quarterback need to see the hot hand.
The game ending -- That was nice
Yes, it was.
What I didn't like...
Pretty much everything else -- Soul-crushingly pessimistic
This roller coaster is too much to bear. Just when I think the Panthers aren't terrible they slap my wrist for having faith, then when I underestimate them they pop back up for no apparent reason. Green Bay always had a better offense than Cincinnati, but they were categorically worse on defense.
There's no excuse for the offense to struggle the way it did after getting a roadmap to success a week earlier. Just keep riding Cam Newton and let him put the team on his back. Of course this is made more difficult when he has over 1,000 pounds of dead weight offensive linemen on his shoulders too.
God I hate saying "I can't wait for the offseason," but seriously it's going to be nice for this team to have some salary cap space and the ability to actually plug these holes with halfway decent players.
Next week...
It's the Seahawks, which would be terrifying except they lost to St. Louis. This either means Seattle isn't nearly as good as people expected, or they fell into a trap game, which means they will blend the Panthers into a fine mush.