Optimism seems a foolish venture for a 4-7 team destined to not only exclude itself from the playoffs, but from the top of the draft as well. Yet, here we are, stuck trying to figure out just what we all watched yesterday with the same confusion we have experienced every other Monday morning this season.
Our wins and our losses feel much the same, coming down to a last minute touchdown or field goal far too often for comfort. The truth is (in case there are still a few of you holding on to this notion) we are not a good team with bad luck. Nor are we an OK team who is getting the short end of the flags from the refs. We aren’t even a bad team with delusions of grandeur. We are, quite simply, a bad team that is bad at being bad.
Blame Rivera for not going for it (again) on 4th and 1 while tied near the end of the 4th quarter. Blame Gettleman for allowing us to enter the season with a fatally flawed roster. Blame injuries, for taking so many key players from us so often. Or, ignore any and all of these excuses and look for the fun in this year’s Panthers. We don’t find agonizing new ways to lose every week, like the Chargers do. We aren’t racing for the top of the draft with a tortoise like efficiency, as the Browns are. Instead, we find a way every week to inspire fans to hope that this week could be the start of our come back, our return to glory, before rolling over like an open mic night comedian laughing too hard during his own jokes to deliver the punch lines. And it is hilarious.
What I liked. . .
Thomas Davis - Very optimistic
Look folks, if you want a reason to keep watching Panther’s football when most of the team is busy fertilizing a community rock garden then Thomas Davis is that reason. This could easily be his last season. This could, at the very least, be his last season playing at a dominant level. Maybe I’m wrong, and Davis turns out to be more bionic man than Frankenstein’s monster, but odds are that the wheels are going to fall of the wagon sooner rather than later. That may sound like a bummer, but it isn’t for next week. Next week we have one of the best players to ever don the Black and Blue suiting up for us. That’s cool as hell and I’m going to enjoy watching him while I can.
Cam’s deep ball - Somewhat optimistic
Look, you can’t praise his whole performance. He was as complete as any Panther, yesterday. But in a season where injuries and frustration have worn down his mechanics, his deep ball has remained a consistent source of offense for the Panthers. Provided, of course, that he has enough time to throw it.
Ted Ginn, Jr. - Somewhat optimistic
He booms. He busts. We know what he is, but lately he does seem to boom more than bust. His second half against the Raiders almost single handedly kept us in the game.
What I didn’t like. . .
Tackling in the secondary - extremely pessimistic
The Raiders gained a lot of yards and scored more than one touchdown because our corners and safeties couldn’t man up and take a running back or wide receiver down on their own.
Special teams - extremely pessimistic
Death, taxes, and the Panthers being bad at special teams. You’d expect even a broken line could block competently on extra point attempts twice a season, but here we are. Add in the bad coverage in the kicking game and you have the perfect storm to inspire Gettleman to go spend all of our FA dollars on ST aces in 2017.
What’s next. . .
What ever you’d like is what is next. Strap yourself in and finish the ride, hoping for each game as its own source of fun? Go right ahead. Think it’s draft season? You’re not wrong. Call your best buddy in Cleveland and start picking nits. The fact is, short of playing spoiler to somebody else’s season (looking at you, Seattle), the 2016 Panthers are no longer relevant to the NFL. As it turns out, that is an OK thing. Having such a dramatic difference in records between two very similar teams in the 2015 and 2016 iterations of the Panthers should force Ron and Dave to confront some of their flaws and mistakes. And, while there is no telling if they will do so effectively, it is the only way we are going to get better. If we do? 2017 could look a lot more like 2015 than this year.