Captroop

Considering we're trying to trade him for more than a bag of chips, how is that bad?

You know, I saw the first drive on the ticker and almost went to the bar to watch the rest. Turns out I was right skipping this one.

One year does not a career make. There's an enormous difference between scrapping together a competent line for one year, and making a concerted effort to ensure the health and longevity of your franchise QB. The only O-Lineman we drafted over the next 3 seasons was Taylor Moton. We didn't draft a guard until the 6th round in 2021 after the Super Bowl. You can't tell me that's making an effort to protect #1.

It's very easy to point the finger elsewhere, but the Panthers bear a LOT of the blame for Cam's abbreviated career. We never adequately attempted (or attempted at all, really) to build an offensive line around Cam. We're still dealing with the aftershocks of that decisions now, because our line has been a liability for going on a decade now.

Yeah, I don't have much to add to what CRA said. I want to see downfield passing. ACCURATE downfield passing. Downfield completions. Not interceptions. Not sailing. Not skipping. That's the only thing he could show me that makes me have hope. But likewise, I expect I'll actually see a bunch of outlets, dump offs, screens, and five-yard hooks.

How the hell are you playing Moneyball in a league with a salary cap?

Cornerstone of the roster traded for pick to be squandered at a later date.

This. I don't think anyone would fault the organization for missing on Bryce if we'd taken him number 1 overall. Misses happen. We'd be salty, for sure, considering we could have had Stroud. But we'd get over it. But you simply cannot trade your first round pick, next year's first round pick, the following year's second round pick, and your #1 wide receiver for a player who isn't a consensus #1 overall generational QB. ESPECIALLY if the guy you're giving all that up for doesn't look like a prototypical NFL QB. I've never seen, and I hope I never experience again, such a franchise-derailing move. This wasn't a setback. This was a collapse.

We're horrific. But we didn't go ohfer so we can't be the worst ever. By any metric, you can't be the worst ever if you actually won a game. But in all my time watching, I can say this is handily the worst Panthers team I've ever seen fielded.

Haven't changed my avatar for 3 years. He was never the problem here, as the last 3 starting QBs and 4 head coaches have shown. I was 100% in favor of sticking with Sam and trying to build around him, but I knew this short-sighted fanbase would want to bail after 1 bad year. So I proposed starting Dam Sarnold who was just Darnold with Groucho Marx glasses. But no. We'll just keep spinning the roulette wheel every year on QBs and coaches. Eventually that strategy is sure to work. After all, the definition of sanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, right?

No, we can blame Ian Thomas for sucking at the one thing he's supposed to not suck at.

Jesus Christ. Every time it's Ian Thomas.

Damn, Wooten! Jayden won't make friends in the locker room laying his receivers out like that. Overall, good stand by the D

Remember when we had a running QB? Those were good times.

Hard disagree. He was an outstanding player, but he was a luxury we didn't really need. He was in on 99% of our offensive snaps. That just goes to show he was the only good piece of a wildly dysfunctional team. And as Derrick Henry has shown, a game-changing RB is the missing piece on an already really good team, but not something you can build a team around. If we'd had a competent GM, we would have gotten better compensation for him, and people would never question the pick. But if he'd stuck around, you'd have either seen him make business decisions regularly, if not already have been broken down by overuse and mishandling. Trading DJ Moore on the other hand...

If Canales wants Evero on his staff, I hope he sticks around. The defense has been garbage, but as has been pointed out, the talent on defense, especially after the injuries is garbage. I'd actually like to see some coaching consistency for a change. And Evero is still a very bright defensive mind. He's not to blame 100% for the defensive poo show we're putting on tape, and I think it would be a mistake to jettison one of the most interesting minds in the game because of a bad season from a bad team.

All of this. Derrick Brown is arguably the best player on our entire roster. You lose him, your starting OLB, your starting safety, and your secondary is mostly guys you picked up from the waiver wire after the pre-season cut-downs. This defense has almost no opportunity to be good, because it's incomplete. We should absolutely bulk it up in the off-season, but to look at our defense on paper and say it's light years away is unfair. We didn't even get the opportunity to see Evero's defense on paper. But 100%, 1,000% do not chase QB this year. We have so many holes. The last thing we need is our Sixth different starting QB in as many years. It should have been glaringly obvious around QB #3 or 4 that QB was not the issue and we have huge problems all over. And every swing and a miss on QB is another missed opportunity to address a position of need. Andy is a good-enough QB for a re-building team. And that's exactly what we need right now.

I have to say, I like the fighting spirit. The team has been absolutely decimated by injuries, and yet we saw a game that was within reach until we decided to hang our hopes and fortunes on Ian Thomas. You've got a lot of PS pickups, waiver wire snags, and depth players stepping up and doing their best to contribute. Will it be a winning effort most times? No, probably not. They're bench-warmers for a reason. But they're certainly trying to make a game of it. I like to see Andy smiling and having fun, but then get big mad on the sideline. He's clearly not in this for a paycheck. You can hardly get mad that a team that squandered its future on Bryce Young, lost it's best player on defense week 1, and is starting depth players at almost every position has only 1 win at this point in the season. But I think I can see the hazy outline of a winning culture forming. And it simply has to be said, I think we have an RB of the future to build around in Chuba Hubbard. He's rapidly going from a lunch pail contributor, to a legitimate star. That's not something I was expecting.

In his defense, the target was Thomas.

fug yeah Dalton! Good clock management

Coker should be out WR2 every week

One thing that is so clear from watching that video, and it's hard to explain what exactly this means, but you know what it looks like when it's not there: Andy Dalton just looks like he belongs on an NFL field. It's his rapport with both his teammates and his competitors. It's the way he reacts to things going well, and things going badly. It's the way he effortlessly encourages his teammates on the sideline. It doesn't look like he's hyping his team because that's his job. It just looks like it's his nature. He looks like he's in his element when he's playing the game.

One of the most fascinating ordeals in the history of the forum. Right up there with pink flaps.

THIS! And I'll take it a step further. There is no reason for a "win now draft pick." That kind of flawed thinking is how we got in this mess in the first place. We need talented pieces. Multiple. Many, arguably. And they don't all hit. We need enough to hit that as some prove to be misses, we're still adding good building blocks for a complete roster in the future. That means not taking big swings on flashy players who we think will "complete our roster." Odds are, they won't and it just leaves us with lack of talent and depth elsewhere. Draft BPA. Draft TALENT. Because odds are, what we think is the "missing piece" now, won't be when we're actually in a position to contend. But you never get hurt by having talented players on your roster regardless of the position.

The fact that we have posters unironically talking about the playoff tells you all you need to know about the mood of this place under Andy's stewardship. And I don't disagree. The NFC South is definitely up for grabs. There are teams in this division that I worry about getting a head of steam, or they'll run away with it before we find our stride. But it seems like most are happy to stumble as soon as they look like they're about to build momentum (Carolina included). The truth is, I don't even really care about the playoffs this year. My expectations were so low for this season that I can't even pretend to be disappointed if we missed them. The important thing is, I woke up this morning, and I can't wait for Sunday. I'm excited to watch the Panthers play. I'm excited to root for our guys. I'm proud to rock my Panthers kit at the bar. I cheer - loudly even though I'm the only Panthers fan at the bar - when they do something right. I pound the table when the team makes a mistake or the other team scores. I'm not just shrugging my shoulders, rolling my eyes, chuckling ruefully, or not even noticing because I'm looking at my phone. I woke up this morning and I realized I care. That's the first time I've felt that way in over a season, maybe more. And I bet I'm not alone. That alone is reason for us to feel optimistic.