d-dave

Both can be true We can be poop, and a lot of the NFL can be in a similar boat!

I'm back and forth on starting over again. On one hand, what has Dave showed you? The offense isn't anything special. He's not putting his players in position to win. He may have done that when Bryce came back last year, but he's not this year. That's unacceptable coaching. On the other, what is Dave holding back? While we can talk about effort and fight, the players aren't turning on each other (yet). They are fiesty and giving effort. Dave also has Bryce forced upon him, and he's tried. At the same time, Bryce has not been as billed. Would things work better with a more aggressive minded QB? Everything sucks on this team - time to pour baby out with the bathwater and try again. How much more time is this going cost? Is there a redeeming quality about this team that a new coach could come in and build up next year? Who will want to come to the most temperamental owner in the NFL? I can't wait to hear about the meeting of the Daves. I think Canales needs to get this team playing well. No more BS with fundamentals. Get them executing plays on the field. Show me a team that makes plays instead of giving them up. I don't expect 12 wins the rest of the year, but show me some life.

So what is the solution here? I was thinking about it, but how do we get better? I just think it's the Tepper curse. We've been absolute garbage since Tepper came in and fugged it all up. So who would be our next coach then? I'm all on the bring back steve wilks. But would he want to come back?

That's why paper teams never win. It's not about the names, it's about the play. Remember the Eagles dream team like 15 years ago?

Don't you dare pour cold water on hot takes! Now we can't see anything for the steam!? Expecting logic from the Huddle! Ha!

I've noticed that too. It seems like a lot of QBs are having issues getting the ball down the field and have to check it down. As far as the Panthers, I'm not surprised. I've watched it: we're not completing many passes over 20 yards, they all have been coming from Tmac it seems (not looking at the stats). We're not having a lot of explosive runs. It's a Bryce/Canales/Team issue. It's up to them to fix it and make some plays.

So in order for a win to count, Bryce has to throw for 250+ yards and 3 TDs with over 10 YPA? I mean, maybe I'm just happy for a win, and I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. Bryce wasn't great, but he did make some tough throws with rushers in his face. He missed some throws. He also had a lot of throws to Tmac where there was really good coverage. Now there's a LONG season to go. We're not making draft needs in week 3. At the end of the day, the job is up to Bryce. If he produces, wins and plays well; keep him. If not, ship him off. Here's one thing I will say about Bryce: despite his size, the game doesn't look to big for him. Sure, he doesn't have a laser cannon of an arm, but this Bryce is a lot better than the Bryce who started last year. I'm not seeing the deer in headlights when I watch the game. How many more physically gifted QBs are we watching week in and week out panic, make poor decisions and look lost? So that's one SMALL advantage I'll give Bryce. But he has to win. He has to lead the team. He's got to make plays. We'll see what happens.

Huddle gunna Huddle, bup bup bup.

Personally, I've been sitting here going "ok, when does the good feeling go away?" Bryce has missed some throws, but his WRs have had some drops, especially Tmac. But this D has really played well today. That's super impressive!

There was a LOT of green in front of Dowdle.

I'll take it! That's all I'll say!

With all the drama stirred up by Steve Smith's comments, and Cam's response; there's been a lot of chatter about being a fan of the Carolina Panthers. So what should fans do? Just be fans. It's not our job to play or make team decisions. We're fans, and if you're still paying attention: you're still a fan. If it's making you angry or upset, maybe take some time away from the Panthers and the NFL. It's all good, please take care of yourselves.

Ummm.....what??? Tua has had some good years, but whatever is happening in Miami...no thanks. We have our own burning dumpster to keep. No need to add a second one!

Oh yeah, the draft has been a poo show. You are 100% right there. I was thinking about Darnold and Baker. Two guys we traded assets for (would have missed on those picks I bet), sucked while here, and then went on to revive their careers. Since 2018: DJ Moore has had continued and greater (???) success in Chicago. Brian Burns got paid, and seems to be a big deal in NY? Go back a bit: CMC - duh, incredible part time player sadly Curtis Samuel - same ish? James Bradbury - Got paid and played well for several years after Carolina So I don't think we drafted anyone who left and lit the world on fire. More like FA mis-fires.

I remember the days when it would take WRs a few years to figure it out in the NFL... What a time that was! Getting to the point of guys finding success else where after flopping here: patience and a vision. Thanks to Tepper, we haven't been able to develop a vision. Without patience, everything is a reaction. That's not to say sometimes you can tell when a fit it bad and people need to move on. In XLs case, it's not going to hurt us to be patient. Sure, fans see how Tmac is doing and are like "XL who??" I get it, but I also think reacting for the sake of reacting isn't the best thing to do. Should XL get off social media for a bit and focus on the game? Yes. As Cam screamed "Lock in bro!" I know being patient is hard when you see guys get off to fast starts in their careers. Tepper can't really afford to be reactive right now. He's got to let Dan and Dave have the time to build their team. Most of us are Panther fans. We're the idiots here, year after year, hoping things have changed. Most of us will continue to do so, and hope things turn around. While some of us will balk at the salary cap, contracts and wasted years; it doesn't affect us personally since we're just fan. Now for those folks on the teams...yeah...they need to get it together before they lose their jobs and have to move!

Let's enjoy the fun of the season Hopefully we can have a week break from the normal drudgery!

I can't imagine going now. I love my team, and I watch them as I can. But going downtown, paying for parking, food, snacks, drinks, etc inside and outside of the stadium...No thanks!

I don't blame fans. We've had a poo product on the field for a LONG time. The Panthers have been saturating the market with a LOT of hopium this offseason. It doesn't help that the NFL media machine has tagged us as an up and coming team. Why spend your hard earned money on a Panthers game where they are going to look like crap? They need to get better before they'll have some fan by in. What do we hang our hat on? For years, it was Defense, and it was a heck of a D. We don't have that identity right now. It doesn't help having a former Youth Pastor (the way he talks) head coach and a QB who is a physical outlier. Fans are going to fan their own way. But Tepper needs to figure out his own owning style.

Great point! The quotes from O'Connell about teams failing rookie Qbs and the one about how you coach them after 3 picks and a loss were really interesting. To me, an idiot with a keyboard, it means NFL teams need to be patience if they are going to have quality QB play. So bringing me to Bryce, is there some benefit to being patient. I know it's not a particularly popular opinion around here, and even I am having a hard time wrapping my head around it. Most QBs, when benched lose their confidence. It takes a LONG time to get it back. Bryce on the other hand was benched, and came back a different player. I feel like that's worth a lot more than the physical talents of a guys like AR15... I think Bryce has the mental make up to be a good NFL QB. His problem will always be his tools. Now it's on coaching to work around that. Bryce is more physically gifted than late years Drew Brees (low bar, I know). While I'm content to see what happens this season, there's a small part of me that says...maybe we should see what grows? (let me duck and hide from the well earned vitriol the Panthers have earned). Then again, I agree that some guys get it while others just don't. I'm still hoping for the Panthers and Bryce to find success this season. But if not, I won't be too surprised if the plug is pulled and there is a restart.

No. Sorry to burst everyone's bubble. If Hooker is out taking snaps, then THERE IS A MASSIVE issue beyond how poor we've played. Why not? I'm a reactive person! Make changes for the sake of changes! I get it. But why? Because of Bryce and off season trades. First round QBs usually have value, even if they suck. Bryce is the same way. Bryce does have talent, and I could absolutely see some teams in the off season kicking the tires on Bryce. Benching him for a practice squad QB after two weeks will tank his value. May as well release him then. The rest of the team will not be happy, and I don't think anyone wants to deal with that. No one wants to waste a year of time. The guys want to win. It's very possible we do move on from Bryce this off season, but we don't have another option which will help us win. Bryce almost lead an extremely improbable last minute drive. He didn't get it, but the play calling did him no favors. So just drop him and plug in someone who they see in practice who doesn't have the skills to step in? No.

So I had a night to sleep, read about some of the other games, and reflect on what I saw. The first half was just horrific by the Panthers. Heck, I was ready to call it quits completely. The second half was a MUCH better team. The problem was we were down 20-3. That's not a good way to try to get a win. But I will give the Panthers credit for clawing back. Look, it was closer than it should have been. The Panthers have to STOP giving other teams turnovers. Bryce - He did have some really great throws today. He also had two fumbles and a pick. On top of the four from week 1... Dude, this is not acceptable. Bryce is still up and down. Part of it is definitely him. Part of it is the coaching and scheme. The fact there were almost zero plays where they moved the pocket didn't help him at all. Dave - C'mon discount youth pastor. He talks a word salad to avoid throwing his players under the bus. I can appreciate that. But in the meeting room, you have to sit folks down. You also need to call better plays. The last drive was a completely doable drive. Instead, we had the world longest dead drive. We had ONE play out of (20? it felt like 20) that gained yards. What's going on there??? You're supposed to make teams defend every blade of grass, but the entire game was pretty predictable. EJ - I'll give him a few props for breaking the 200 yard rushing streak, and generally holding AZ in check. BUT his D let the Cards march down the end the first half and start the 2nd. For fugs sake - figure it out! Your job is to put these dudes in places to be successful. T-Mac - You are a beautiful Hawaiian god! He's a f'n DUDE! He really had a fantastic game. Much love for T-Mac. XL - Do you need to go eat some raw racoon or something? I know he's enjoying his bumpkin bit, but it's only going to work so long as he is a decent player. Where's the summer XL who was mentioned as a breakout candidate? Have some pride and go get the ball. This is still not a good team. We have some good players sprinkled out there, but we lack talent in a lot of areas. We have to play perfectly to be able to win, which is not sustainable. The coaches need to figure it out.

What I was coming on to say, except Bryce's fumble-6 and pick were pretty back breaking. What was getting me at the end was how there was no plan to move the ball in that last drive. We had 50 yards, and only really moved with penalties. Did anyone have a catch (forgive me, that last drive took 4 hours lol)? For me, I feel less bad since we tried to fight back. Bryce did battle back, BUT he still didn't deliver. Canales did not call a particularly good offensive game. His seat needs to be hot, and I'm find letting Bryce deliver us a new QB and coach.

It's not over. There are plenty of other teams with hopes and dreams. Not us though. Just pain. More pain unless you just let it go. This is a record for me, 6 quarters and I'm done with the season... At least we had summer lol.

Man shoot, I could do that over the summer, but Sunday nights are a no go during the school year for me! Good luck finding more players!

I don't disagree. I'm getting awful tired of watching Bryce Young come out and play poorly. The last half of the season, there was some kind of magic. They couldn't find that this off season I guess. I want my Panthers to be fun to watch, to win, and for all the players (even Young) to do well. If Bryce doesn't succeed off to swing at more QB chances again. Thankfully, it's not my job to fix that. If I were in a leadership position of the team, I'd be having some very frank conversations (and possibly polishing off my resume if the season continues to suck). On the hopium side, I hope that this was just "week 4 of the preseason." Maybe they can get it right next week. It's a nice fantasy until I get bludgeoned in the face by reality