KSpan

Nah. I was a very hardcore fan since 1995 until the Rhule/Tepper era just squashed it all... much more of 'just friends' at this point, but it does help objectivity when looking at the state of things. Tepper and the team need to show it on the field.

Foreman is a replacement-level player whose limited skills can be amplified in more traditional power running games like Carolina ran last year, but who is a poor fit/has very narrow value of any for most NFL schemes today. Sucks for him, but is the reality.

They immediately bumped him to free safety and stunted his growth. Maybe his rookie year was a flash in the pan no matter what but spending 2 years shoehorned into an unnatural position is not helpful, and he's still out of position this year. Dude needs to be a 4-3 SS/ Thomas Davis Joker-type player.

Takes me back to the days of Teddy's inner circle, if not Teddy himself, being here on the boards arguing with us. Teddy also got busted having a social media, and I'm sure it's a very common thing overall.

I think the biggest thing in this case was the size and value of the offer moreso than the fact that there was one. Turning down that many high picks sends a pretty clear message.

Agree 100% with the bold - the team has zero leverage here and hasn't since the trade was declined.

I'm saying that Burns aggressively pursuing that top dollar can lead to a negative perception with some fans, as with any other player on any other team. It's not necessarily right or fair but is what it is, and it definitely sparks conversations about a player's perceived value.

Burns, as good a pass rusher as he is at times, has been one-dimensional and not made plays at critical times his entire career. This has been discussed for years and is just more prominent now given the contract spotlight. Burns should go for all he can get, sure, but it can make things contentious for fans that put the team over the individual players that come and go.

No, this is a situation where it was a clear risky divergence from obvious need/largest benefit and it's now losing all ROI due to the injuries. If it was Slater that Carolina drafted and was getting hurt a la Otah it would still be unfortunate but the logic and basis of the pick would still have made it the right decision based on information at the time. This is similar to them taking Fletcher instead of Trey Smith, where no one could say Smith would be as good as he is but it was absolutely a smarter pick than taking Fletcher even if Smith ended up flopping like Fletcher did. No hindsight needed.

Nowhere did I say they didn't need a corner. They did. However, the team needed offensive linemen even worse, particularly after they took an entire draft's worth of defense the year before that included 4 DBs. Slater was there. He should have been the pick. Pass rush can mask a secondary, but much harder to mask a bad line. See: 2013 Panthers. Also, nowhere did I say that he was injury prone in college, because he wasn't. I said it was unfortunate how it is turning out, a reality where he has missed half of possible games and was already hurt in camp. It's unfortunately not a surprise at this point, regardless of what a given injury is. Regarding Fitterer, I said the team is accountable, not him specifically. I suspect the pick was heavily influenced, if not outright made, by Rhule. The objectively and predictably poor free agent OL signings of that offseason had Rhule's fingerprints all over them and he likely felt he could lean further into the defense.

It was arguably a bad pick at the time simply due to team needs, and it's now compounding by his lack of availability. The team is accountable for the former, and the latter just makes it appear that much worse.

Burns being the best player on the team says as much, if not more, about the rest of the team then it does him. And you just keep right on going, so feel free to keep smh-ing at yourself as well.

Exactly - Thielen as a mentor and role player, not someone being relied upon to produce WR2/WR1 numbers. Might be expecting too much of him at this point.

Then you must not have watched most of the second half. They were not good enough, like the rest of the team. Still plenty of weeks to improve and I expect it will.

You are the one claiming Atlanta could 'pin their ears back' but it was a 1-possession game for most of the second half and they collapsed. It was not a complete performance and not good enough, therefore was not a 'great game'. Pointing that out is not prohibitive of also acknowledging that the receiver gets sucked, Young was a young QB in his first NFL game ever, and the play calling was suspect. I'm sorry, but it's this kind of nonsense that keeps Carolina in mediocrity. They were decent but not good enough, and the OL can improve just like everyone else.

That's what happens when someone wants to be top-paid. It's not hating, it's simply a high standard - big money requires big performance and gets big scrutiny. I have nothing more to say here. The reality is that unless he improves he is the type of player that will either be surrounded other stars and benefit or else will ultimately hamstring a team by not making true impact plays when it counts most while eating a lot of cap. It is what it is and today was that exact situation, a repeat of the past 4 seasons. This game was not out of reach and he vanished/got bowled over in the second half when a play was needed. I hope he takes that step but today wasn't it. Let's see what happens next week.

Who blamed him for losing? Just saying he didn't stand out when it mattered most. Not all stats are created equal, and it would be less of a point if it wasn't a 4+ season phenomenon.

But I was told TMJ and Mingo were the second coming of Rice and Taylor.

Oh please. OL play breaking downright when they are needed most is not playing well. I'm not saying things can't/won't improve, but today was not good overall. KnOw FoOtBaLl BeFoRe PoStInG.

"Before they were a problem they weren't a problem"

OL wasn't an issue? Bryce was sacked 4 times and harassed almost every play In the second half. It absolutely was a problem.

2 scores down and no visible urgency or extra energy. Wat.

Just get away from the ball you moronic punt returner.

Sure could've used some Burns presence in the second half, eh? I like him but it's a common theme, unfortunately.