BrianS

He's 44 actually.

This is the real problem. Whether Rhule has or had a plan is irrelevant. He's had three offseasons now to stamp his brand on this team and we still have no identity.

No he doesn't. He has a bit of a head start, that's all. QB is not our problem. It never was. It's an excuse for the team having no identity.

Quarterback is not our problem. Teams with lesser QB's are finding ways to win. The Falcons put up 27 on the Rams with Marcus Mariota at QB. The Cowboys score 20 with Cooper Rush. The Browns scored 30 with Brissett. Honestly tired of the excuse that QB is our problem. Rivera won five games with Kyle freaking Allen as his starting QB. I'm not saying we're going deep in the playoffs with Baker as our QB. I'm not sure Baker is the guy. But he's not the reason we are where we are.

Lack of identity? That is 1000% on the coaches. (And JStew is right) Players not sure of their assignment? That's on the coaches. (Once again, correct) Even the part about needing that veteran leadership? That's on the coaches and FO staff. (Yep again) I understand the coaches can't play the game for the players, but when so many things are wrong, it does need to go back to the person in charge.

This is actually a good shout. Don't burden McAdoo or Wilkes / Snow with the HC role.

Disagree. Any time you defense gives up 19 points, you gotta expect your offense to keep you above water. At 19 points per game, our defense would have ranked fourth in scoring defense last year. I don't hold much to yardage defense, but scoring defense is a stat that matter. Likewise, on offense, scoring fewer than 19 points would have made you one of the bottom 7 teams in the league. I feel like our defense did fine, and our offense crapped the bed.

I mean . . . I'd rather see Jameis than Dalton. Dalton actually takes care of the ball pretty well.

It's a theme around here. Both Rhule seasons have featured teams that were 3-2 after five games. Both Rhule teams have gone on to win only two more in each season. I'm terrified history may repeat itself. We claw our way to 3-2 giving Rhule some relief from the hot seat.

That depends entirely upon which metric you judge by. The Panthers would like you to believe they had the #2 defense in the league last year, because according to yards given up, they were that. In the measure that actually translates into wins - scoring defense - we were 20th. Figure out which number best suits you. In all fairness, you'd expect to win games where you give up less than 20 points.

Actually, he has not. Seifert won 16 in three years.

The Panthers are in the midst of the worst four season run in their history. I would like some reason to be hopeful. Please, help me see it.

I would go so far as to say he was ROY when they had him closer to the line.

That's not exactly true. Everyone complained because we overpaid for LB's under Rivera.

AFC West is going to be a great watch for years with Herbert and Mahomes there.

I think you're right, at least as far as PFR is concerned. I always thought 4QC was taking the lead with a score in the 4th quarter, and GWD was taking the lead and subsequently winning. Nevertheless, it was nice to see our offense take the ball down and score in the 4th. It's been a long time.

I gotta be honest, if that happens it will almost serve us right. He's made 60/65 (92%) kicks since getting out of Carolina.

To be fair, that game will go down as a 4QC for Baker. We did take the lead. Our defense and the refs simply conspired to hand it back.

Pass on Leftwich. He hasn't proven anything as a coach. He worked under Arians - twice. That's it. He may one day be a good candidate, but he's not shown anything yet.

Wow, great insight. Rhule is a bad coach, WE ALL GET IT. That doesn't excuse the officiating. I don't care if Chip Kelly is on the sideline. The officiating needs to be right. It wasn't. It's an issue.

I don't understand why the officiating isn't considered a problem by either John or Billy. Their argument is that the Panthers shouldn't have let it be that close. Ok, fair enough. However, what if both teams had played out of their minds - a great game. Then that call gets made at the end and the Panthers lose. Is it a problem then? Officials need to be held accountable. The rule in question is actually pretty clear, and it wasn't called the way it was written. Had it been called that way, you're faced with the prospect of a rookie kicker making an NFL record field goal. I'll take that. My point here is that the performance of either team should not impact the officiating. Whether a team is performing well or poorly, the officiating should be the same.

We as Panthers nation owe Andy Reid a debt of gratitude for trading up and taking Patrick Mahomes. Having that guy in our division for 15 years would have been a nightmare. And yea, Payton sounds like a quality NFL coach. We should try one of those around here sometime. It'd be novel.

Skin color is irrelevant. Results are relevant. Yes, Rhule needs to go. Bienemy is not the answer.

These are not mutually exclusive. Our coaching can suck and the refs can cost us the game. Both can be true.

If you use him effectively early and establish him as a threat, his value as a decoy also increases. Running him up the gut isn't a great way to establish him as as a threat. I don't know why it's so hard to understand or figure out. Get him the ball in space and let him do his thing.