Icege

The defense looked a lot better than expected and trended up while Bridgewater trended down. That much is certain. However, they also played their roles in the team's losses this season as much as people want to put that blame on one player that replaced their favourite. I'm very interested to see what the defense looks like this season with a full year under its belt.

Blame Game: Who's at fault for Panthers late game failures? Gamebooks Raiders - Defense gave up a scoring drive just before to force the Panthers into a game winning drive situation. The above article shows how the offensive drive was an amalgamation of issues Bears - Was never in a position to lead and somehow the defense couldn't stop the Bears' offense? Saints - Defense stepped up and kept the team in the game. No arguments here. Falcons - Was on the field for literally an entire quarter combined in the 2nd half as ATL effortlessly marched downfield. Chiefs - Defense once again was the let down. Offense kept up, but the defense started the 2nd half allowing the Chiefs to march downfield and miss a field goal, then score three TDs, and then "stepped up" when the team now needed two scores due to the defense not being able to hold up? Vikings - The defense gave up a TD with 50sec to go to give the Vikings a 1pt lead. Offense drove downfield and Slye missed the game winning field goal Broncos - Drew Lock was 21 of 27 for 280yds, 4 TDs, and 149.5 rating. Packers - Score was 21-3 after the first half and the moment that the Panthers got in striking distance (21 - 13) only for the defense to give up 3pts after a 10 play, 5:00 drive that went 42yds to make it 24-13 with 3:39 left in the game. The defense didn't step up: the Packers dialed it back. Teddy isn't the long term answer and I don't think you can find any sane individuals that would say otherwise, but to sit there and put a majority of the losses on him while misrepresenting the defense's contribution to those losses is something else.

This. Between the upcoming free agent group, draft class, and reduced salary cap I'm honestly surprised that Curtis would want to test the market.

The list (minus the summaries): 1. OT Taylor Moton, unrestricted free agent 2. WR Curtis Samuel, unrestricted free agent 3. DL Efe Obada, restricted free agent 4. G John Miller, unrestricted free agent 5. TE Chris Manhertz, unrestricted free agent 6. OT Trent Scott, restricted free agent 7. G Chris Reed, unrestricted free agent 8. LS J.J. Jansen, unrestricted free agent 9. LB Julian Stanford, unrestricted free agent 10. WR Brandon Zylstra, restricted free agent 11. RB Mike Davis, unrestricted free agent 12. WR Keith Kirkwood, restricted free agent 13. CB Rasul Douglas, unrestricted free agent 14. CB Corn Elder, unrestricted free agent 15. FB Alex Armah, unrestricted free agent 16. WR Pharoh Cooper, unrestricted free agent 17. LB Adarius Taylor, unrestricted free agent 18. OL Tyler Larsen, unrestricted free agent 19. OL Michael Schofield, unrestricted free agent 20. OT Russell Okung, unrestricted free agent 21. LB Tahir Whitehead, unrestricted free agent

At the same time, there doesn't have to be intentional obtuseness to the outright screaming people are doing for a QB, complete with implying that it would have been the difference between the Panthers winning those close games that they were in (meanwhile, The Riot Report put together a helpful article detailing "the blame game" in regards to those losses) and contending for a championship. Nobody will debate that QB isn't the most important position on the field. That isn't the issue. The issue is that some are all for selling the farm to get a QB (regardless of mileage on them) just to not have Bridgewater anymore. There is no attention paid to the salary cap and other position groups, which are incredibly lacking. That's the issue, and to pretend that that hasn't been happing is uninformed at best, intentionally misleading at worst. When you've got the same people popping into every QB thread making the same complaints about last season's starter (while at the same time ignoring their incredibly bad takes on Justin Herbert being Blaine Gabbert 2.0, Cam Newton not being a "true" NFL QB, CMC being a slot WR, etc) the narrative becomes pretty clear: who cares that we only have 3 (bad) starters on the OL next year, a QB is what is keeping us from the postseason. Like... that cannot be further from the truth.

tb100 so long as they're looking at giving Hurts an actual shot and not marching him out there to get sacrificed for the rebuild, I'm on board with the move. That Wentz contract is atrocious.

With Wentz being traded here soon, are you sure that him not liking Pederson was why Pederson was fired? @SOJASame

I have been explicitly told that Carolina chose to sign Shaq Thompson instead of James Bradberry and that it's Shaq's fault that both teams are not in the postseason. Surely, the $50M+ in dead cap space had no effect whatsoever on that...

Wild how some people hate this dude so much they can't even see a thread where he receives an award without dogging on him.

Really, really excited about the new way of approaching talent, especially the way players are viewed 18 - 50. That was the window we typically saw Hurney chase a player that he had fallen in love with, meanwhile Fitterer says, "All of these dudes are basically the same" and opts to move back. At the same time, if there's a proven player that can help the team, they're going after them. We're going from chasing that 1 superstar to almost get them to the postseason to acquiring as much talent (or proven talent) as possible to consistently get to the postseason. Let's fn gooo!!

People seem to be forgetting this when they whine this offseason. This team needs more than just a QB before it can hope to contend. It's almost like they don't care that the rookie contracts allow the team to be built up so that a young QB can come in and be carried until the team sees whether or not they'll carry the team themselves which will allow the team to reflect that in the way that they allocate resources.

Not firing Marty Hurney at the start was definitely the most disappointing move.

Getting reeeaaal close to it since he has a $35M salary in 2022. Drops to $20M in 2023 but then hikes back up to $32M the two seasons after (roster bonus is covered by the old team, correct? Or is that not covered like signing bonuses?)

The Huddle has taught me that OLs don't matter, only franchise QBs do. Because Joe Thomas couldn't get Dan Marino a Super Bowl ring, or something like that. But fwiw the OL can be held together by retaining Moton and getting two cheap Gs. While Scott isn't a franchise LT, he did better than Little. Speaking of Little, Walker Little might be available in the 3rd and a replacement to free up cash from Paradis can definitely be found in this year's draft.

I will say tho, if the team pulls it off, that I cannot WAIT for the Huddle accountants to start screaming that because Watson is getting $40M+ in 2022 & 2023 that every throw should be a TD otherwise he "isn't worth it."

Yes pls HOU gets their x3 1sts, QBs swapped, and Carolina still gets a 3rd & 4th at the cost of a 2nd? Inject it directly into my veins

Cut him and draft his replacement this year. There are some pretty decent looking prospects.

I was about to say... The Defector makes Jason Whitlock look like he knows what he's talking about.

And an entire offensive line, unless you're cool with Greg Little, Dennis Daley, and Matt Paradis.

Announcers praising Rhule's attention to detail for every position group and compared him to Bellichick in his ability to stand in as a position coach at any position.

That is a hell of a strawman. The only valid rebuttal is if Graham's defense is worse, which the proof for that was lauding Ball's obvious playmaking ability? The kid's gonna start eventually. Right now, the big question is whether or not he can improve upon his defense.

Chazz Surratt crushing it in LB vs RB drill, Turf Borland looking the opposite so far

I'm just excited that we're vetting center prospects. Paradis is a potential cap casualty and the team needs the future pivot for the OL. There are a several very intriguing center prospects this year: Creed Humphrey (Oklahoma) Landon Dickerson (Alabama) Trey Hill (Georgia) Tyler Linderbaum (Iowa) Josh Myers (Ohio State) Drake Jackson (Kentucky) If the team is looking to continue the rebuild and not rush to win now, I'd love to see them scoop up a young guy to either learn for a year or supplant Paradis.

Link to the article Interesting excerpt from the end: Yes pls

Lamelo's defense was a concern before the draft and is a concern now. These are also the same fans that think dumb poo like CMC is a slot WR, NY makes good BBQ, QAnon is real, and that Burger King makes good food.