This was a successful season and we should be proud

[Mage]

I typically never do this.  I don't really ever make threads.  However, I'm doing this to control myself after this loss.

 

We should have never expected anymore than what we got.  By that, I don't mean we should have expected or been content to lose tonight.  I sure as hell wanted a win.  I wanted a Super Bowl.  I couldn't care less about draft positioning because at the end of the day, we have our quarterback of the future and what is the point of being a fan if you aren't rooting for your team to win every week?

 

However, lets look at the facts.  We were dealt with a poor hand this year, financially and off the field.  Newton's injuries set him back in the offseason and he was banged up throughout the season.  We lost multiple offensive lineman to retirement and struggled to find a good, cohesive lineup until around the Minnesota game.  We lost multiple receivers to free agency and while I don't buy that LaFell was all that good, Newton still had chemistry with him that he appears to lack with Cotchery.  We had to retool our secondary.  We lost Greg Hardy.  We had a lot of money tied up into players who didn't even play for Carolina this year (Smith, Gross, Beason, Hardy).  Truth be told, this is a team that didn't start with a lot of talent.  We have a lot of work to do with our offense.  We need to improve our safety play.  We're young.  We're inexperienced.  Like has been said lately, this team has been built up with house money.  For all intents and purposes, this should have been a rebuilding year.  And yet, in that rebuilding year, we still won the division, won a playoff game, and saw a lot of promise from our young guys (Benji, Boston, Benwikere, Norwell, Norman, Brown, Short, Ealy).

 

This loss sucks and I'm not trying to say we shouldn't be disappointed.  I was fired up all game long, I was pissed all game long.  But this was a successful season.  This was more than we probably should have expected and we have a LOT of promise going forward.  We went into Seattle and despite shooting ourselves in the foot all game long, were only down 7 in the fourth quarter.  This isn't me being content with losing.  This is me being real about the situation.  We should be proud of this team.

[FugginPoo]

Fugged up our draft position though

[The_Mango55]

Fugged up our draft position though

 

Playoff experience is way better than draft position

[philp]

I'm very proud of our guys. It's been a fun.

[KJ89]

TLDR but fug yeah. Hell of a season.

[TN05]

Fugged up our draft position though

 

Who the f*ck cares? We won the division. We got Atlanta's coach fired, and made the Saints stay home. We rediscovered our defense. We won a playoff game. We gave Seattle a game. That experience is far more valuable than a few extra draft slots. The core of this team will be here next year, and they are winners now.