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I am impressed and encouraged by the amount of fan optimism this season!

hepcat

By hepcat,
in Carolina Panthers

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hepcat Grand Master

hepcat

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Let’s be honest. There are numerous reasons for Panthers fans to to be pessimistic about the rest of the 2020 NFL season. The team is 0-2. It is only Week 3 and star RB Christian McCaffrey is on IR, out until at least Oct 18 against the Chicago Bears. The defense is young and not scaring anybody. I could go on and on.

But despite the fact there is a legitimate possibility the Panthers do not win a single game this season, I see a surprising amount of optimism among the fanbase. Maybe it is because of addition by subtraction. Long gone are the bandwagon fans garnered from the Super Bowl run of 2015, and Cam Newton’s fans have followed him up to New England. What’s left is the core of the fanbase - the ones that have seen the ups and downs over the decades. And maybe, they see a glimmer of hope after watching an aging and declining Panthers team for the last 5 seasons. 

The end of the Ron Rivera era was frustrating and difficult to watch. “Missed Opportunities” was such a common phrase, it was on the former head coach’s T-Shirt at his farewell press conference. Current head coach Matt Rhule seems far more accountable than the previous regime, shocking Panthers fans by taking full responsibility for a failed 4th and short run at the end of the Week 1 loss against the Raiders. 

Maybe Rhule’s attitude alone is reason for optimism. Maybe the fact that Ron Rivera and his antiquated coaching style are gone has energized the fanbase. Maybe cheering for young, unproven players is more exciting than hoping aging players can re-capture their previous form. Whatever the reason, I am shocked by how optimistic the majority of the fanbase has been this season. 

Sure, there are naysayers, myself included sometimes. I disagreed with several moves the Panthers made this offseason. It was bittersweet seeing Cam Newton leave the team. He was the face of the franchise for a decade and delivered some of the most exciting moments in franchise history. It’s possible the Panthers are chasing the magic he brought to Bank of America Stadium for decades to come. But with a new era typically comes a new quarterback and leader, so I understand the move. 

I also disagreed with Rhule’s hiring of defensive coordinator Phil Snow. I saw the hire as nepotistic - Snow being a retirement age journeyman coach with extremely limited NFL experience. I would have preferred a more pro-level experienced defensive coach, seeing as the defense is one of the youngest in the NFL. So far, the results are mixed and the jury is still out on Snow’s performance as defensive coordinator. 

But all that aside, there is a lot of be excited about. The Panthers have shown a never-give-up resilience in their first two games that hasn’t been seen since the Jake Delhomme era. The Panthers were infamous for blowing leads in the Ron Rivera era. The Panthers lost 26 games in which they held a lead vs only 17 comeback wins under Rivera’s leadership. Seeing a never-give-up attitude is frankly very refreshing to see. 

This team might not be good this season. It might not be good again for a very long time. But the fact is, there’s more hope around here than there had been in years. And that alone, has me encouraged. 

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MasterAwesome Veteran

MasterAwesome

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On 9/21/2020 at 8:56 AM, hepcat said:

The bottom line is this team has lost 10 games in a row and the end is no where in sight so for me it’s really hard to be positive until we see some wins. The Raiders and Bucs were both very beatable teams. The schedule is going to get even harder now. Tough game next week against a Chargers team that barely lost to the reigning champs with a rookie QB who is actually able to throw the ball down the field more than 20 yards. I don’t like our chances.

However you have to rationalize staying positive I guess.....More power to you. Signing Bridgewater to a huge deal definitely reflects that this team intended to win this season so I’ve been disappointed with his performances so far and I hope he turns it around. To me he has been a little bit better than Kyle Allen at 20x the price tag.

 

 

 

How did you go from this, to the OP in a span of 3 days? 

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hepcat Grand Master

hepcat

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14 minutes ago, MasterAwesome said:

How did you go from this, to the OP in a span of 3 days? 

I am just trying to find positivity in dark places. The positivity of the fanbase in the midst of a down season is a source of encouragement for me. 

And to address my quote you brought back up, nothing has changed. I am admittedly not a Bridgewater fan for the sheer reason that he was more expensive than Cam Newton and I see him as just a less turnover prone version of Kyle Allen. Bridgewater failed to protect the football against the Bucs and it cost the team the game. I wish him the best and I will root for him because he’s the QB of my favorite football team, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be critical of the team’s decisions. 

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kungfoodude Grand Master

kungfoodude

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It's gone better than expected, IMO. Are we still gonna be a bottom 5 team? Probably. Are we definitely seeing some of the impacts of the terrible Hurney choices? Absolutely. 

But, this know-nothing college football staff has kept us in two games we didn't have any right to be in "on paper." Despite some sorry performances by players we have been counting on.....we are still a few possessions away from being 2-0. 

All that and we might actually have some players to build around that we signed, picked off the trash heap or drafted. If we pair that with what is likely to be a very high set of draft picks.....this could turn around on the normal Rhule college rebuild schedule. 

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MasterAwesome Veteran

MasterAwesome

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27 minutes ago, hepcat said:

I am just trying to find positivity in dark places. The positivity of the fanbase in the midst of a down season is a source of encouragement for me. 

And to address my quote you brought back up, nothing has changed. I am admittedly not a Bridgewater fan for the sheer reason that he was more expensive than Cam Newton and I see him as just a less turnover prone version of Kyle Allen. Bridgewater failed to protect the football against the Bucs and it cost the team the game. I wish him the best and I will root for him because he’s the QB of my favorite football team, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be critical of the team’s decisions. 

I wasn’t talking about the Bridgewater stuff. Your post that I quoted came across as highly dismissive of people’s optimism - it was even posted in a thread similar to yours about maintaining positivity.

Nevertheless, I like your message and I can certainly get behind it. I hope you’ve turned over a new leaf, cause I think even you’ll admit your posts have been all doom and gloom. If you took the time to write out that nice OP and then revert back to the Chicken Little stuff, it’ll be a bit disappointing...but props for now.

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