A Reminder That It's Not 2022. It's A Whole New Season and League.

[Panthercougar68]

Listen it’s quite simple 

Line didn’t do well against stunts which will be worked on

Zach Wilson (former #2 pick) executed his generic plays

Matt Corral did not. It was scrubs vs scrubbier scrubs at the end and the moment Sam Franklin (a player who will be on the team as a special teams ace) got in defense made a play.

As Rodgers said relaxxxxxx it’s ok to be disappointed but it’s not time to chalk up 2-15.

[OUCPFL]

16 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

We were 2-14 in 2010 and the worst team in the league. 

I know. I meant last year when we beat the Bills 21-0 in the Preseason. 

That's why I don't take Preseason games serious. I used to, but no longer. 

[CRA]

and odds are simply the Panthers SOS as a whole will be tougher than last year.   Think we finished with the 30th easiest schedule last year. 

I think the NFCS is going to be better this year.  How much? Don't know.  Safe bet is it being better.  

[LinvilleGorge]

27 minutes ago, OUCPFL said:

I know. I meant last year when we beat the Bills 21-0 in the Preseason. 

That's why I don't take Preseason games serious. I used to, but no longer. 

All I look for in preseason is some sense of competency. I don't care about the score. But our first preseason game didn't show much if any competency. Is it no big deal or a sign of things to come? No clue. We'll find out soon enough I suppose.

[OUCPFL]

19 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

All I look for in preseason is some sense of competency. I don't care about the score. But our first preseason game didn't show much if any competency. Is it no big deal or a sign of things to come? No clue. We'll find out soon enough I suppose.

I'm sure Bills fans weren't too thrilled with their teams performance last year in the first game. 

Hell, 4 teams that made the post season lost every game in the Preseason last year. I don't take anything from the Preseason serious. 

[LinvilleGorge]

2 minutes ago, OUCPFL said:

I'm sure Bills fans weren't too thrilled with their teams performance last year in the first game. 

Hell, 4 teams that made the post season lost every game in the Preseason last year. I don't take anything from the Preseason serious. 

The score doesn't matter. Your starting OL and starting defense parting like the Red Sea on every snap is concerning though. That's all.

[4Corners]

Yeah this rebuild a couple years mindset is complete garbage and a loser mentality. NFL is a proven pro sports league that u can turn it around almost overnight. We got rid of the loser head coach in Ruhle, time will tell if Reich is better, and we have a young QB who many think is a prodigy. 
 

our division is complete garbage, arguably the worst in the entire league from top to bottom with talent, QBs, and coaching. 
 

ZERO reason to think the panthers should suck and not compete. That first rounder is going to the Bears next year. 
 

can’t believe the mentality here and was surprised to see Zod make that dumb thread comparing it to 2011. Ruhle killed this franchise and neutered the fan base. 

[OUCPFL]

22 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

The score doesn't matter. Your starting OL and starting defense parting like the Red Sea on every snap is concerning though. That's all.

I think the switch to the 3-4 will take some reps for everyone. 

The O-Line just needs to get up to game speed. They'll be fine. 

[Sgt Schultz]

29 minutes ago, OUCPFL said:

I'm sure Bills fans weren't too thrilled with their teams performance last year in the first game. 

Hell, 4 teams that made the post season lost every game in the Preseason last year. I don't take anything from the Preseason serious. 

Exactly.  And one won the Owl the year before after going winless in the preseason. 

I look for trends, which are pretty much impossible to establish after one preseason game.  If they have one of those weeks characterized by Vince Lombardi's "Gentlemen, this is a football" speech and focus (the basics) and it results in showing competency (or better) at the basics, this past week becomes just a ground zero measuring point.

I was alarmed by the fact that we looked like we had never been on an NFL field before.  But again, trends are more important than one point of reference.  I am hoping Saturday serves as a wake-up call.

Almost every team will have a regular season game where they stink up the joint on all ends (the Lions had that against us last year, we had it against the Bengals and 49ers).  The Chiefs had one against the Colts, but they were good enough to almost win that game despite themselves.  That does not mean it is time to throw in the towel, just get back to work.  The old saying is this is a marathon, not a sprint. 

[LinvilleGorge]

10 minutes ago, OUCPFL said:

I think the switch to the 3-4 will take some reps for everyone. 

The O-Line just needs to get up to game speed. They'll be fine. 

I hope so. But ever camp and preseason I watch Panthers fans convince themselves everything will be fine like we have an organizational history rivaling the Steelers or Patriots. Those fanbases I get the sentiment. They have valid reason to believe it. Ours? It has a bit of a delusional feel IMO.

[La Pantera]

1 hour ago, OUCPFL said:

I know. I meant last year when we beat the Bills 21-0 in the Preseason. 

That's why I don't take Preseason games serious. I used to, but no longer. 

the Bills starters didn't play that game.

Our starters were getting worked by second teamers.

Not comparable.

[Sgt Schultz]

12 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I hope so. But ever camp and preseason I watch Panthers fans convince themselves everything will be fine like we have an organizational history rivaling the Steelers or Patriots. Those fanbases I get the sentiment. They have valid reason to believe it. Ours? It has a bit of a delusional feel IMO.

Everything is not fine, but it is not Jonestown time, either. 

I think your expectations and mine are pretty similar.  People thinking the bar for this team is 12-5 and a playoff run are deluding themselves.  Even the "we were one game away from the playoffs last year" sentiment is a function of several things not related to our the roster or coaching: a weak schedule and a lousy division.  Our formula to get to 7-10 last year is not likely to get us to 12-5.  That takes dominance on the OL and on the overall defense.

Not to mention the team the NFCS was required to send to the playoffs last year was a human sacrifice once the playoffs started.  The same people screaming for a playoff berth this year will be screaming murder in January if we are dispatched the way the Cowboys bounced the Bucs.

We are an unknown right now, and an unknown that set a very low baseline on Saturday.  My hope is that they catch their stride somewhere along the line, and IF our division is even nearly as inept as it was last yer, that opens the door.  But, that depends on a lot of things going right.

As somebody said (may have been you) in this or another thread, do not confuse making the playoffs to mean good or playoff-worthy.  Those are very different bars.

Personally, if we walk out of this year trending up (The 2022 Lions and the 2023 hype train), I will be content.

[ForJimmy]

I understand we looked like the worst team in the league during our first preseason game.  The main reason I am not concerned YET is the biggest issue from Saturday (our offensive line) has already been league tested and proven last year with plenty of potential for growth.  All 5 starters (yeah Corbet may miss a little time) and our OL coach all played solid last year and are now proven/tested in the league.  It's not crazy to think they are going to get their issues corrected and get back to the form they had towards the last half of the year last year.  Our other big issue (Corral) is probably not playing this year if he even makes the team.  Our defense looked vanilla like many other preseason defenses and was missing several starters with others barely playing so I am not really concerned there.  The good news is Bryce looked calm and comfortable even with our OL struggles.  Once we correct those issues (and it's easy to believe we will) Young should look pretty good.  Let's see what Campen and his OL do to look better Friday and hopefully it will be a more enjoyable game.  

[WhoKnows]

49 minutes ago, OUCPFL said:

I think the switch to the 3-4 will take some reps for everyone. 

The O-Line just needs to get up to game speed. They'll be fine. 

4 out of 5 starters from last year started the game. Pretty sure none of those 4 missed any training camp/practice time aside from vet rest. They shouldn’t really need time to get up to speed.

I’m not worried yet, but that was certainly not good at all. If they were just getting up to speed there wouldn’t be special meetings to discuss how bad it was after a preseason. Doesn’t mean they won’t get there, but even the OL said they played terrible so there’s no need to sugar coat it.