Give me a reason to be excited about the future of this team

[Seltzer]

I'm usually optimistic to the point of being annoying, but I'm struggling.

It's truly hard to be this bad 6 years in a row in the NFL.  Like, with NFL parity, this should not happen, but here we are... 0-2 for the 4th time in 5 years.  Down 2 games to every other team in the division and Week 3 just started...

I have tried for 5 years to get my sons (12 & 10) into the Panthers.  My oldest has seen 5 Panthers wins and home in 4 years (not counting Covid).  5 games out of 22 he's been to.  An effing 22% win rate.  Less than 1 out of 4...

My kids are apathetic towards the Panthers... how can I blame them?

I haven't failed as a father or a Panthers fan... this team and franchise has failed us.  It pains me that my kids can't get into the Panthers, but what has the team done to earn their trust or support?  

5+ years is a long, long time to suck as a kid.  Hell, it's been brutal for us adults....

It's certainly not fair to put this all on Bryce or Reich for that matter, but the bottom line is that there is no energy left in this fanbase.  We've tried...  I honestly just feel defeated.  

I truly wish I could give you something, but I can't.  Like my kids said, if this product, especially on offense, is what we are getting with this all-star cast, WTF didn't we just keep Wilks...

Last night on the drive home was the 1st time I've really considered pulling the plug on my PSL's I've held since 2006...  If anyone wants my tickets (Section 540 Row 19) at cost the rest of the year, they're yours, just DM me.

I've been a good fan, too, but BOA is well on its way to being taken over yet again this year.  I cannot fathom the embarrassment and humiliation waiting on the poor bastards who show up to the Cowboys (home) game.  I can't do that to my boys or for my mental health.

Anyway, you've posed an important question without a clear answer, other than to focus on other parts of your life that aren't this detrimental to your mental health.

[Newtcase]

This season was always going to be difficult.  No one really thought we were going to light it up with a new staff and rookie QB, they just didn't expect it to look as bad as it has early.  The good news is we're going to know a lot more by the end of the season and the jury is definitely still out.

...however, let's consider scorched Earth and a Bryce bust...we may not be as mortgaged as it would seem...

It's looking like Chicago is going to have two very high picks just 3 short seasons after selling out for Justin Fields.  They traded their 20th overall and 5th rounder + 2022 1st and 4th round picks to move up to 11th in 2021 to take Fields.  That's about the same mortgage we took out on Bryce.

So, much like Chicago, if we missed, it's not going to be hard to try again in 2025 we just have to commit to sucking for two years.  If we didn't miss, then hooray!  Hopeful Football!

Edited September 19, 2023 by Newtcase

[Cullenator]

23 minutes ago, TN05 said:

It feels like any progress we made last year towards being even half decent is just gone. I’ve never been more demoralized in my entire time as a fan of this team. When’s the light at the end of the tunnel?

If you need someone else to convince you then maybe just maybe you should plan to spend your Sundays doing something else or find a different team.

[Seltzer]

6 minutes ago, The Lobo said:

We haven’t done poo since the first half of 2018. No improvement and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better. I hate to be so negative, but damn, it’s not good. 

This.  Over 5 freaking years.  We are and have been one of if not the worst team in the NFL.

I just want a team I can be proud of, and that my boys can be proud of.  We're a laughingstock.  There's no reason to pretend otherwise.

I keep waiting and thinking we're at rock bottom since 2018, and yet the bottom of the abyss continues to sink... it effing sucks man, and after 5+ years, there's no reason for us to sugarcoat it as fans.

[Newtcase]

2 minutes ago, Seltzer said:

Down 2 games to every other team in the division and Week 3 just started...

Not to make it worse, but it's effectively down 2.5 games to Atlanta and New Orleans at the moment.

[ForJimmy]

2 minutes ago, OldhamA said:

[matt rhules gut fat]

Don’t know bout you but just wait until preseason is over and the real O will be unleashed

 

[Proudiddy]

22 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

You just need a good lecture about reasonable expectations. You see, being a Panthers fan is about not expecting to win or even to look competent. You just gotta be happy to be.

I have really thought about if we should change the Keep Pounding slogan to simply "Next Year."  You know, because thats usually the most common phrase used here once we hit about week 8 every season.

[UNCrules2187]

8 minutes ago, Newtcase said:

This season was always going to be difficult.  No one really thought we were going to light it up with a new staff and rookie QB, they just didn't expect it to look as bad as it has early.  The good news is we're going to know a lot more by the end of the season and the jury is definitely still out.

...however, let's consider scorched Earth and a Bryce bust...we may not be as mortgaged as it would seem...

It's looking like Chicago is going to have two very high picks just 3 short seasons after selling out for Justin Fields.  They traded their 20th overall and 5th rounder + 2022 1st and 4th round picks to move up to 11th in 2021 to take Fields.  That's about the same mortgage we took out on Bryce.

So, much like Chicago, if we missed, it's not going to be hard to try again in 2025 we just have to commit to sucking for two years.  If we didn't miss, then hooray!  Hopeful Football!

I think the thing that chaps most Panthers fans' asses is not just the draft capital but the proven talent we sent out as well. Chicago traded a 1st, 5th, 1st, and 4th for Fields. The sequence of events that got us to Bryce (+ DJ Johnson, a 25yo rookie that got 0 snaps week 1 and a healthy scratch week 2) was basically trading CMC, Moore, 2 firsts, and a 2nd. That's actually a helluva lot more capital than what Chicago invested in Fields.

Nevermind that we could've just taken Fields at 8 overall (yes that means no Jaycee but he's played in a total of 17 of a possible 36 games so far in his career so are we really missing much?) that year or taken Howell without trading any picks like we did to get Corral.

Edited September 19, 2023 by UNCrules2187

[CamWhoaaCam]

28 minutes ago, TN05 said:

It feels like any progress we made last year towards being even half decent is just gone. I’ve never been more demoralized in my entire time as a fan of this team. When’s the light at the end of the tunnel?

When Tepper sells the team.

[Proudiddy]

1 minute ago, matt rhules gut fat said:

Don’t know bout you but just wait until preseason is over and the real O will be unleashed

 

[CarolinaRideorDie]

28 minutes ago, TN05 said:

It feels like any progress we made last year towards being even half decent is just gone. I’ve never been more demoralized in my entire time as a fan of this team. When’s the light at the end of the tunnel?

If you're logging on to the Huddle to find optimism, this is the wrong place my friend. You'll find more joy and optimism at a funeral. 

[Seltzer]

2 minutes ago, Newtcase said:

Not to make it worse, but it's effectively down 2.5 games to Atlanta and New Orleans at the moment.

This actually made me laugh... thank you!

I do appreciate the people on this board.  As disappointed as I am about the start of this season, it just stings so much worse b/c I bought into the offseason bs and really got my boys hyped that this year would be different in a bad division.

One of my best friends from college moved out to KC after graduation.  You have fans out there upset when they don't win every game convincingly, and I just want to get to the point where I'm not embarrassed by the product on the field and the other teams' fans filling up our stadium and laughing at us...

[Seltzer]

2 minutes ago, Proudiddy said:

I have really thought about if we should change the Keep Pounding slogan to simply "Next Year."  You know, because thats usually the most common phrase used here once we hit about week 8 every season.

And here's the worst part.  No true Panther fan wants to get rid of Keep Pounding, but they also can't expect fans to muster the energy to give that chant its due when the team sucks this bad and has for the past 5 seasons and counting.

I do like and would support a Next Year chant though, b/c that's really the only thing the present ownership and management is offering...