Dallas Game

[SmokinwithWilly]

6 minutes ago, tukafan21 said:

Yes, winning can breed winning, but 1 or 2 meaningless wins at the end of a lost season isn't going to do that.  Winning 4 out of 5-6 games to close out a season is the type of thing you'd need to carry over into the offseason and into the next.

I think it's MUCH easier to make an argument that our improved play and winning say 2 more games could significantly hurt our future than if we were to have been playing awful the last few weeks and the rest of the season.

If Bryce hadn't shown this improvement the last few weeks, he would be gone in the offseason, traded to the highest bidder and we try to move on.  But now that he's shown improvement, he's going to be the week 1 starter next year.  If we win another game or two, it also could take us out of the T-Mac/Hunter/Johnson range of player that we'd be looking at in the Top 5 of the draft.

What happens if Bryce then doesn't show any more improvement next year, or even worse, reverts back to his rookie season or early this season's play?

We'd have lost that elite difference maker at the top of the draft and then wasted another season on Bryce before trying to move on from him in 2026, except without having T-Mac, or Hunter, or Johnson, and instead having more of a raw prospect from that 10-12 spot in the draft who may not become the superstar those other players could be.

That's not a far fetched scenario, if anything it's probably more likely to happen than not, as personally, I still don't think Bryce has a snowball's chance in hell at becoming a franchise QB and we're going to be looking to replace him after next year anyways.  

If you're a true Bryce believer, maybe you look at it differently, but even if you are that true Bryce believer, wouldn't you then want to be in position to give him a true elite weapon in T-Mac?  Would you really rather get 1 extra meaningless win this year if it meant not being able to get him that weapon next year?  Is that one more win this year going to help Bryce succeed next year more than getting T-Mac would?

In the end, I'm playing the odds.  And the odds are that our franchise will be better off 5 years from now if we end up in the Top 5 of the draft than if we fall to that 10ish range of the draft.

It's long term vs short term satisfaction. I'd rather lose the rest of the games this year and be able to draft a difference maker because he's actually available at our pick, than win a couple of games and end up 10-16 and getting another good player, but not game changer. No one remembers the feel good wins a year or 2 from now. They remember success and that's not something we've done with any regularity. 

[Jon Snow]

Where are these difference makers you guys keep talking about? Because I sure have not seen a can't miss player in this draft. And no, none of these guys you are pining for are difference makers. 

[HaricotVert]

It’s not something I can control so I want every experience to be an enjoyable one. 
 

if I had any measure of control maybe I’d have a perspective that could accept short term losses for long term gains but I don’t. So I want to cheer for a win every week. 

[DaveThePanther2008]

14 hours ago, tukafan21 said:

 

Why is this so hard for people to understand?  At no point did I say the team should intentionally lose or tank the rest of the season, just that I hope we lose out.

No, the players/team aren't trying to lose, they are playing 100% and attempting to win (however if a player is dinged up a bit, having them sit instead of fighting through it to play is the way to go for a number of reasons).

But I'm not hoping they win, I want us to show fight, show improvement, but in the end, lose the game because I know it's what is best for the franchise in the long term.  

There is a grand canyon sized gap between trying to lose and hoping we lose, it's not hard to understand the difference between them.

The team, players, coaches, etc, don't try to lose, but as fans, we can hope they lose for the betterment of the franchise's future.

I'd rather be happy for the next 10 years because we built a contending team than be happy for 10 minutes by winning our 4th game in a lost season.  If that means "rooting against us" to accomplish that goal, I'm comfortable with that because I can see the bigger picture and that's more important to me than the immediate satisfaction.

And I put that in quotes because I don't view that as rooting against us.  Rooting for us to show fight and improvement but still losing to help the franchise, in my mind, is actually rooting for us.  It's just not rooting for this team on the field that particular Sunday, it's rooting for us as a franchise.

As a fan why watch if you just want them to lose? While I understand that you want a higher draft pick, I can't turn on the game and hoping to lose. Especially this week. I want the Panthers to destroy the Cowboys. 

[csx]

54 minutes ago, DaveThePanther2008 said:

As a fan why watch if you just want them to lose? While I understand that you want a higher draft pick, I can't turn on the game and hoping to lose. Especially this week. I want the Panthers to destroy the Cowboys. 

Some are more in to draft season than game season. 

I want to win but I'm expecting another typical loss.

Edited 1 hour ago by csx

[Wolfcop]

Typically, by this time of year I am hoping to finish the year with the worst record possible for draft purposes, but this team can use some validation they are on the right path. Finishing the year hot could very well spill over to next season. We have seen that happen before. Let’s win out!

[Davidson Deac II]

12 hours ago, Jon Snow said:

Where are these difference makers you guys keep talking about? Because I sure have not seen a can't miss player in this draft. And no, none of these guys you are pining for are difference makers. 

In fairness, we never know if someone is really a difference maker until after they are drafted.  Any predictions on how these guys will perform is just a guess.   Of course, its also true that saying we will get a better player with the 4th pick as opposed to the the 7th pick is also just a guess.  

[CBDellinger]

16 minutes ago, Davidson Deac II said:

In fairness, we never know if someone is really a difference maker until after they are drafted.  Any predictions on how these guys will perform is just a guess.   Of course, its also true that saying we will get a better player with the 4th pick as opposed to the the 7th pick is also just a guess.  

draft picks are like scratch offs.

i'll take winning over draft position any day.

[1989]

If we win out and continue to build the culture around here, I 100% see us making the playoffs next year, regardless if we’re picking 15th. Rookies aren’t gonna fix our problems. I know drafting well is key, but we need players who believe in one another and believe in the coaching circa 2012 Panthers.