To be honest, I can never figure out the Carolina Panthers out. There are weeks when they look like a serious contender in the NFC, and they have moments when they don’t even decided to show up. They are the model of inconsistency at the moment. After a big win in Philadelphia back in week five, things looked to be pointing up for the Panthers. They were winning games, Cam Newton was showing his exuberance on the field, and the defense looked to being playing their dominant style of football. Everything I just listed hasn’t been the case as of late and after yesterday, they’ve now lost four games in a row and sit at 6-6. So, what are the issues you ask?
When I look at the offense, they have moments when they light the scoreboard up and score 30 points a game then, there are times when they struggle to push the football down the field and yesterday was a perfect example of them struggling to hold onto the ball. Cam threw four interceptions in Tampa Bay against the Buccaneers. This offense truly operates off Cam Newton and just when I think he’s figured it out as a quarterback, he always seems to regress a bit. There have been times when he’s shown flashes of the 2015 season when he had the best year of his career and was named the league’s most valuable player. Then, you have moments when he’s struggling and he’s on the sidelines pouting with a towel over his head. Body language tells me everything and when he turns the ball over, I never see him with his coaches looking at what went wrong and how can they prevent this from happening again. Cam isn’t a leader because a leader sets the tone and goes about their business by example and he picks and chooses when to lead. They also don’t have another weapon outside of Christian McCaffrey to make plays down the field for them because every pass play seems to be a screen to him.
The defense has also struggled which has shocked me considering Ron Rivera’s defensive background. They have also been one of the better units in the league, but that isn’t the case this year because I’ve seen their offense put six points up on the scoreboard, then the defense gives up the lead so they struggle it seems to hold a lead. A perfect example of what I just stated was their game against the Seattle Seahawks in week 12. Cam and the offense put the team in a good position to win the game, then the defense gives up a touchdown pass to Russell Wilson on a 4th and 3 situation. You get the stop, you win the game and they can’t close out. This has shocked me because they’ve never really been down like this as they’ve been throughout the season. They can’t rush the passer without having to load up the box and show blitz, they miss tackles in open space and the secondary still struggles with giving up a big play down the field. I think the Carolina Panthers are done at this point because they have a tough road ahead to make the playoffs as they have to face the Saints twice to finish out the season and I just don’t see them winning those games.
