Week 4 Recap 

Sunday against the Cardinals the Panthers failed to do something that he has yet to accomplish in his somewhat short NFL coaching experience, and that is to beat a team that scored over seventeen points.  Not only did the Arizona Cardinals put up over seventeen points, but the Panthers failed to even score seventeen points on the day.  This came with the assist of a first quarter interception return for touchdown by Frankie Luvu.  This makes two weeks in a row that Luvu has been directly involved with a defensive touchdown, being responsible for the forced fumble that led to a rumbling recovery for a touchdown, and it also marks the second week in a row that Baker Mayfield has failed to outscore his own defense.  It was yet another unimpressive outing by Mayfield and the offense as the lone offensive touchdown came with under five minutes left in the fourth quarter.  Sunday was another edition of the revolving door that recapping a Panthers’ game has become, the defense gave a dominant performance before falling to the war of attrition.  While the Panthers’ offense has yet to figure out how to matriculate the ball downfield in any fashion.  The continuing trend of Baker Mayfield’s passes being batted down at the line of scrimmage appears to only be growing.  Sunday there were a number of passes deflected by defensive linemen of the Cardinals, and Panthers’ fans should expect to see more of this in the future.  Since entering the NFL Baker Mayfield is in the lead for most batted balls at the line of scrimmage in that time span.  History has shown us that short quarterbacks are completely capable of succeeding at the NFL level.  By no means does anyone expect Mayfield to become a Hall of Fame caliber player, and to have a concern about your quarterback being able to move the ball past the line of scrimmage is unacceptable.  The offense of the Panthers showed that once again converting third downs is a major obstacle for this team as they were successful on only two of ten third-down attempts.  The claims by coaches in the preseason and training camp must have been a smokescreen for their true gameplans for this team, because we were told repeated that this offense would resemble a run-first power-run scheme, and that has been completely false.  The Panthers run schemes through the first four weeks of the season has centered on run-pass-option plays and zone running concepts that contradicts prior proclamations by the coaching staff.  Possibly the most promising play that occurred for the offense was a fake punt that while the pass completion was enough to pick up the first-down the play was wiped away by a penalty.  Durning the game against the Cardinals fans could be heard actively booing Baker Mayfield during the second half.  After the game when asked about it by reporters Baker let it be known that he did not care about the fans booing him.  His responses would hold little reaction within fans and the media if not for the pouting childish demeanor that Baker could be seen displaying after the game.  Tensions are rising within the locker room of the Panthers as playmakers like DJ Moore and Brian Burns could be seen visually frustrated while they delivered the cliché responses that come with being a good team mate.  Players like Christian McCaffrey, DJ Moore, and Brian Burns are all under contract all the way through next season. but with the continued decline of the team can we expect talented players to want to play for the Carlina Panthers?  In the past week there were rumors that Cam Newton turned down a contract offer by the Panthers in the offseason, and this would fit right in line with how events are playing out in Carolina at the moment.  Before the start of the season the national media figures wanted you to believe that this Panthers’ team was a potential playoff contender this season after acquiring Baker Mayfield from Cleveland.  This was a narrative that trickled down to the regional media outlets as well.  I was not one of those people drinking the Mayfield Kool-Aid nor did I believe that this team was neither better or worse with Mayfield.  Through the first four weeks of the season Baker Mayfield has shown that at best he is no better than Sam Darnold running the Panthers’ offense.  Baker Mayfield and Matt Rhule do share something in common, both could find themselves no longer members of the NFL.  Only a quarter of the way through the 2022 season and the consensus seems to be that fans can add Mayfield to the growing list of fail projects by owner David Tepper.  It has been my prediction that Matt Rhule will fail to reach the halfway point of the season as the Panthers’ head coach.  If we continue to see this team play like they did Sunday Rhule departure may take place much sooner than that.   

One Football Club at a Time 

Panthers’ fans near and in the city of Charlotte have had the opportunity to be excited for one Football Club playing within the confines of Bank of America stadium, and that would be the Charlotte FC MLS team.  Charlotte FC is current playing out their inaugural season and have giving plenty of fans in the surrounding areas something to celebrate.  While there have been both ups and downs with the first-year organization, non the less it has been an exciting experience for fans that are desperate to taste success.  In a town that is proud to “throw down for the crown”, Panthers’ fans would enjoy nothing more than to see the Panthers put together a successful season, but more and more this appears to be a fantasy.  The city of Charlotte, North Carolina is a “small-market” city, but that does not mean Charlotte is not a sports city.  Over the past decade Charlotte has been the host city to many major events including, ACC Championships across multiple sports, annual college football bowl games, International friendly soccer exhibitions, the NBA All-Star game, CIAA tournaments, is a host city for both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournament games in 2024, and currently is the home to three professional sports organizations.  Yes folks, the city of Charlotte is a sports town, and this is why for many Panthers’ fans it has become a struggle to show support for the team.  Panthers’ fans are starving for a team that bares any signs of being successful.  The continued dismay of the Panthers has led many to fans to find other ways to invest their time and money into other outlets.  The current state of the Panthers has led to fans losing the desire to even watch games from the comfort of home.  The atmosphere within the stadium at a Panthers game is light-years behind where their fellow football club finds themselves surrounded by on gamedays.   The Charlotte Football Club may not find themselves playing in the playoffs during their inaugural season but the excitement of a playoff hunt is something fans are not likely to forget.  There was once a time where Panthers’ fans scoffed at the idea of finishing a season with seven or eight wins, and now they would gladly accept such a win total from the current Panthers’ regime.