Are the Carolina Panthers Done?
Is it time to close the book on the 2014 Carolina Panthers? After all, the Panthers lost to the Minnesota Vikings over the weekend while their rivals Atlanta and New Orleans both won their games. The Panthers are still mathematically in the conversation, but they have no obvious wins left on the schedule. Minnesota was as close as you got to that and you see how that turned out.
31. 60. 13. 87. Final
No, the Panthers may also be done because of other factors than just the math of wins and losses. There is the math of who is on the line and who isn’t. Last week we talked about Silatolu at right tackle. Silatolu could not play against the Vikings and it was Mike Remmers who started against the Vikings. To his credit, Remmers played a fine game. Byron Bell, one of our ‘reliable’ linemen, got destroyed on the other side.
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Another piece of math that we need to look at is the number 2 as in two punt blocks for touchdowns against Minnesota. This is the sign of a bigger problem. You might have that happen once in a while, but twice in the same game? Are our special teams units also feeling the drain of injury?
Then there is quarterback Cam Newton, who pointed out that the Panthers have no swagger. No swagger? What kind of irrational confidence are the Panthers supposed to have? Teams with swagger are usually GOOD. Bad teams with swagger are just weird. I realize there is a placebo effect that Cam is trying to get at, but I cannot rate swagger as one of the Panthers’ five biggest concerns right now.
No the Panthers are in the midst of a scenario that they could have seen happening. They purged salary and pledged not to overpay players for future solvency (so they can pay Cam Newton, for instance). If you do that, you have to pray that your depth is not tested. It has been, and the Panthers have been on the wrong side of it.
The real solutions lie in the 2015 Draft and Free Agency. The Panthers will not find them on the field.