There wasn’t much new in this loss
This is the last MMO column I am going to write in the 2024 regular season. By the time the Week 18 column publishes, these Carolina Panthers will have unlaced their cleats for the final time. It is worth pointing you back to Jon’s post game recap yesterday where he made probably the most relevant point about these last two games:
The Panthers are so thin, especially defensively, that what’s happening right now is pretty much irrelevant. So many of the players getting snaps aren’t going to be on the roster when next season starts.
– Jonathan DeLong
This has been a long and weird season for Panthers fans. For all that we are used to disappointment and heartbreak, this season has been a unique roller coaster in Dave Canales’ first year as head coach. We were supposed to see consistent progress. We were supposed to have a solid answer on Bryce Young’s future. Instead, we had injuries cloud almost every takeaway from the season. We had Young bungee jump out of and back into the starting lineup looking like two completely different quarterbacks. We had rookies put up phenomenal efforts early and then fall of a cliff down the stretch. The only unequivocally positive thing was that the Panthers have lost as much as they have, guaranteeing them the opportunity to draft an impact player near the top of the 2025 NFL draft.
I’ve got more complex thoughts percolating on what to do with Young for the 2025 season, but I’m waiting to see how he looks against the Atlanta Falcons next week to explore them more fully. Suffice it to say for now that I think he has been intriguing enough to play for somebody next season. Whether or not that’s for the Panthers is a question that Brandt Tilis and Dan Morgan get paid the big bucks to answer.
Next week should be as bad a loss as this week’s to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but that shouldn’t make any of us feel any worse. This team is no longer capable of competing at the level they did against the Kansas City Chiefs or the Philadelphia Eagles. Their running game is shot, their defense is barely more competent than the cast of Muppet Treasure Island would be in their place.
The only reason left to watch is to see if Young can uncork a few more of those 40+ yard bombs into Adam Thielen’s hands. That’s the stuff that we can either build on next season or use to pitch him in a trade. If you’re watching for any short term pleasures then you’re just asking to get mad.