The Panthers Are Who We Thought They Were

The Carolina Panthers are who we thought they were. Or, at least, they are who I thought they were.

After starting their season off 3-0, people were beginning to crown the Panthers legitimate contenders. There were also people beginning to claim that Sam Darnold had been saved.

“See? It wasn’t Sam Darnold’s fault, it was the Jets who ruined him!”

I saw right through the Panthers facade. Players don’t go from being one of worst in the league to one of the best in one offseason where they get traded from a bad team to an average team. It just doesn’t happen.

Now the Panthers have lost three straight games and Darnold is back to looking like the quarterback who was seeing ghosts with the Jets. He’s thrown six interceptions in his last three starts, and completed only 56.76% of passes and 41.46% of passes in his last two games. Not good!

Strength of schedule is an important factor to consider, and the Panthers played the Jets, Texans, and the up-and-down Saints in the first three weeks. Now they’ve stumbled when facing slightly tougher competition.

The Panthers now rank 25th in yards per play (5.2) and seventh in the NFL in opponent yards per play (5.2). As it turns out, they are exactly who we all thought they were at the start of the season. An average team with a promising, young defense.

Can we all agree now that Sam Darnold wasn’t the answer?

WynnBET now has them listed at +15000 (Bet $100 to profit $15,000) to win the Super Bowl. They’re 2.5-point road favorites against the Giants in Week 7.