Panthers Lose in Tampa, End of Season?
Blocked punt? Why not?
No. It’s not the end of the season. I don’t really know what other sites and many of the other fans out in the world really expected, but the Panthers were bound to lose some games. But yes, the first game didn’t go the way a lot of us expected it to.
Or should it be, the way we wanted it to? What guarantees of success do we have for Carolina right now? Where did you get the idea that the Panthers were going to beat the Bucs in Tampa? Last year’s season? Yeah, hate to tell you but last season was over 9 months ago. Sure the Panthers finished ahead of the Bucs in the standings, but no one said that means that they’re better this season.
You play to win the game! As a coach famously said once, and yes, you have to play the games in order to win the game and no one is rolling over because the Panthers have Cam Newton. Sorry, it’s true. Actually, the fact the Panthers have Cam Newton probably makes them a bigger target and a bit easier to beat. People are game-planning for him. That famous run game everyone thinks the team has? They gameplan for that too! tru
I’m not trying to say “I told you so!” because I truly thought this was gonna be a bit of a gimme. Tampa Bay is better than their 4-12 record from a season ago. I don’t follow the Buccaneers, so I can’t give you examples, but I’ll tell you, they went to the Playoffs the previous season, they quit on their coach and let it roll last year and ended up with a bad record. This year, with additions and replacements, they’re better. They’re probably closer to the 10-6 team they were in 2010 than they are to the 2011 4-12 team.
My thoughts are more realist. Watching the game, when I could while I was at work, which was a good bit because I actually worked out my lunch to align with the kickoff, I thought the Panthers looked sluggish, sloppy and undisciplined. All that comes from preparation and coaching. I’ve seen people saying “Don’t call for Rivera’s head just yet!” Me thinks thou doth protest too much. You can’t pin a loss wholly on one person or entity, and you shouldn’t at this point, but I’m starting, or continuing to question Ron Rivera as a head coach in the NFL.
I know coaches aren’t there to make fans believe in them or anything really. Coaches set the tone however, for the team and by extension the fans and the tone I’m feeling off of ol’ Ron, isn’t eliciting a whole lot of confidence. He’s making me think more of George Seifert than John Fox.
It’s not as bad as all that. It’s not that good either. I mean seriously, it was a loss to a team that wasn’t expected to win. Even Vegas had the Panthers winning before the game. But, what actually happened was, the Bucs offense came out and scored early, started the game with a 10 point lead and that enabled the Bucs defense to proverbially pin their ears back and work over the Panthers offensive line. This team doesn’t play very well from behind and the offense couldn’t make it work.
It’s far too early to say “Oh, that’s how the Panthers will play the rest of the way,” but I for one am none too pleased with what we saw yesterday. The good thing is, neither are the Panthers. The difference is (I hope) that the Panthers know what to do about it.
