Lea: Rhule needs to take control of the Panthers bad offense
Posted October 24, 2021 3:10 p.m. EDT
Updated October 25, 2021 7:33 a.m. EDT
The Carolina Panthers are bad.
I could stop the column right there and it will suffice, but it won't make my managers happy, so I will go into detail after this horrible 25-3 loss to the New York Giants.
We have to start with Sam Darnold, although he isn't the only issue that the Panthers have. Three games with Christian McCaffrey in the back field (really 2.5 games) will make anyone look like a genius at quarterback. Remember when Terry Bradshaw said Darnold looked like the best QB in Panthers franchise history? Now, four games without Christian McCaffrey and it's clear:
Darnold is not the quarterback of the future for not only the Panthers, but for any NFL franchise in the future. In the third quarter he was benched for PJ Walker, who wasn't much better, which shows how bad Darnold has been playing. He finished this game 16-25 for 111 yards, not touchdowns and one interception.
The offensive line play has been probably at its worst that I've ever seen. Even when PJ Walker came in to spell Darnold, it wasn't an upgrade. That's thanks to this offensive line not being able to block anyone and 'offensive genius' Joe Brady not being able to scheme his players open.
But ultimately, it's all about how bad Brady has been as a play caller. Matt Rhule said all week that he wanted his team to be committed to the run. It looked like they were in the first possession of the game when the Panthers ran it seven times and scored their only points of the game.
The game ended with the Carolina Panthers throwing it 39 times and only running it 17 times after Rhule said all week he wanted his team to run it at least 33 times. You'd think that the head coach would be able to have more of an impact over what the Panthers will do from a play calling aspect, but I'm not ready to heap unnecessary blame on Rhule yet. But Rhule's time is coming if things keep going the way it's currently going.
After a 3-0 start, no matter who this team played, there's no way this team should be 3-4 this season. Three weeks ago I wrote a column stating that in the eight-game stretch after the loss to the Cowboys, that this team should go 6-2 after that game heading into the bye week. So far they are 0-3 after I wrote that column and against other bad NFL teams.
The Panthers have regressed from last last season's 5-11 result, which is sad to say because they were within one score in eight of those 11 losses. Today they lost to a horrible Giants team by three possessions.
There's a lot of soul searching this team must do as this season goes along. It has nothing to do with Christian McCaffrey, it has nothing to do with the team's horrible choices in quarterback the last two seasons (although I'm starting to get there). This team has done very well getting the right defensive pieces, but when you're horrible on offense and on special teams, the defense won't ever be in great positions to do their job. Defenses shouldn't win the game alone and that's what they're asking them to do, which isn't fair.
Matt Rhule: take control of your team.
