Panthers at Seattle: Three things to watch
The Carolina Panthers travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks this weekend. Prior to the season, this looked like a NFC Championship preview. Now, it’s just another game. Since it’s on Sunday night, NBC and the NFL will promote it as a big game, but this one could turn ugly in a hurry for Carolina.
Karma
Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said that Carolina’s poor season was “karma” for Cam Newton throwing a Seattle 12th Man flag (that a Seattle fan left, mind you). If throwing a stupid flag means taking multiple headshots from NFL linemen, then karma works in mysterious ways because I know people who have done far worse and received far less punishment.
Thomas Davis correctly pointed out that karma has nothing to do with it. The Panthers have just been bad in the fourth quarter. They’ve had a chance in literally every game this year, including the Falcons game, to win. They’ve just come up short in the fourth quarter due to just about everything you can think of. Missed field goals, an interception, a sack, a fumble, a defensive breakdown. You name it, the Panthers have done it in the fourth.
Maybe karma will be like, “You think I’m petty enough to concuss Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly just because a flag was thrown? Well I’m about to get real petty on Sunday” and Kelvin Benjamin will catch the game winning touchdown over Richard Sherman. But, given how the Panthers season has gone, Sherman will intercept the pass and return it for a touchdown.
Playing For Pride and Next Season
This season is over for Carolina, but there’s always next year, right? In these final few games, Carolina has to show the coaching staff, and the fans, something. Just something positive to build on heading into next year.
It would be nice if the offensive line could finally get things in order, but as guys continue to get hurt and players get shifted around, I wouldn’t bet on that happening. The best we can hope for is that the young secondary, particularly James Bradberry and Daryl Worely, continue to play at a high level prove to be the shutdown tandem for the future.
It would also be nice to just beat Seattle. It wasn’t a rivalry prior to last season (because Seattle always won), but Carolina won in Seattle last year and then beat them in playoffs. Seattle fans, and a lot of their players, are arrogant and annoying. Panthers players know this, and Panthers fans really know this. So, while a victory won’t matter in the standings, it will at least give us a good feeling when we wake up on Monday morning.
AROUND COVER32
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QB Rankings:: Familiar faces on top
Mailbag:: Is Cousins the real deal?
Are Jobs Safe?
I’d be surprised if Ron Rivera is fired after this season, but the Denver Broncos fired John Fox one season after a Super Bowl appearance (and the Broncos at least made the playoffs the following year), and that worked out pretty well for them. But other jobs may not be as safe.
Most Panthers fans are clamoring for the exit of offensive coordinator Mike Shula, but it appears his job is safe thanks in large part due to the rash of injuries on the offensive line.
Where changes might come is in position coaches. If I’m Ray Brown (offensive line coach) and Jim Skippers (running backs coach), I’d be pretty worried about my job. Again, injuries might save them, but the offensive line wasn’t good when 100% healthy (and part of that could be that they just aren’t good players), and someone will have to take the fall for that.
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