October 10, 2016
This is the night where two teams from two different professional sports organizations had their season end on their home fields. But that's just the problem, they are from two completely different sports. I'm admittedly a fan of both of these teams, it's no secret and I'm proud to support both of through the good times and the terrible times. The Red Sox's season ended tonight by the score of 4-3 in what was David "Big Papi" Ortiz's last game to the hands of Coco Crisp and the Cleveland Indians/former Red Soxs. That hurts, but I can move past this knowing they made the playoffs after finishing in last place in the AL East the year before. They have a young team, money to spend, and hopefully will move on from a lackluster MLB manager in John Farrell. Am I upset that they got swept and didn't show up all series? Hell yes, but at least they put themselves in position to have a chance. That leads me into the Panthers.
I was so far off on this team, this coaching staff, this whole organization. That's my fault, I bought into the hype. They have proven to still be searching for who they are and have proven that they have overachieved in a god awful division for the past three NFC South titles. I can understand injuries, which they have had a lot of. I can even get past the fact they didn't resign the best corner on their roster, possibly top five in the league, to a max contract. However I can't ignore the arrogance. What you saw last year was not arrogance, that was pride and confidence. From the front office to the coaching staff, to the players there is a disgusting and disturbing level on entitlement. I will put most of the blame on the coaching staff. Yes, Ron is a two time coach of the year, but guess what, so are the likes of Mike Smith, Lovie Smith, and Marvin Lewis. That means nothing. Defensively, I can't put too much blame except for the fact that they can't get a stop when needed to save their life. The secondary is terrible, but that's to be expected when you lose your backbone of that group over cap room that isn't being used to be productive somewhere else. The problem is on the offense. The offensive line is terrible, actually it's not terrible for Derek Anderson which is perplexing, but the wide receivers are underwhelming (yes even Kelvin Benjamin), and Mike Shula Jr. is awful. In the past 6 games he has been absolutely out coached and has looked unprepared comepletely. So I sadly state to my fellow Panther fans again, this season is over. Get Cam healthy, keep playing the rookies in the secondary so they can hopefully learn from being punished every Sunday, get Jonathan Stewart healthy and finally cut back on Luke and Thomas Davis's snaps. Davis has two more good years left if that and Luke is the only competent one outside of Davis on our defense. Maybe, just maybe the front office and coaching staff will take this reality check and cash it in by getting actual needs. Like offensive linemen, a defensive end, and an offensive weapon. I'm not going to hold my breath. Last years draft was a fail, the whole offseason was. Sorry to tell it like it is and add insult to injury, but the 2016-17 season is a wrap. Keep Pounding, or Keep Losing.
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