Source: Mark Brown / Getty
The 2021 season came to a close yesterday for the Carolina Panthers, as they fell to the Tampa Bay Bucs 41-17, to finish the season with 7 straight defeats, and finish with an overall record of 5-12. The Panthers became the first team in NFL history to start a season 3-0 and finish with 12 losses, as Matt Rhule is just 10-23 as an NFL head coach. Despite that glaring record, Rhule is likely to be back for a third season. That has many Panther fans in an uproar, as they want more, expect more, and deserve more, than what they’ve gotten since Tepper ran Ron Rivera out of town. In his recent rebuilding stops at Temple and Baylor, Matt Rhule’s teams won 11 games, but that was after taking a step in Year 2. That’s what separates his rebuild in the NFL as opposed to the college game, is that his team didn’t take that step, making it hard to imagine they will do so next. CBS Sports analyst Bryant McFadden, joined Wilson & Norfleet earlier today, and he echoed that same sentiment:
“I felt like this was a disappointing year for the Carolin Panthers because the expectations were fairly high. You had to like the Panthers chances to be competitive in the division. And I felt like if they were competitive in their division, they would definitely have shot to make it in the postseason…The Panthers weren’t even competitive in the division.”
To make it harder for the Panthers to be competitive next season, Sam Darnold will most likely be their starting quarterback, despite another injury-plagued, turnover-riddled season, all while making over $18 million next season.
