The Mac Attack
As the 2022 NFL Draft continues to draw closer and draft season takes full effect, the question surrounding the Carolina Panthers seems to be about which key offensive position they value the most and would be willing to spend a high draft pick on. Is it the offensive tackle position, where the team had yet another chance this past draft to get their long-awaited left tackle of the future to finally replace Jordan Gross after all of these years, or is it the quarterback position, where the team decided to take a flier on a veteran quarterback that struggled and has them in an even worse spot that a year ago?
Last Monday, legendary quarterback Tom Brady announced his retirement from the league after 22 seasons via his social media platforms and over the weekend, he spoke for the first time publicly about the decision. One of the most interesting quotes that came from it, though, was when he was asked about the possibility of being approached by teams at some point before or during the season when a quarterback goes down with an injury. "I'm just going to take things as they come," Brady told his co-host on the Let's Go Podcast, Jim Gray. "The best way to put, you never say never, but at the same time, I feel very good about my decisions. I don't know how I'll feel six months from now, and if that will change, it most likely won't."
The Hornets have hit a rough patch over the two and a half weeks, losing their last five games and seven of their last nine overall. With that, the Hornets have fallen to 9th place in the Eastern Conference after spending a majority of the season inside of the top six in the conference. However, the Hornets do still remain above .500 and are still closer to 6th place in the conference than they are to the 11th spot.
The Tar Heels entered Saturday's meeting with the Duke Blue Devils in Dean E. Smith Center coming off of a four-game winning streak, but in Coach K's final game in Chapel Hill, the team simply got embarrassed. The Tar Heels never led and were down as much as 28 points late in the second half and never got within single digits of the lead after the 16:20 mark of the first half.
Saturday night in the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, one of the best rivalries in all of the sports will add a new chapter to it's story as the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils travel down US 15-501 to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in a game that will determine who is in first place in the ACC as we head just past the midway point in conference play. The Blue Devils, on paper, are the better team heading into this matchup, but the Tar Heels have been a much different team in the Smith Center this season than they have been on the road, where a lot of their issues have popped up.
The biggest story this week in the NFL looked like it was going to be the official retirement of Tom Brady after 22 years in the NFL, but that has pushed to the back burner and rightfully so, for the lawsuit filed against the NFL by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. In the suit that was filed on Tuesday, Flores says that prior to his scheduled interview with the New York Giants, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick texted him a congratulatory message on getting the job as the team's head coach. Shortly after sending the message, Belichick responded apologizing and saying that the message was intended for Brian Daboll, who eventually was eventually named the Giants coaching earlier this week.
The Tar Heels will head to Louisville on Tuesday night as they look to continue the momentum that they built off a three-game homestand that they swept last week in the Dean Dome. The hope is that this can be the turning point for a season where the Tar Heels have had a lot of inconsistencies especially on the road and has left many fans frustrated after similar issues to close the Roy Williams era, even with the fact that this is Hubert Davis' first season as a head coach at the varsity level.
The Tar Heel basketball entered last Monday meeting with the Virginia Tech Hokies needing a win about as bad as any team in college basketball as they had fallen squarely on to the bubble. While it may not have been the prettiest win, that was the starting point for a 3-0 week which included a 100-80 win over NC State on Saturday that was desperately needed for this Tar Heel team to avoid falling completely out of the tournament field.
The Panthers have a lot of work to this offseason as they look to turn the rebuild back in the right direction under Matt Rhule in Year 3. It starts at quarterback and left tackle, the two spots that have been talked about since the middle of the season as glaring question marks for this team. These are two positions where there is a strong chance that the team addresses this at all costs, whether that is through the draft or in free agency.
Tuesday, the future of the NFC South was shaken up a bit around the Carolina Panthers when Saints head coach Sean Payton announced that he was stepping away from the New Orleans Saints after a 16-year stint as the team's head coach. This is a major blow for a Saints team who was already going through the process of replacing the legendary Drew Brees and will now have to find a way to replace the most successful coach in franchise history.