It wasn’t too long ago that the Carolina Panthers were celebrating an NFC championship and playing against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. Though it was only 2004, which seems like a short time ago, a whole lot has changed in Carolina since that time.
When I say that a whole lot has changed, I really mean that not much has changed at all. In 2007, that’s what is hurting this version of the Panthers. Since winning that NFC championship, the Panthers have done little to make their team better. Since then, they’ve scraped their way into the playoffs once and have yet to really challenge for a title since then. So, what gives?
The Panthers team that went to the Super Bowl way back when was a team full of gritty, grind it out veterans. You might remember names like Mike Minter, Will Witherspoon, Mushin Muhammad, and Ricky Proehl. Running the ball was Stephen Davis. Those names are long gone, now. Some departed via free agency, while others simply called it quits. The end result has not been pretty for Carolina and its fans, who are all collectively wondering, “What happened?”
What happened was that the team got complacent, soft, and old. The front office has done little to improve the players on the field and people have soured on coach John Fox’s boring style of play. Just last week, the Panthers were drubbed at home by division rival Tampa Bay. That loss, which was their fourth straight at Bank of American Stadium, was conceded early in the fourth quarter when Fox elected to punt on a fourth down with his team trailing by three touchdowns. The boos that resulted were directed at the play in particular, but you could feel the fans voicing their displeasure for three seasons gone bad.
With only one offensive weapon in Steve Smith, the Panthers are unbearably pedestrian on offense. The once strong defense, which used to be their calling card, is now getting gashed by running backs like Earnest Graham. In a word, things in Carolina are ugly. Even Julius Peppers looks like he’s mailed it in for the remainder of the year.
Don’t count on Carolina turning it around anytime soon. Until ownership makes some wholesale changes in the front office and on the sidelines, the same old boring team will continue to let down their home fans in a characteristic begrudging manner.
