By: Knox Buxton
The Carolina Panthers are currently sitting at 3-9 but they have been playing decently well recently. The Panthers are 2-2 in their last 4 games and have lost close games to good teams in their last two. They beat the New Orleans Saints and then the New York Giants in overtime the next week. In the past 2 weeks, Carolina lost to the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs by 3 points and then lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by 3 in overtime this past week. I personally have been pretty impressed by the way the Panthers have been playing as a whole. They had two big opportunities to beat Tampa Bay where Bryce Young hit Adam Thielen for a touchdown to go up 3 with a minute left. Unfortunately, the Bucs had all 3 timeouts left and drove down the field and got a field goal to tie the game to go to overtime. The Bucs got the ball to start overtime and they missed a field goal and gave Carolina the ball back. Bryce Young found Adam Thielen again with an impressive one handed catch on a third and five to put the Panthers in field goal range. Carolina tried to run the ball with Chuba Hubbard to get closer and make an easier field goal attempt, but he got stripped and Tampa Bay got the ball back. The Bucs drove the ball down the field and got a field goal to win. I personally am just happy that the Panthers look like a functional team again and are putting up fights against good teams. At this point in the season, I would just like to see them put together a few more wins and gain momentum for next season while securing a top pick in this year’s draft. I am also happy that Bryce Young has put together two of the best games of his career so far even though they were both losses. Chuba Hubbard also looks like a top running back and with Jonathan Brooks coming back Carolina has two good running backs they can use in the future. The worst part about the Panthers this year is the defense who is towards the bottom of the league in just about every category this season. In my opinion, if the Panthers just go out and get an elite receiver this offseason and build up the defense everything will be alright. I think Bryce Young is still the guy for Carolina, they just need to get him another weapon.
If Carolina can use their draft pick wisely they could be a good team next year. In conclusion, even though the Panthers are sitting at an ugly 3-9 right now, I think the future is still bright and there is not a lot more that needs to be fixed.
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