The Carolina Panthers finished 5-11 and in third place in Matt Rhule’s first season in the NFL in 2020. This year hasn’t been much different, looking at 5-11 with one more game to go & a last place finish in the division. With the moves this team made leading up to the season, you would have expected them to be contending for the playoffs.
Just a month ago, the Panthers fired OC Joe Brady, hoping it would fix their offense’s issues, and so far it hasn’t changed anything. The Panthers are back to Sam Darnold at QB, and just lost to the New Orleans Saints 18-10 where Sam Darnold threw for 132 yards & an INT. So, does Matt Rhule get the blame for the issues? I would have to say so, yes.
GM Scott Fitterer has done a nice job building up this team through trades & the draft, but both sides of the ball, especially offense, has been lackluster most of the time. As mentioned before, they fired Brady hoping to get some kind of turnaround, but nothing has happened yet. So, don’t put the blame on him. They’re sitting with a good WR room, an average RB room when CMC is injured, and a good defense consisted of Brian Burns, Stephon Gilmore, and CJ Henderson. So, you would have to look at Rhule & ask if he’s doing a good enough job getting the talent out of these players, and where they’re sitting right now, I’m not sure if he actually is.
This season, the offense ranks 21st in the league, and the defense ranks 14th in the league. Very underperforming for a roster that Fitterer built for his offensive genius HC.
Unless something changes, it seems like according to various reports, that Rhule will get one more season with the team. Which may not be an awful thing like everyone is expecting. Rhule has been a bonehead multiple times this season, but if they can get a QB for him to work with, it may work out better.
