This isn't some pundit's analysis or anything this is just me observing the absolutely abysmal performance of my favorite NFL team. A week ago or so it appeared as though Arizona might actually be worse than Carolina but after this past week's games there is no denying that Carolina, who are now 1-9 on the season, might not just be the worst team in this year's NFL, but they might be one of the worst teams in the past couple of decades of football.
There's a lot of people that really hate the Dallas Cowboys but I have always been relatively indifferent towards them and don't understand where the hate comes from. Perhaps it is because of the fact that they have so much more money than other clubs and their fans are known for being a bit rude. Who knows. They were the rivals of the Washington Redskins (who I refuse to refer to by their new name) based solely on the Cowboys and Indians thing.
Anyway, Carolina hosted the Dallas Cowboys this past weekend and it went about how you would expect.
The fact that the Panthers held the Cowboys to a mere 17 points before halftime was a damn miracle. As usual, the Carolina defense and especially the secondary was just awful. Every now and then Carolina would force a 3rd down and I would just be amazed. It wasn't until the Cowboys got into the red zone that it appeared as though the Panthers were even trying to keep them from moving the ball. A lot of the holes that the Carolina defense left open you could have driven a truck through, let alone a 220 lb running back. It was honestly extremely frustrating to watch.
By the end of the 3rd quarter the Panthers actually managed to score a TD and it was 17-10. There was briefly a glimmer of hope but I should know by now that "hope" is not a word that should be used in the same sentence as anything related to the Carolina Panthers. The Cowboys put up 16 more points in the 4th and just embarrassed the Pink Panthers.
A 21-yard rush in the early stages of the 4th where the defense once again left a hole big enough to drive an RV through was a punch in the gut and then on the very next Carolina possession, Bryce Young through an interception that resulted in another touchdown. This all happened in 8 seconds of clock time.
The Cowboys even swapped out QB's at one point in the game without any real reason for doing so. There was no injury, they are just that confident that the Panthers are terrible that they were like "fuck it, let's put our 2nd and 3rd string guys in there."
you know your defense is truly terrible when you got 3 guys on someone rushing and they still can't bring him down.
On the flip side of things, the other really terrible team in the NFL is the Arizona Cardinals but they at least went into their game looking like they have seen this damn sport played before at some point in their lives, unlike the Panthers. Now beating the Houston Texans isn't exactly a massive feat, but they played their hearts out and nearly pulled out a win. Had it not been for the fact that Houston played the 4th quarter with an intentional time-wasting strategy, the Cardinals very well might have seen their 3rd victory of the season.
The bookmakers clearly feel as I do about this game because the straight bet on Dallas vs Carolina was -650 favorites for the Cowboys and 93% of all bets made went in favor of the Dallas side. I would imagine that Vegas will adjust that figure even more in the coming weeks for Carolina, because just like I suggested in the past, if you want to make guaranteed money, bet against Carolina. Previously I said that i believe there are several college football teams that could easily defeat Carolina but now I am adjusting this to say that I believe there are probably a handful of high school football teams that could give them a run for the money as well.
Carolina faces a struggling Tennessee Titans team next week but the odds are already -190 for the Titans. Take that bet folks, it is guaranteed money. Carolina is piss poor and I am actually excited to see them lose. I see a massive rework of the management for the Panthers and the end of this season and honestly, I think the only reason why Frank Reich hasn't already been fired as head coach is because it wouldn't make any difference. The team is so bad that the best coach in the world wouldn't be able to do anything with them.