4 critical flaws that Carolina Panthers QB Sam Darnold cannot fix

Sam Darnold is losing teammates’ confidence

When a head coach loses the locker room, there is no turning back.

The same applies to a quarterback.

Sam Darnold is losing the faith of his teammates with every poor display. This was evident once again during their Week 9 loss to the New England Patriots, with wide receiver Robby Anderson filmed voicing his displeasure in the signal-caller’s direction after yet another interception.

Confidence is at an all-time low when it comes to Darnold. And opposing defenses can smell it a mile away.

Not only this, but it’s also demoralizing for players like Anderson who are getting open and not getting the football where it should be.

Anderson and others have dropped plenty of passes this season. But there is only one man who should shoulder the majority of the blame for their struggles on offense.

After all, it’s the quarterback that gets all the plaudits when things are going well.

The Carolina Panthers seem right on the cusp of something special. Phil Snow’s defense continues to excel and kicker Zane Gonzalez hasn’t missed a field goal attempt for five weeks now.

Darnold is holding them back. Patience is probably wearing thin within the locker room and now that he’s on the shelf, there might not be any going back for Carolina.