Pressure on Matt Rhule goes through the roof after Falcons defeat

The pressure on Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule has gone through the roof following their disappointing loss against the Atlanta Falcons.

After an eventful bye week that saw the Carolina Panthers relieve offensive coordinator Joe Brady of his duties, Matt Rhule and his players had the chance to kickstart their stuttering campaign at home to the Atlanta Falcons. Anyone hoping this period of rest and reflection would alter the course of the campaign was out of luck and knew it from pretty early on.

The Panthers were second best for most of the game. Although they kept things interesting late with the crowd disbursing at a rapid rate, it wasn’t enough to prevent another dismal loss at Bank of America Stadium that sees them sitting at 5-8 ahead of their brutal run of fixtures down the stretch.

If Rhule was coming under pressure before this game, it’s now reached a completely different level.

And in all honesty, the head coach has to carry the can at some point.

There is nobody left to blame. He’s fired Brady and made Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Darnold scapegoats – even though it was Rhule who brought them to the Panthers in the first place.

Three turnovers from Cam Newton and P.J. Walker were far from ideal. But an anemic, basic offense behind a torrid offensive line is the catalyst for all these problems.

That’s on coaching.

Morale is once again at its lowest point. Newton’s return galvanized everybody associated with the Panthers for a couple of weeks, but it didn’t take long for this to subside and if Rhule was hoping a band-aid would help get him through the remainder of 2021, it’s another grave error in judgment.

Opposing teams don’t fear the Panthers. And one cannot deny they’ve been one of the league’s worst teams since Week 4.

Atlanta solved the riddle quickly. Rhule and his staff were unable to come up with the right adjustments.

The story of the season.

Matt Rhule and the Carolina Panthers have a difficult run-in.

This isn’t college. Rhule is finding that out the hard way and although he’s reached the same level of wins as last season, it’s another majorly disappointing campaign considering the talent in Carolina.

The Panthers travel to the Buffalo Bills next weekend and also have to face the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice over the last month. Simply put, it might get worse before it gets better and if things keep spiraling out of control, team owner David Tepper has a franchise-altering decision to make regarding a head coach that he coveted heavily and paid $60 million.

It’s all mundane, inept, and frustrating in equal measure. But a performance like this after the bye week is simply unacceptable.

Rhule is officially on the hot seat until proven otherwise. The Panthers aren’t moving forward encouragingly as expected and now face a real fight to salvage any sort of creditability from the season.

Everyone needs to take a good long look in the mirror, put their egos to one side and try to make the best out of a bad situation. However, patience is wearing really thin and even the biggest Carolina optimists would concede things aren’t looking good right now.

It’s hard to envisage a situation where Rhule solves all the Panthers’ problems over the next four weeks. But in truth, he’s had two years to do just this and failed so far.

Whether he’ll get a third year is the big question.