Matt Rhule’s era is being defined by indecisiveness

Matt Rhule’s indecisive in-game management

In Week 11 the Carolina Panthers hosted the Washington Football Team in a pivotal matchup. After a back-and-forth affair, the offense received the ball down 24-21 late into the fourth quarter.

The unit quickly found themselves facing a fourth-and-short in their own territory, and Matt Rhule sent out the punt team. A decision that was met by a cascading chorus of boos at Bank of America Stadium.

Rhule responded by using a timeout and sending the offense back out onto the field for what became an unsuccessful fourth-down attempt. The lost timeout proved to be pivotal as the Panthers’ offense got the ball back down six points with just over a minute remaining.

Having that timeout could have changed the way they were able to approach the final possession.

While Cam Newton and P.J. Walker had their fair share of poor mistakes in Sunday’s loss against the Atlanta Falcons, it’s difficult to assign too much of the blame to either. Whoever is taking the snaps at quarterback is doing so behind a constantly evolving offensive line that is only consistent in its knack for being bad.

At this point, the organization is seemingly deploying new strategies on a weekly basis in an attempt to fix the self-created identity crisis. Every week features new changes in all facets relating to personnel, philosophy, and game management.

Unfortunately for the team, nothing they’re trying is producing differing results.

Year 2 of the Rhule experience has been a massive failure, and it doesn’t take much research to compile a long list of mistakes the team has made since the former Baylor man was named head coach less than two years ago.

Things are as bleak as they’ve been in a long time. As the Panthers continue to play a dreadful brand of football, fans are continuing to lose interest down the stretch.

Rhule’s seat is assuredly getting hotter on a weekly basis. And at this point, Panthers owner David Tepper might have a rather simple decision on his hands.

If things don’t start trending in the right direction, Rhule could find himself out of a job in a few weeks, and he would only have his own indecisiveness to blame.