5 Carolina Panthers losses that hurt the most in 2021

It was another campaign of abject failure for the Carolina Panthers, but which losses hurt fans the most in 2021.

The 2021 season started in such a promising fashion for the Carolina Panthers before ending in extreme disappointment. After a fun and surprising 3-0 start, Matt Rhule’s men collapsed and weren’t the same team for the rest of the campaign.

Despite having a solid defense and a great wide receiver corps, Carolina wasn’t able to win games they had no business losing. A combination of very poor coaching decisions and ugly quarterback play are the top two reasons that the Panthers‘ season turned out the way it did.

Dismal offensive line play and injuries in the secondary further aided what was an ugly second-half collapse. A team that began the season 3-0 was unable to climb into a wide-open NFC wildcard race that came down to the final day of the regular season.

This was unacceptable, in all honesty. Especially considering Carolina’s strength of schedule before a brutal run down the stretch.

Carolina suffered losses they shouldn’t have, defeats that much of the blame lands squarely at the feet of Rhule. Still, headed into an offseason full of questions, what can we learn from such a disappointing year?

With this in mind, here are the five most painful losses of the Panthers 2021 season and the repercussions those reverses could still have.