5 harsh realities facing Carolina Panthers ahead of Week 3 vs. Saints

Carolina Panthers are not a playoff team

This is stating the obvious to many Carolina Panthers fans. But frankly, there is only so many places Matt Rhule can take this team and unfortunately, this doesn’t include the postseason.

Large sections of the fanbase were bullish on the Panthers chances this season. General manager Scott Fitterer and to his credit Rhule did a good job in the offseason assembling a team and a coaching staff with the ability to succeed.

However, after just two games of the campaign, the same problems that plagued Rhule during his NFL head coaching career so far have come up again. When you delve into it, this is a college coach and a successful one at that – something he demonstrated during his time at Temple and Baylor as he turned failing programs around.

With college coaching jobs becoming available at a rapid rate, it would come as no surprise to see Rhule’s name floating around the rumor mill.

Rhule came out in his Monday press conference and made the point of saying the Panthers were close to being competitive. But the reality is we are seeing the same issues in Year 3 as were evident when he joined the organization.

The coach referenced the 2020 pandemic season when the Panthers started the year 0-2 before winning three straight as an example of how things can turn around. The trouble with that is Carolina then preceded to go 2-9 to finish the campaign at 5-11.