4 major Carolina Panthers disappointments at the 2023 bye week
By Dean Jones
What major disappointments have stung the Carolina Panthers as Frank Reich's men contemplate what's going wrong during the 2023 bye week?
There is some serious self-reflection going on within the Carolina Panthers right now. The team is 0-6 on their bye week and staring yet another losing campaign squarely in the face, which is another grave underachievement for a franchise becoming synonymous with such failings since David Tepper took charge as the team's owner.
One big change has already been made with offensive coordinator Thomas Brown assuming play-calling duties, which could reap rewards and benefit Bryce Young considerably. However, it's going to take much more to fix this mess despite some winnable games in the coming weeks.
Carolina isn't in any position to be taking games as guaranteed wins. Especially considering they are the NFL's only winless team and seemingly going nowhere fast.
With this in mind, here are four major disappointments to emerge from the 2023 season so far.
Carolina Panthers delusion
If the Carolina Panthers had simply come out and said this was a transition year with a rookie quarterback and building a contender would take time, fans would have been more accepting of their woeful opening. Instead, they did the opposite.
It's clear those in power were feeling themselves before a competitive down was played. Talk of having a roster capable of dropping in a quarterback and taking off turned out to be nothing short of delusional - something that's come back to bite this team in the worst way imaginable.
Once the losing started, it didn't take long for the "rebuilding" message to return. The trouble is, fans remember what was promised by the likes of general manager Scott Fitterer after what the front office figure deemed to be a successful recruitment period.