Panthers News: Cam Newton, Frank Reich, Bryce Young and power rankings
By Dean Jones
Which Carolina Panthers news stories are hitting the headlines as attention turns to their Week 12 game at the Tennessee Titans?
The NFL is a fast-moving beast with no time to dwell on past failures or successes. This could be a good thing for the Carolina Panthers, who are looking to put together a strong end to the campaign and alleviate pressure on coaches, players, and front-office figures alike.
Easier said than done with the Panthers at 1-9 and having no first-round pick to call upon in 2024, but they'll plod on nonetheless. While we wait for a miraculous turnaround, the stories causing debate include Cam Newton's omission, where Carolina sits in ESPN's power rankings, doing more to help Bryce Young and Frank Reich potentially living on borrowed time.
Let's delve into each topic in more detail.
Carolina Panthers hit rock bottom
After their ninth loss in 10 contests, the Carolina Panthers are once again rock bottom at No. 32 in ESPN's weekly power rankings. Something that led beat writer David Newton to speculate that Frank Reich's seat was now boiling as praise was reserved for his preseason hot seat candidate, Yetur Gross-Matos.
"[Yetur] Gross-Matos actually was having a decent season until he went on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. He had 2.5 sacks and 14 tackles. Coach Frank Reich has full ownership of the hot seat now with the Panthers an NFL-worst 1-9 and rookie quarterback Bryce Young looking like a bust as the top pick of the draft. Reich's seat is starting to boil."
- David Newton, ESPN
This is worse than even the biggest pessimist envisaged for the Panthers before the campaign. And those in power are running out of time to salvage any sort of positivity from their 2023 efforts.