NFL
The Falcons Fly To Super Bowl
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There is an episode of Scrubs where Dr. Cox sings to JD; “Wrong wrong wrong wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong…..You’re wrong….You’re wrong….You’re wrong.” I mention this for two reasons.
First off, I try to take any opportunity I can to throw in a Scrubs reference. Second, and most importantly, that whole sequence may as well have been directed at me and just about every single prediction I’ve had for the Falcons throughout the year.
Before the season started I figured the Falcons would be lucky to finish the year at 9-7, and I certainly didn’t expect them to sniff the playoffs. I was wrong.
I wrote an entire story about Matt Ryan and whether or not he was worthy of being the number three pick in the draft. I’ve always thought he was a good quarterback, but I didn’t believe that he would be able to lead a team to the Super Bowl. Little off on that one, wouldn’t you say?
I had a little to zero confidence that Atlanta’s backfield would have any type of positive impact on their offense. Nobody’s going to mistake Devonta Freeman or Tevin Coleman for elite running backs, but both are much better than I’ve given them credit for, and they are perfect for this particular system.
I patiently waited for the Ryan/Shanahan relationship to quietly, or not so quietly, implode. It never happened.
I knew Dan Quinn would have the defense playing better, but I assumed they would just continue to be an afterthought. I halfway expected them to be detrimental to the Falcons over the course of the season. Granted they’re not the ‘86 Bears, but they are anything but an afterthought.
Even though I thought this year’s team was better than last years, I just knew that 4-1 start wasn’t going to last. After the Falcons dropped their next two games I almost wrote about that very thing. After winning 9 of their 11 remaining games since that time, I’m glad I kept my mouth shut.
Even after being wrong on all those things I just listed, and having a much greater appreciation for what Atlanta had accomplished this year, I still picked them to lose to Green Bay. I don’t think they’d be able to pull it off. It’s a good thing I don’t gamble.
In fact, the only time this year I’ve actually been right about the Falcons was their playoff game against Seattle. And truth be told, my picking Atlanta had more to do with my lack of confidence in the Seahawks than it did the Falcons.
Putting all my horrible prognostications aside, I’m happy for Atlanta. Participating in the Super Bowl is always a huge deal, but when you look at this franchise over the last two decades, this trip is all that much sweeter.
There was the blowout loss to the Broncos in ‘99. The rise and complete collapse of Michael Vick. Multiple seasons of mediocrity and underachieving. And lest we forget- and I don’t think I need to delve any deeper than these two words- Bobby Petrino.
Regardless of the outcome on February 5th, this season has been a success for Atlanta. They have surpassed basically everyone’s expectations and are more than deserving of being the NFC representative.
If you happen to be wondering, or even care, who I’m picking to win the big game, let me ask you this: After everything I’ve just written, do you really want me to start rooting for the Falcons now?
Falcons vs Packers Preview
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
So, here we are. After 17 weeks of the regular season, plus another two weeks in the playoffs, we finally arrive at the NFC championship game with the two teams we all thought would be there from the beginning: the Green Bay Packers and the Atlanta Falcons?
Well, I’m sure some people thought the Packers would be here, but I doubt anyone outside of the most optimistic Falcon’s fan thought that Atlanta would. Of course, I don’t really think Atlanta cares all that much-as they say “that’s why they play the game”.
It’s going to be pretty easy to look back to the Falcons week eight matchup against the Packers in preparation for the NFC championship game, which would make some sense. For one, it was a tremendous game. But, almost more importantly, it was around that time that both team’s seasons really took off.
The Falcons were in the midst of trying to prove to themselves, as well as the rest of the country, there would not be a repeat of last season’s collapse. Rodgers’ game on the other hand, while he played great against Atlanta, was in the middle of its own “Where’s Waldo” saga.
Since that game Atlanta’s offense has been arguably one of the best in the league and Ryan has put up MVP type numbers. The only other quarterback and team that has come close to matching them; Rodgers and the Packers.
If you’re looking for defense you may want to YouTube videos of ESPN’s “Jacked Up” because you won’t find much of it in this game. I’m halfway expecting to see Sterling Sharpe and Brian Finneran’s name show up in the box score.
The best approach to slowing down both of these offenses is ball control and doing everything you can to keep their respective offense off the field. Well, since that is how neither of these teams play, and it is certainly not in their best interest to do so, I really have no idea what to tell you on how to stop them. It’s kind of one of those “You can’t stop them, you can only hope to contain them” type games.
For this reason, and this reason only, is why I give the Packers a slight edge. I mean absolutely no disrespect to Matt Ryan at all- I think he is having the best season of his career and is more than deserving of the MVP- but right now nobody is playing better than Rodgers. At this point I just trust him a little more than I trust Ryan.
I’m thrilled for the fact that Atlanta is getting to host the game, particularly this season. The Falcons will have to make sure they use home field to their advantage though because I don’t necessarily think it will be a disadvantage to Green Bay, if that makes any sense. The Packers have been in this type situation before and I just don’t see the pressure of playing on the road affecting them all that much.
Their initial meeting this season was one of the better games I saw all year. Since both teams are currently playing at an even higher level I fully expect this one to be just as good, if not better.
Neither of these teams may have been popular choices at the beginning of the season to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, but whoever comes away with the win on Sunday will certainly have earned it.
2017 Predictions
By: Drayton Hogarth
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
2016 was quite an interesting year for everyone, and that includes the sports world.
Many of our local teams experienced ups and downs and surprises of all kind. Now that we have arrived to the New Year of 2017, it is time to make some predictions for our area teams as we march forward throughout the coming months.
The Atlanta Falcons will finish this 2016-17 season with a playoff run. There are not many teams entering the playoffs playing at a higher level right now.
MVP candidate Matt Ryan has a plethora of offensive weapons he can utilize, as well as a solid line to protect him. In fact, it is a team that is good enough to make it to the Super Bowl, but that is where the dream will end as the Falcons will come up short against the New England Patriots in a shootout.
During the offseason, the Falcons will pick up another pass rusher in the draft to complement Vic Beasley. Plus, add in a couple more quality free agent signings, and the Falcons will make another Super Bowl run.
In Athens, Coach Kirby Smart will bring in the best recruiting class in Georgia history. Even better, the on the field product will be much improved as well, as the talent in the program is upgraded to levels that Bulldog fans have hoped for the last half decade or so.
Georgia will finally win the SEC East and challenge for the college football playoff. It’s gonna be the beginning of a fun ride, Georgia fans. Be scared, college football, the sleeping giant has awoken.
Coach Paul Johnson will be expected to challenge for the ACC title in 2017, but same as recent history, the Jackets will not be able to live up to the lofty expectations.
Johnson and his Yellow Jackets seem to do much better when the perception is that they will struggle. When people underestimate Tech, that is when they are at their most dangerous.
Georgia Tech fans will grow weary of this roller coaster ride and will make a surprise move of letting the long-time coach take his triple option offense elsewhere. Look for the Jackets to make a run at current Colorado State head coach, and former Georgia Bulldog, Mike Bobo as their next coach in 2018.
Tyson Summers will get the Georgia Southern Eagles back to the upper level of the Sun Belt. Look for the Eagles to go 10-4 with a loss in the Sun Belt title game, but win their bowl game.
Brand new Suntrust Stadium will see the Atlanta Braves continue to improve and be more like the competitive team that we saw finish the 2016 season. Having Freddie Freeman, Dansby Swanson, and Matt Kemp in the lineup for a full season will allow the Braves to be the best offensive lineup in the National League.
It will be the pitching that will prevent the Braves from making the post season. Look for the Braves to get to .500 or better in the coming season, with prospects for a strong run in 2018.
The Atlanta Hawks will make a deep run in the NBA playoffs and will finally beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, but only three times. Thus, they will lose in seven games to Lebron James and the Cavs—who will lose to the Golden State Warriors.
On the hardwood in Athens, the Georgia Bulldogs will either win two games in the NCAA tournament, or they will be replacing Mark Fox as the head coach of the hoop Dawgs. Oh, and there will be a new athletic director making that decision at the University of Georgia as well.
Look for Josh Pastner to get the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the NIT and continue to restore the Jackets to respectability in the college basketball world.
Well, that should do it for most of my predictions for the upcoming year. Go ahead and save this article to refer back to, and if I get even half of these correct, you can thank me later, maybe in 2018. Happy New Year everyone!
Tom Coughlin To Jaguars?
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Ok Jaguar fans Tom Coughlin interviewed for the vacant head coaching position in the River City on Wednesday. Why not go back to man who made you into contenders in the 1990’s?
Coughlin, 70, previously coached the Jaguars from 1995-2002, leading the team to a 68-60 overall record and two AFC Championship games. Recently inducted to the Giants’ Ring of Honor, Coughlin is best known for two Super Bowl victories, in 2007 and 2011, while amassing the second-most wins in team history.
This would be a homerun hire for Jacksonville. You have a man who is loved by the masses in North Florida and South Georgia and has two Super Bowl rings. One thing you can say about Coughlin is that he runs a tight ship.
If you have watched the Jaguars play this year you will not notice a lack of talent, but some sloppy play on both sides of the ball which communicates a lack of discipline that Coughlin will clean up quick, fast, and in a hurry.
Coughlin, I believe still has a home in Jacksonville and does a lot of charity work in North Florida. I think he could come in and make the playoffs in year one of his return to Jacksonville. The biggest mistake Wayne Weaver made as owner of the Jaguars was firing Coughlin back in 2002.
Fast forward to his time with the New York Giants where two victories over Tom Brady and the Patriots earned Coughlin rock star status in the Big Apple.
Super Bowl XLII took place in Glendale, Arizona on February 3, 2008. The game pitted Coughlin’s New York Giants (13–6) against the undefeated New England Patriots (18–0) coached by Bill Belichick. The Patriots were favored by 12 points. The underdog Giants beat the Patriots 17–14 in one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. Many were calling the 2007 Patriots the greatest team of all time.
Coughlin developed a young Eli Manning into a Super Bowl winning QB. Blake Bortles took a huge step back in 2016, and maybe a veteran championship coach like Coughlin can get him on track and playing up to his vast potential.
The pieces are in place in Jacksonville for a coach of Coughlin’s caliber to come in and win immediately. The AFC South is not a tough division and with the right man running things the division could be there for the taking. Coughlin would attract a proven offensive coordinator, and certainly with the talent on defense someone would follow him and have that unit peaking in 2017.
Previously under Coughlin, the expansion Jaguars made the playoffs in year two of its existence and made it all the way to the AFC title game, and made the playoffs 4 straight years from 96-99, and the AFC title game twice. Led Jacksonville to 14 wins in 1999.
The current state of this franchise is one that has lost 11 or more games for 6 consecutive seasons. This team is about as low as it can go. It is time to bring back the only man to have led Jacksonville to a division title twice. No other head coach for this franchise has accomplished that.
Coughlin had a 4-4 playoff record in Jacksonville. This team has not made the playoffs since 2007. Coughlin always packed the stadium in Jacksonville, and with his return you could probably say goodbye to the tarps in the upper decks that cover empty seats.
It is time to bring back the man who put the Jacksonville Jaguars on the football map.
Jaguars Fire Gus Bradley
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Christmas came a week early for some Jacksonville fans this year. Unfortunately, for Gus Bradley, that means his stocking is full of coal and a pink slip.
The NFL is not exactly synonymous with the word “patience” so it’s not very surprising that Bradley’s tenure in Jacksonville has ended. The timing of it may have caught a few people off guard, but I’ll give the Jaguars management some credit when it comes to this. If they had already decided Bradley was going to be gone at the end of the season they were right to just go ahead and end it now. No need to prolong the inevitable.
There are a variety of reasons Bradley lost his job. A terrible record this season (14-48, overall) is the first thing that tends to jump out at you. Being a defensive minded coach whose team can’t play defense is kind of like an Italian restaurant that has difficulty cooking lasagna.
No matter what list of reasons you want to give, there should be two words at the top: Blake Bortles.
Gus Bradley lost his job because the one guy he and the organization expected to take that next step, completely blew it. If Bortles took one step forward last year, he didn’t just take two steps back this year. Instead, he took two steps back, tripped over his own feet, rolled down a hill, and got blindsided by a train at the bottom.
Ok, so maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration, but it’s not far off when you consider the hype Bortles had coming into the season. It’s a lot more difficult to break up the head coach/quarterback combo that every team looks for when, you know, the quarterback is actually playing well.
I guess the big question now is where does Jacksonville look next? Personally, I think they’d be out of their minds if they didn’t go with someone on the offensive side of the ball. At the very least they need to hire a head coach who can bring an offensive coordinator with him who has experience grooming quarterbacks.
There is actually a decent amount of talent on that side ball, certainly more than you’d expect in a team that has had its fair shares of issues scoring this season. If the real Bortles is more like his second season as opposed to this current one, and the Jaguars can find a running back (I am not a fan of TJ Yeldon) then they’ll be in good shape.
This kind of goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, you’d better make sure whoever you bring in has complete faith in Bortles, too. You don’t want a Jay Gruden/Robert Griffin III type situation. It’s easier to get rid of the incumbent starter when Kirk Cousins is your alternative. No offense to Chad Henne, but I don’t think anyone is chomping at the bit to see him take the field.
Look, I know I’m not saying anything new, but sometimes the right answer is the one staring you right in the face. Any head coaching hire is important, but this time around for Jacksonville, it’s imperative they make the right choice.
If not, then three years from now they may be looking for a new head coach as well as a new quarterback. Basically, all that means if they’ll be right where they have been for the better part of this millennium. If you’re a Jacksonville fan, we’ll, you’ve seen that lump of coal in your stocking a few too many years.
Santa Wish List From A Southern Sports Fan
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Christmas is upon us once again. My girls have given me their annual list of items they want from Santa. I have dropped a few hints about things I want Santa to bring me as well.
I want to shake things up and come up with a sports list of things I would like Santa to grant in 2016 and 2017.
Santa please bring Brunswick High a new football coach with a championship resume. 30 plus juniors return from a talented squad that underachieved in 2016.
Santa please not a fourth straight loss to Glynn Academy in football. Life as a Pirate has been tough around here Santa.
Santa please deliver a City Championship and a deep playoff run to Altama Avenue next fall for the Pirates.
Region Championships for Pirate girls and boys basketball
A winning season for the Pirate baseball team to set the table for a title run two years from now.
A State Football championship for the MCA Bucs this weekend.
A 9-1 regular season and a deep playoff run for the Glynn Academy Red Terror football team in 2017.
State Titles in golf, tennis, and soccer for the Spring Sports Monster known as Glynn Academy Athletics.
A State Title for Glynn Academy baseball in 2017
Santa please a total house cleaning in Jacksonville and a new coach with a championship resume for the Jaguars.
Please Santa deliver at least one home game sellout for the Jags in 2017.
Santa please deliver a SEC Football Title to Athens, Georgia next fall.
Please Santa not a fourth straight loss to Florida for my Bulldogs, and please Santa while we are at it how about a 0-12 record for the Gators in football in 2017.
Please deliver a top 3 recruiting class for UGA in February.
Santa please bring some power to the Atlanta Braves roster, and please not another last place finish.
Please solve the traffic issues in and around the Braves new stadium in Cobb County
A March Madness Berth for the UGA men’s basketball team
A College World Series Berth for the UGA Baseball team.
A NL Cy Young Award for Adam Wainwright
A Pro Bowl Berth for Darius Slay, and Super Bowl for my Detroit Lions
One more PGA tour win for Davis Love III, and then he goes on the Senior Tour and beats the brakes off of everyone.
A LPGA tour win for Katie Burnett.
Southern Sports Edition to take the Southeast by storm
A NFC South title for the Falcons.
An Eastern Conference Finals berth for the Atlanta Hawks.
Please make Coastal Georgia a place where college recruiters set up shop to recruit local athletes.
An ACC Title for the GT Yellow Jackets in football in 2017
Losing seasons for Auburn, and Tennessee in football in 2017.
Santa please let Nick Saban retire.
State Titles across the board for Frederica Academy in 2017.
State Titles for all local recreation teams in Glynn County.
Championships for all College of Coastal Georgia in all sports.
A US Open title in 2017 for Zach Johnson and a Green Jacket for Matt Kuchar.
A fat free agent contract for Justin Coleman of the New England Patriots
A call up to AAA for former Red Terror Bo Way, and a ticket to the show in the near future.
Well there you have it Santa. I hope I haven’t asked for too much or left anyone out. Thank you for 2016 and I hope you make all of the requests in 2017 come true.
Santa I know I already asked but please not another loss to the Red Terrors in football.
Merry Christmas to all.
Time To Reset For Jags…Again
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I almost hate to remind myself that I picked the Jacksonville Jaguars to win the AFC South and make the playoffs earlier this year. I would have been better off picking Jacksonville to be selecting in their customary spot in the 2017 draft which is in the top five.
I bought into the hype surrounding these Jags as they spent over $100 million in the free agent market in the offseason to upgrade a defensive unit that had been offensive in previous years.
While the defense has improved drastically into a playoff caliber unit the offense seems to have taken a few steps back. Blake Bortles is not playing like the QB we saw in 2015, the offensive line is horrible, and no running back has stepped up into the go to guy.
Sitting at 2-9 for the season with 6 straight losses with absolutely no shot at a playoff berth Jacksonville needs to fire everyone down associated with this train wreck of a franchise.
Many locals call it the curse of Tim Tebow. The Jags passed on Tebow and have been awful pretty much ever since. Former head coaches like Tom Coughlin leave and win Super Bowls and Jack del Rio is sitting at 9-2 right now in Oakland after being fired by the Jags.
The Gus Bradley experiment has failed with a 14-45 overall record. I’m not sure you pull the plug on Blake Bortles yet after 3 years in the league. The offense has scored over 30 points once this entire season. How is this offense so woeful? Talented receivers, QB, and RB’s make you wonder why this team can’t score points.
Before the loss to the Bills last week head coach Rex Ryan wondered how Jacksonville could be 2-8 at the time. I just cannot figure this team out. They seem to be in just about every game but just cannot figure out ways to close the door. All signs point to coaching as the issue in the River City.
Who could the Jags land as a new Head Coach in 2017? This team needs major help along the OL, and maybe draft a top-quality RB in the draft like a Leonard Fournette in the upcoming draft. The defense is solid. Fan support is horrible.
What if Jack Del Rio was to go on and win a Super Bowl in Oakland? That would mean the first two coaches in Jags history would have rings, but the Jags pulled the plug on both. It is time to start over once again in Jacksonville which has been a recurring theme as of late.
What would someone like a Bruce Arians do with the talent on the Jag roster? Could the Jags go out and bring back Coughlin at age 70 who is the only man who had the Jags sniffing a Super Bowl back in 1999? Would he come out of retirement? Would someone like John Gruden, or Tony Dungy be motivated to step back on the sidelines in Jacksonville with the talent assembled on that roster?
I just know it is back to drawing board again for the Jags, and they need a total house cleaning this time. If something does not change soon we could be looking at the London Jaguars in the near future. Time is now for big changes in Jacksonville.
Former BHS Pirate Darius Slay Makes Big Play For Lions
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Former Brunswick High Pirate Darius Slay had quite a Thanksgiving as he led the first place Detroit Lions to another comeback victory over the Minnesota Vikings yesterday to keep the Lions moving towards a playoff berth.
The interception with 30 seconds left in the game set up a Matt Prater 38 yard field goal that gave the surging Lions its sixth win in last seven games.
This Lions team without Slay would probably have at least two more losses on the season as Slay’s late game heroics also sealed a win against the Eagles earlier this year. The season sweep over the Vikings now gives the Lions basically a two game lead in the NFC North Division.
Nothing I see out of Darius Slay ever surprises me. He is quite frankly the most gifted athlete I have ever seen walk the halls at Brunswick High School. His 4.3 speed and ball hawking skills make him a super athlete and well worth with the $50 million extension he signed before the season.
Coming off the hamstring injury that caused him to miss two games, Slay seemed to struggle a bit against the Jaguars last Sunday. He more than made up for that yesterday, as he continues to play a big role on a Lion defense that just rises to the occasion when it needs to.
He made a great play in the first quarter that forced an interception that was flagged for a bogus pass interference call, and just seemed to be on top of every snap that went in his direction.
The Vikings appeared to pick up a third-down conversion with less than a minute left, but Cordarrele Patterson lined up illegally on the play. After the illegal formation penalty, Slay picked off Bradford, who the Vikings traded a first-round pick for right before the season started.
The Lions’ schedule isn’t easy the rest of the way. They still have road games left at the New Orleans Saints, New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys. But now they have a margin for error. They lead the Vikings by a game and have the tiebreaker. They have a two-and-a-half game lead over the third-place Green Bay Packers. It’s their division to lose now.
Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the Lions have just three division titles: 1983, 1991 and 1993. Slay’s big play yesterday keeps the Lions on track to win a division title for the first time in 23 years. Yes 23 years which happens to be Big Play Slay’s number.
Nobody picked these Lions to be special this year. Heck, they have not won a championship in almost 60 years, but little did I know that a former BHS Pirate would be their lock down pro bowl type CB.
When Slay jumped that route yesterday I sprang to my feet and yelled “that’s a Pirate who made that play”.
Slay even gave a shout out to the Glynn Academy Red Terrors in his post game interview on the field just after the game. That is hometown pride from a home town hero.
Ryan Tannehill Worth Miami Dolphins Money
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Last summer I wrote a piece revolving around the contract extensions given to Cam Newton and Ryan Tannehill, focusing more on the Dolphins and how they really didn’t have a choice considering there weren’t a lot of alternatives for them to choose from.
I still stand by my opinion at the time I wrote it, but much like the dumbbells I own collecting dust underneath my bed, amongst my wife’s photo albums and lord knows what else, I wonder if Miami is starting to have buyer’s remorse?
What started out as a disastrous beginning to the season for Miami (1-4) has turned around somewhat of late. Their offensive line has been playing better, opening up some nice running lanes for Jay Ajayi, who has become one of the league’s leading rushers. Their defense is finally starting to live up to the exceedingly high expectations they were burdened with to start the season, and they are right in the middle of the playoff hunt.
I really want to jump on the Dolphins’ bandwagon and believe that not only will they make the playoffs, but make a run at New England once they get there. I have confidence in the ground game and feel better about their defense with every passing week, but I just can’t bring myself to jump aboard. Mainly, because of Tannehill.
It’s not that I think Tannehill is a horrible quarterback or anything, I just don’t have a lot of confidence in him. I mean, I like the fact I can buy a large cheese pizza from Little Caesar’s for $5. However, don’t confuse my enthusiasm that for so little money I can feed my kids and myself for a night while my wife is out with the fact that I’m actually going to enjoy that pizza. No matter how much I enjoy saving the money it’s not something I want to do with any type of regularity.
To be completely fair and honest though, I must admit my prognostications over the past two months have been anything but stellar. Seriously, take a look and you’ll see a losing streak that should put me on every bookie’s Christmas card list. So, don’t be surprised at all if Tannehill all of a sudden becomes the second coming of Dan Marino.
If you’re a Miami fan, you’d better hope that happens because you don’t have a plethora of other options, if it doesn’t.
Because Tannehill makes so much money it will be extremely difficult to find a trade partner if management decides they want to move him. And you can’t cut him since his release would end in what I would assume to be a huge salary cap hit. For better or worse, he is the Dolphins quarterback over the next few years.
I’m not saying Miami is anywhere near making such a drastic decision like either of those two options would be. But if you feel like you have a team that can make a playoff run (they do), and your quarterback may be the reason you are hesitant to look too far into it (he probably is), you’d like to have a little bit of flexibility, if needed.
Tannehill seems to have all the attributes that you look for in your starting quarterback, but for whatever reason just can’t put it all together on a consistent basis. If Miami is going to make a run at the playoffs they’ll need him to prove me wrong. If the past few months have taught me anything, my money is on Tannehill.
Carolina Panthers Blow Playoff Chances
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
At this point in the NFL season you pretty much have an idea where every team stands.
Sure, there may be an anomaly like the Kansas City Chiefs last year, who started out 1-5 and then went on the win their final 10 games, but for the most part there aren’t too many big surprises.
In the case of the Carolina Panthers, they are basically the NFL’s version of HBO’s “Vinyl”. There are high expectations at the beginning of the season due to the person who gets top billing, his supporting cast, and the people behind the scenes who put everything together.
Only it turns out halfway through the season you realize you now spend your Sundays not only wishing for it all to be over, but you’re watching episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm instead because you need a good laugh.
Needless to say, the 2016 campaign that started out with hopes of another possible Super Bowl appearance more or less came to an end when Carolina lost to those aforementioned Chiefs, 17-20 this past weekend.
Sure, they’re not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs as of yet, but at 3-6 they might as well be.
The Kansas City loss was actually fairly apropos when you look at the Panthers season as a whole. Much like those lofty expectations to start the year, the Panthers had a lot going for them coming into the weekend.
After a two game winning streak, where it looked like the Panthers Defense was starting to come around and Jonathan Stewart returned to the backfield, things were starting to go their way.
Even though they entered the game 3-5 a win, coupled with what ended up being an Atlanta loss, would put Carolina in better position than you would normally expect for a sub .500 team. Well, obviously, that didn’t happen.
Carolina played like the better team for most of the game, but like in a number of losses they’ve had this year, they just couldn’t close it out in the end. I can almost count on the missed opportunities and mental mistakes taking place about as often as Bobby Cannavale’s character doing lines of coke, which was just about every week.
Even if Carolina were to avenge all three of their NFC South losses from earlier this year, which is a huge “if”, they still play both the Raiders and Seattle on the road, in back to back weeks, followed by a much improved San Diego Chargers team in Charlotte.
Throw in the Washington game and 8-8 is about the best any Panthers fan can realistically hope for. Even a record of 9-7 probably wouldn’t be enough for a playoff appearance.
Over the next two months there will be a lot of talk about “showing what they’re made of” and “getting a jumpstart on next year” which I’ve always thought was a load of crap. The Jaguars finished last season on a tear and was a popular pick to win the AFC South. How is that whole “jumpstart on next year” thing working out for them?
And putting forth a courageous effort? How is playing hard the remainder of this season going to have any impact on next year?
