Hot Takes: NFL Week Sixteen

Only one week left in the NFL season, so get them Panthers-centric HOT TAKES while you can.

Panthers Finally Lose

The Carolina Panthers are no longer undefeated and I couldn’t be happier. I don’t think the team needed to be humbled or anything like that, I just wanted to get the first loss out of the way before the playoffs. Losing know just shows the team that they’re not unbeatable and that on any given weekend, if the team is better “on paper” and you just beat your opponents 38-0 two weeks ago, any team can be defeated. For the Atlanta Falcons, this was their Super Bowl, and the Panthers need to realize that when the playoffs start, every team will be as desperate as Atlanta was on Sunday.

I don’t even think Atlanta played a great game. More than anything, the Panthers beat themselves in just about every area of football. Cam wasn’t great, Mike Shula inexplicably went away from Cameron Artis-Payne in the second half, the receivers couldn’t get open, Josh Norman was slightly exposed, and the defense couldn’t get off the field on third down. This won’t happen every week. Cam is too good not to bounce back, Jonathan Stewart will be back and Shula will give him plenty of carries, the receivers will probably struggle to get open because they’re not good, no other team has a receiver like Julio Jones, and the defense is too good to struggle that bad on third down moving forward.

Selfishly, I wanted the Panthers to lose so they’d have to play the starters on Sunday against Tampa Bay since I’m going to that game and I want to see Cam Newton. I went to the Panthers game against Tampa Bay last year, but didn’t see Newton as that was the week where he was involved in a car accident. Thanks to their loss and the Cardinals win, they have to play Newton and the rest of the starters as they’ve yet to lock up home-field in the NFC.

The good news for the Panthers is that now, the pressure is off. The attention is no longer on them as most experts have switched their focus to the Arizona Cardinals. The Panthers were at their best this season when they were out of the spotlight and doubted by just about everyone. When the spotlight shown the brightest, they lost a bit of their swagger and personality. Part of that was the NFL’s doing and their handling of the Odell Beckham and Josh Norman situation, but the other part of that was the team just being a little too excited to be in this position. 

Random Thoughts from Panthers/Falcons

*Carolina lost this game when they didn’t bring out the bat in pre-game. They let the NFL dictate their personality and, as Ron Rivera said, “It’s the No Fun League for a reason.”

*Cam is still the MVP, but Carson Palmer is making a strong case. I’m only leaning towards Cam because he’s done a lot more with a lot less.

*Get healthy soon, Jonathan Stewart.

*Julio Jones got the better of Josh Norman, but leaving a linebacker and safety on Julio on third down was inexcusable. The Panthers believe in their scheme, and rightfully so, but Norman should’ve been covering Julio on every third down.

*Kurt Coleman has a lot of interceptions and Luke Kuechly has turned into a good cover linebacker, but they had no chance against Julio down the field.

*Speaking of Kuechly, he was brutal on Sunday. Might’ve been his worst game as a pro. When your top players on both sides of the ball have their worst games of the season, you see the results.

*The Falcons said the Panthers did too much showboating during their win streak. Then Atlanta wins and what do they do? A lot of showboating. They do realize that Carolina were undefeated and had already won the division for the third straight year while the Falcons, despite this victory, aren’t making the playoffs again, right?

Random Week 16 NFL Thoughts

*I’m now allowed to speak about the NFC East thanks to the Redskins clinching the division. Enjoy that first round loss to Seattle or Minnesota/Green Bay.

*It’s always great when Bill Belichick outsmarts himself.

*Something, something, Chiefs win again.

*The St. Louis Rams will get it right one season. They always beat teams they shouldn’t beat and lose to teams they shouldn’t lose to before ending the season with a 8-8 record. Something, something, Jeff Fisher is mediocre.

*THE RAVENS WON THE SUPER BOWL! Ok, so maybe they only defeated the Steelers in Baltimore, but that was a huge win given the circumstances.

*Time for the Dolphins to blow it up. The team, the coaching staff, the front office, the stadium, Florida. Just blow it all up.

*Can the Panthers still trade for Anquan Boldin?

*The Cardinals are the best team in the NFL. They have the best offense and their defense dismantled Green Bay. The Panthers have the best record, but the Cardinals are currently the best team.

*OSWEILER! MCCARRON! IT'S MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!