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Tuesday, September 17, 2013
sports Is it time for a new Panthers coach?
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 3:31 PM
Buffalo was on the ropes and ready to go down. Much like the Cobra Kai in The Karate Kid, all the Panthers needed to do was give a quick defensive punch and finish the game. Instead, the Bills came out with a crane kick of a touchdown pass with two seconds left, giving the Panthers their second loss of the season.
It's not supposed to be this way. Last year, the Panthers stumbled their way to a 2-8 start before winning five of the last six games. All of that momentum had fans thinking, "Next year's going to be different!" Nope. Not yet.
It's still early in the season and there's still hope in the NFC South. Sure, the Panthers are 0-2, but so is Tampa Bay. Atlanta is 1-1 and New Orleans is 2-0. If they can turn things around, all hope won't be lost.
While there's plenty of talent on this team, something's gotta give. The Panthers are 2-14 in games decided by a touchdown or less under head coach Ron Rivera. If the Panthers are winning, it's become commonplace to say out loud, "They'll lose it in the last two minutes... just watch." There's only so much of that which fans can take - especially on the heels of $87.5 million in pending stadium renovations. Meanwhile, can you hear that...? It's the sound of ticket prices dropping as fans get more frustrated with loss after loss.
The team's not going to get rid of Cam Newton, though some fans would like to see that happen. Newton is the only player in NFL history with 30 or more passing touchdowns and 20 or more rushing touchdowns in his first two seasons. And let's face it, he's better than former QB Jake Delhomme and current backup Derek Anderson.
Nope, the change is most likely directed at Ron Rivera. Rivera is 13-21 as a head coach. He went 6-10 his first year at Carolina and 7-9 last year. An 0-2 start sure isn't going to get him job security. Plenty of fans are already calling on him to be fired. The only question is, how many losses will it take?
With another one to the New York Giants likely this weekend and an 0-3 start looming, I'd say it's only a matter of time. Anyone have Bill Cowher's phone number?
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