Blowout Loss Spotlights Toothless Panthers' Shocking Demise
The Carolina Panthers are done. It's over. They're deader than disco.
If they are mathematically eliminated or not at this point is irrelevant. This team looks like it no longer cares. The fire that drove them last season is extinguished. They look lost, disheveled, like they have no you-know-whats to give.
There were two scenes from Sunday's 40-7 loss in Seattle that showed just how beaten the Panthers were in the game, and are on the season. One was the injured Luke Kuechly, on the sideline, screaming, his face wrenched in anger after the Seahawks' big touchdown run on the first play in the second half. Kuechly was one of the few players on the team who showed any emotion during the game, and he wasn't even playing.
The other was Cam Newton on the bench for the opening series of the game. Afterward, during his postgame press conference, coach Ron Rivera said he sat Newton for the opening series for violating the travel dress code, as ESPN's David Newton reported.
Rivera said the same rules apply to all players, even star quarterbacks. That may be true, but most of the time, these types of things are handled quietly, and usually with a fine.
It seems unlikely—and this is speculation—that Rivera benched last year's MVP simply because he didn't wear a tie (the reason cited to WBTV's Ashley Stroehlein). This is something deeper and a sign of the ugly season in Carolina.
"He has rules in place, and we have to abide by them," Newton said at his televised press conference.
For the Seahawks, it was a massive win. It allows them to stay in the playoff hunt, despite the massive price that was paid by losing Earl Thomas to a broken shin bone. (Thomas tweeted that he was considering retirement. That may be the case, but we'll have to see how he feels after some time has passed since such an emotional and painful moment.)
The main thing with the Seahawks is they are starting to click. Not perfectly. Not consistently. Their defense is terrifically banged up, but the rest of the best in the NFC should keep an eye out in their rear-view mirror for the Seahawks.
Nobody needs to be looking out for Carolina. And in the Panthers' rear-view mirror they are seeing memories of a 15-1 season that seem like a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
This Panthers team is unrecognizable. Last season, this was one of the most spirited and tenacious teams I've covered in a long time. They were nasty (and that's meant as the greatest of compliments), disciplined and smart.
In just one season, they are the opposite of those things.
It's not unusual for Super Bowl runners-up to struggle. Most don't come close to reaching the Super Bowl again the following season (as Tyler Dragon charted for NFL.com). But they often have winning seasons.
That won't be Carolina, which is 4-8. This team took several steps backward. But it will rebound. There's too much talent up and down this organization.
In the meantime, Sunday's game just added to a shocking season. Carolina's defense gave up over 500 total yards of offense. The Seahawks had 240 yards on the ground. Those numbers are just inconceivable. Those are the types of numbers you would expect from the Browns, not the Panthers.
Who is this Carolina team? What happened to them? They are injured, for sure, but the Seahawks have been just as banged up all season and they're 8-3-1.
What the Panthers will have to deal with now is the Newton benching. Again, it seems unlikely that he did nothing more than not wear a tie. The starting quarterback doesn't get benched for such trivial things unless there was a pattern or the coach feels he needs to send a message.
This is where we are with Carolina. The quarterback was benched. The opponents ran for seven trillion yards. This Panthers team looks lost.
It's over in Carolina.
Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article featured an image of Luke Kuechly being carted off the field from the Panthers’ Nov. 17 game against New Orleans, expressing a look of disappointment that seemed to reflect the state of the team. The pairing with the headline was unintentional and unfortunate, and we regret the oversight.
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