Carolina Panthers: What went wrong?

The Carolina Panthers defeated the second-string of the New Orleans Saints yesterday 31-21 at the Superdome in New Orleans, but the win was meaningless for the Panthers just as the loss was meaningless to the playoff-bound New Orleans Saints. Thanks to a win by the Chicago Bears, the Panthers knew before the game that they would not be in the post-season. For a season that started out with talk of the Super Bowl, now we are left with questions. The biggest one: What went wrong?

We may very well witness an exodus during the off-season. Seeing as the Panthers had the worst third-down conversion rate in the NFL, many fans are demanding the head of offensive coordinator Dan Henning. Many of the players also left New Orleans questioning their futures with the Panthers. After digging themselves into a huge hole with that four-game losing streak, the Panthers simply lost steam.

Telling Piece Wraps Up Panthers Season

As the Panthers wrap up an extremely disappointing 2006 season, fans and the local media have begun to analyze just what went wrong this year.  The Charlotte Observer published a critical-but-fair piece this morning detailing why the Panthers failed to make the playoffs despite several predictions before the season that had Carolina in the Super Bowl.

The biggest bugaboo for the Panthers this season was injuries, as they lost critical starters as soon as the season began.  However, every team in the NFL has to deal with injuries, and the problem with the Panthers was their inability or even lack of willingness to adjust to their replacement personnel.

As the Panthers look forward to the 2007 season, they’ll need to build depth and add a few pieces here and there.  They are not in need of a total rebuild, but it became apparent that their depth was lacking.  Regardless, fans will be ready to continue to faithfully secure Panthers tickets when fall rolls around later this year.