Cat Scratch Reader
The 5-4 Carolina Panthers have presented their fans with a novel conundrum: how to handle limited success. We’re experienced of late in divining the faintest of moral victories, in predicting future success, and expecting the sky to fall even when it is already on the ground. A positive record built on a repeatable offensive identity, a surprisingly improved defense, and a head coach who feels like he is being honest with the public? That’s new. So new, in fact, that Panthers fans who were born after the last time the Panthers showed a semblance of that are now in the eighth grade.
It’s no wonder that so many fans are confident in the current direction of their favorite team.
That sad, this isn’t the first time in recent memory that fans thought that maybe, just maybe, things might be turning around. This is just the current time and, with a little recency bias thrown in for good measure, maybe the time with the most reason to believe.
It can be difficult to talk about this team with anything less than a sense of fatalism or self-directed schadenfreude. We’ve watched a lot of Three Stooges level leadership and decision-making, combined with just enough bad injury and draft luck to keep us from blaming only one person for the current state of the franchise. From that position, it can also be difficult not to jump at the first sign of hope and be emotionally all-in again on a franchise that isn’t ready. This year’s trade deadline offered just such a circumstance.
Edge rushers, defensive backs, and even offensive linemen were available aplenty. Some, even, were available at stomachable costs. Others, perhaps game changers, were available for costs that the Panthers could have chosen to pay—wisdom be damned.
Instead, the Panthers did nothing at the trade deadline. They stayed the course on their reportedly three-year rebuild plan and didn’t mortgage their already limited future for the chance at an unlikely playoff run in the now. What’s more is that fans of the Carolina Panthers seem to support that idea. Years of jumping off of cliffs in search of quick fixes is both what got us here and what sports teams are expected to do. I’m proud of both the team and us as fans for being patient.
Today marks one of the easiest games on the Panthers schedule. They are playing the extremely beatable New Orleans Saints at home, a location that has seen their most stable and consistent football. Playing the Panthers brand of 2025 football should result in a comfortable win for Carolina today. Comfortable is an adjective that I wouldn’t ascribe to any of the Panthers wins this year except for maybe their first game against the Atlanta Falcons. I’m happy to be patient in the long run, but I’d sure like to see some progress in the short term. A comfortable win today would be that. Of course, anything less would also be confirmation that not making any moves...
