Monday Morning Optimist: Let’s talk about the playoffs

I’m almost kidding

The 2-7 Carolina Panthers, everybody’s favorite bet for the worst team in the NFL, just moved up in the race to make the 2024 playoffs, per NFL.com. That’s right, they’re now in 13th place (out of 16) in the NFC, ahead of the 2-7 New Orleans Saints and the 2-7 New York Giants. What luck that those are the opponents the Panthers are currently sandwiched between right now. Most people would say that the Panthers-Giants game in Munich has huge implications for the top of the 2025 NFL Draft, but we can technically also say that it has huge playoff implications.

Now that that bit of frivolity is out of the way, let’s try and remember how we really talk about wins. Beating the Saints is always fun. Seeing Bryce Young play like a real quarterback was a blast. Growing to trust some of the Panthers young weapons is going to feel like a long overdue experience.

Let’s not pretend the Panthers would have been in this game, let alone have won it, without Dennis Allen’s cowardly, Ron Rivera-esque, coaching style. The Panthers remain a deeply flawed, bad team.

But there were also genuinely good things on the football field. So let’s roll back to an old format and talk about what I liked.

What I liked

Bryce Young

Young threw for 171 yards, one touchdown, and one interception that should really be blamed on Xavier Legette’s broken wrist. Young played like a completely different quarterback yesterday against the Saints compared to the season opener against the Saints. He was more confident, pushed the ball further down the field, and made fewer head scratchingly conservative decisions with the football in a close game.

Next week he is going to face a much tougher defense on the road (and over the sea and across another couple of roads) against the Giants in Munich. All I want to see is one, maybe two drives where he looks like the quarterback from yesterday and then maybe I’ll have some hope that the rest of the season could be a little bit enjoyable.

That would be hugely promising coming of a game that saw Young’s second ever possession with a lead and first ever victory formation in the NFL. What’s more, those weren’t even the same possessions.

Xavier Legette

We’ll keep our fingers crossed that his wrist injury is nothing serious, but, while we do, let’s also celebrate the fact that the Panthers have finally hit on a receiver with a high draft pick. Legette has had an excellent rookie season so far and I know we’re all looking forward to him establishing a relationship with his quarterback of the future—whoever that may be.

Jalen Coker

This kid has hands. He is a savvy route runner with decent speed, but his ability to grab the ball out of the air was on full display with his first catch of the game. He may have only gone on to have two catches on three targets, but that’s a fine stat line for the undrafted free agent who is looking to have a strong home in the Panthers receiving corps in the coming years.

Ja’Tavion Sanders

Trust a tight end to be wide receiver one for a struggling rookie quarterback, sure. But it is less common to see a rookie tight end to be such a sure and welcome target for a sophomore quarterback that everybody else has already written off.

Sanders is playing beyond his years right now. He has 245 yards through nine games, which, as the Charlotte Observer’s Mike Kaye pointed out yesterday, is more than any Panthers tight end in a season since 2019, Greg Olsen’s last season with the Panthers. The sky is the limit with this kid.

Trevin Wallace

I can’t start this off with a Luke Kuechly comparison as Wallace’s five tackles yesterday don’t quite rise to that occasion. I can, however, acknowledge that Wallace did come up big in big plays and has made the absence of Shaq Thompson bearable, insofar as watching this rag tag defense is ever that.

Chalk Wallace up as another quality long term prospect unearthed in Dan Morgan’s first draft as general manager. Let’s hope that the talent drafted between Legette and Wallace is a sign of things to come.

What I didn’t like

Miles Sanders

Sanders had two receptions for negative five yards and two rushes for negative five yards. That totals four touches for negative ten yards. Here’s to hoping we see Jonathon Brooks next week.

Draft talk

Yes, the Panthers removed themselves from the lead for the first overall pick. No, they are not out of contention for a high pick. The bottom of the NFL is a terrible place right now. There are nine two-win teams in the league. Eventually, this will all sort out into a sane and ordered NFL Draft. But for now, there is too much chaos to say what one win will or won’t cost a given team in terms of draft position. For now, let’s enjoy the rare Panthers win and take solace in the fact that the Saints are at least as bad as the Panthers are.