Every season is about learning a lesson. I’m tired of every season having the same lesson, though.
Welcome to our weekly game pick series where I will attempt to guide you through picking every Carolina Panthers game of the 2024 season. With six games under our belts we are finally getting a picture of who this year’s team really is. These Panthers are a lovable, scrappy bunch of kids whose arms aren’t long enough to land a punch against a league of bullies when those bullies hold their pointer finger square in the middle of the Panthers forehead.
Last week, the Panthers were in the mix against the Atlanta Falcons until the fourth quarter. Their offense was firing on at least a few cylinders and the defense even forced a single punt. That’s about what we should expect going forwards. Opposing offenses, especially ones led by Kliff Kingsbury and dynamic young quarterback Jayden Daniels, should be expected to score on every drive. The Panthers offense should move the ball, score often enough to keep things interesting early, but fall short of actually winning any more games on purpose.
This is the NFL, so things will always vary. The Commanders could come in overconfident and underprepared. The New York Giants, in a few weeks, could be too distracted by the charms of Munich and fail to show up on the field entirely. But that goes both ways. The Panthers could have another offensive showing like the put up against the Chicago Bears where Andy Dalton ends up looking like prime Bryce Young.
The room for surprises there, what other teams might call a margin for error, is slim enough that we still should never expect the Panthers to win. Not, at least, based on what they have shown so far. A lot of that is due to a lack of talent from poor drafting over the past three to 30 seasons, and a lot of that is due to a lot of talent landing firmly on injured reserve. The pending returns of safety Sam Franklin Jr and Jonathon Brooks, among possible others does little to change that narrative as yet.
That’s why my FanDuel pick for Week 7 is the Washington Commanders. That’s why my pick every week is going to be whoever the Panthers opponent is until something changes. My bet on the first significant change is the season. We’ll challenge that bet in 2025.