I love the title of this article!

How true, how true! This is one of Darin Gantt's better articles:




Stupidity hurting Panthers


By Darin Gantt The Herald
(Published November 3‚ 2004)


CHARLOTTE -- There are a dozen things gone wrong with the Carolina Panthers they can't do anything about.
There's one thing the Panthers could fix that could fix them, and as they've proven before, carry over into next season.

The best thing the Panthers could do now is play smart, the elusive second half of coach John Fox's "tough and smart" credo.

Because for all the injuries they've sustained, for all the absences they couldn't control, they ought to be able to stop stupid.

Stupid's a hard word, but when a team goes from nearly winning a Super Bowl to barely winning a game, tough standards apply.

People will take offense at the word choice because it cuts, but show me some evidence that it doesn't apply.

It's too late now to get offended by the lack of euphemisms.

They can call them bad breaks. Or boneheaded penalties.

They can talk about not maintaining gap control on defense. Or you could call it blatantly ignoring their run-stopping responsibilities. If good run defense in a one-gap scheme is as simple as being in the right place, what possible excuse do you have for not being there?

Call it what you want, but the Panthers' problem right now isn't the torn knees or bum shoulders, but the empty heads.

Injuries have forced some players into the breach who weren't ready, and you can nearly excuse that.

When safety Colin Branch tried to scoop up a fumble -- forgetting the cast on his right hand that has diminished his already small set of ball skills -- and instead knocked it out of bounds, you can almost chalk the mistake up to the exuberance of youth.

He was trying to make a play, anyway.

But a larger part of the reason the Panthers' 1-6 start is so maddening is that many of the players who are part of the problem are players who know better.

A false start on Brad Hoover killed a fourth-and-1 try, pushing the team out of field goal range and dashing water on an early spark.

Muhsin Muhammad caught a couple of touchdowns (only one meaningful) but obviously pushed off in an attempt at another.

Ricky Manning Jr. was penalized on a punt, which gave Seattle a fresh set of downs which led to a touchdown.

All three have made plays in the past, been reasons the Panthers have won games.

But this year, the guys who were part of big wins are contributing to the mounting losses.

Maybe they're trying to do too much, as some suggest. Or maybe they're just not doing anything.

As the season winds down the drain, the Panthers aren't getting plays from their playmakers, the ones still there.

Mike Rucker hasn't made a play yet. Neither has Mark Fields. Or Will Witherspoon. Or Mike Minter.

That hurts as much as Steve Smith on IR, or the absence of a viable running back.

Instead of stepping up, the guys they need most are stepping aside, and the losses pile up.

Watching Panthers football this year barely resembles last season, when a team overachieved by being smart and tough and fast and fortunate.

They can't be all those things any more, but they could be smart. That's an individual accomplishment with no tie to talent. You might be slow, but you can be in the right place.

Doing small things right and repeatedly won't automatically deliver the Panthers a face-saving win against Oakland this week, but it will at least give them a chance.

That's something they haven't had much of lately, the direct result of their own incompetence.

They probably can't be a Super Bowl team again. They're missing too many players for that.

But they could be a respectable team again, and the only ones keeping them from it are the ones still on the field.

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:applause: Good job by Darin

 

am searching for the why. if it was one or two guys, i could point at them. when it's the whole boatload, i start looking for another reason.

 

Coaching .

 

No flexibilty or adjustment, and lack of creativity in scheming

 

when everyone else gameplans, why don't we? this isn't the preseason anymore.