All Canadians know that football is one of the biggest sports around the country. As CFL fans will know, the 2021 season has just wrapped up and saw the Winnipeg Blue Bombers take home the Grey Cup. While the end of another season might leave Canadian football fans downbeat, turning to the NFL for your next sporting fix is a good call.
With NFL 2021 in full swing, it is the perfect place to indulge your passion for football – until the CFL returns. If you also like to bet on this sport, the NFL is just as good as the CFL. Just remember to get the best NFL betting odds and tips on sites such as WSN.com, first before putting any money down. It is also worth looking at the latest stories and how teams are doing to get the most from watching or betting on this league.
One hot topic currently is the form of the Carolina Panthers and whether the trust shown in Head Coach Matt Rhule is paying off. But how are this team doing and is Rhule repaying the faith shown in him?
Carolina Panthers and Matt Rhule – a match made in heaven?
Before we look at the current season, it is worth highlighting the trust shown in Matt Rhule by Carolina. He initially signed on as head coach back in January 2020 and experienced some initial success tightening up their defense. His first full season in charge saw them finish third in NFC South with a 5-11 record – not what fans had been hoping for, after his impressive spells coaching in college ball. While this saw him come under pressure from fans, the owners stuck with him going into the 2021 season and put their faith in him to turn it around.
But has this happened?
2021 flattering to deceive so far
Fans of the Panthers hoped off-season would have allowed Rhule to tighten up the side’s defense further and give their lackluster offense more power. This looked to be on the cards after an eye-catching off-season.
The draft saw Jaycee Horn come in to add more defensive swagger, and wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr. give the offense potential new life. Trading for Sam Darnold also looked a great move and had Panthers fans hoping extra class at QB would make for a great year. As the 2021 CFL Most Outstanding Player award for Zach Collaros showed recently, QB is such a key position for any pro football side.
The first three games of the campaign seemed to suggest that all these signings had worked out and Rhule had found the magic formula. Three wins from this run of games (including a dominant Panthers 26 – New Orleans Saints 7 result) had fans gearing up for a brilliant season. But then the wheels seemed to fall off and Rhule has been left wondering how to fix things. With a home loss to the Eagles leaving him with a 5-8 record so far in 2021, the pressure is mounting.
What has gone wrong at Carolina?
This is the big question for fans after such a bright start. The poor run the side have been on has seen Matt Rhule come under scrutiny and seen many question the faith placed in him. With a brutal run of fixtures coming up (such as a couple of games against Tampa!), Rhule might not have long to come up with some answers.
Many of the issues that need fixing seem to revolve around offense. The firing of offensive coordinator Joe Brady hints at this, as does the lack of fear the Panthers attacking play appears to strike into other teams. Sam Darnold’s injury was a big blow, to be fair, and the re-signing of Cam Newton was a smart move considering this. Although the Newton move did inject a feel-good factor for a few weeks, this is now slowly fading.
Rhule might not get many more chances
There is no doubt that Panthers owner David Tepper has shown a lot of trust in his head coach so far. At some point, though, Rhule has to show the ability to react to what is happening in games and also the ability to coach at the very top level. As he is finding out, college ball and NFL are very different! If he cannot sort out his misfiring offense, lift team morale and find solutions to the poor performances his team have been putting in, he might not get another year to prove himself.
