The Panthers have only played two games this season, but it feels like their season could be over if they don’t find a way to win against the Saints this weekend.
Starting 0-2 leaves teams with a very difficult road to a playoff berth and 0-3 makes that exponentially more difficult. With speculation already floating about head coach Matt Rhule’s job security, that might lead some to wonder if the Panthers might be close to flipping into panic mode as they try to salvage their season.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield has his own concerns for the future thanks to being in the last year of his contract, but he said on Wednesday that he doesn’t see panic setting in around the team.
“Each week you need to have a sense of urgency to win,” Mayfield said at a press conference. “The no-panic mindset comes from the fact that we are just now going into our first division game. . . . Nobody’s hitting the panic button yet. It also helps that we’ve lost by a total of five points.”
The slim margin of the two losses may help in Mayfield’s eyes, but others would see that as a sign that the team is missing the kind of execution and coaching that allows them to do all of the little things well enough to win games. Panicking probably wouldn’t change that, but the Panthers need to find something that will.