Nobody expects the Carolina Panthers to be good. You can read that as an indictment of their 2021 bet on Sam Darnold and not be far off base, but I mean it more widely. The historical successes of the Panthers have come as surprises to the wider sports consciousness of our country. Fans are often just as surprised. The Panthers are famously a franchise that has never posted back-to-back winning seasons. Whether it is the national media or sects of rival fanbases, the Panthers are the team that you neither count on nor count out. Chaos has become their reputation in a sport that lionizes stability.
The Optimist: Nobody expects the Panthers to be good
