The Optimist: So that’s what was behind the curtain. . .

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesThe Carolina Panthers lost in every phase of the game to the Dallas Cowboys. Fans can tell themselves all they want that 3-1 is not a bad record ( it isn’t), but that one is still going to sting for at least a few weeks. Everything fell apart. Their offense was a joke and the defense was a shadow of the league-leading unit of ten days ago. That is until it wasn’t.

We’ll talk about all four phases of the game today, but first let’s give kudos to the Panthers for bringing that disaster back into a one-score game. The defense, or at least the defensive players still walking, came to play. Chuba Hubbard found holes behind a line that got no push. Sam Darnold…