CHARLOTTE — And now, it's a little more real.
Prior to beating the Rams and a (needed) bye week, everything urged caution. This is still a very young team. It's still a developmental project. It's not finished, by any means.
But now, when you look at the standings and see where the Panthers are, and (waves hands around in a circle) and where everyone else is, goals are becoming more tangible. You can see it. You can almost touch it.
The Panthers have reached the point where they can reasonably talk about the playoffs. Of course, they aren't. They're only talking about the Saints, because that's the game in front of them, and that's the only important one. But fans, yes, sure, enjoy the moment, because it's been a minute. Even the 2022 playoff push wasn't like this, because it was freighted with so much subtext of the coming changes. Now, this is the product that's being built, this is a thing that's happening. These are people who are going to be around when the product approaches its final form.
The Rams win, and then sitting back and looking at the rest of the league to provide some context over the weekend should provide some clarity. They're playing — or at least they played the last time we saw them — the kind of football that makes such talk reasonable. So fans should enjoy the moment. Once you get to the kind of sustainable good other teams reach, then you start complaining about not winning often enough, by enough, or in an attractive way. That's spoiled. No one should aspire to Eagles fan behavior. This is kind of pure because it's new and only gets to be new once, and that's refreshing.
For the team, this creates a new challenge as well. Matching that moment is not the kind of thing you can take for granted (man, I sound like Bryce Young when I say that). It requires the same kind of work, over and over, to build to a heightened level once you've reached a place of stability. And that's still going to take time.
But right now, this does feel more real than it has in years.
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Hey. Two weeks in a row! SOO the Saints beat the Bucs at Tampa. The Saints beat us at home. What do you say to them in the stretch? It's all in front of you? I invite the mailbag to weigh in, and Darin! Make sure they see it. I'll start. Win the battle with the man in front of you, and then challenge the men next to you. — Jimmy, Wilmington, NC
Jimmy's out here trying to make somebody run through a wall. And they might.
That "it's all right in front of you" has already come out of the mouth of one David Aaron Canales this week.
And he's right.
This is why they lift all them weights. This is why they run all them hills in the offseason. This is why they do all that treatment, and watch all that film.
Motivation shouldn't be hard right now, or necessary.
After Canales dropped some peak dad-wisdom in his Monday presser — "How you'll do anything is how you'll do everything" — I told him that sounded very John Wooden.
The legendary UCLA coach (hmmm, Canales grew up in LA, probably a coincidence) was teaching "process" before every other coach in the world co-opted the word. He spent practice time early in the season teaching guys the correct way to put on socks and tie their shoes, because he didn't want a blister taking someone out when they were needed.
"These seemingly trivial matters," Wooden said, "taken together and added to many, many other so-called trivial matters, build into something very big: namely, your success."
You want to do big things? You've got to do a lot of little things right first. "Do right longer" is how Canales says it. And the good news for Canales and Dan Morgan as they put this thing together is that they've surrounded themselves with grinders like Derrick Brown and Jaycee Horn and Chuba Hubbard and Bryce. When your high-earners and high-performers are also your hardest workers and your leaders, it has a better chance of being sustainable.
So, all right, you heard Jimmy, get after it this week.
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Hope the holiday was relaxing for you and yours! As an early Christmas present to you, I'll keep it short and sweet today:
Your advocacy for volunteering during election season has inspired me, so I'd like to remind everyone to get their votes in for the Pro Bowl. It is none of my business who you vote for, but if you are undecided I have a pamphlet about Derrick Brown you should read. — Jake, Candler, NC
I love all things democracy. But I'm also glad that the popular vote alone doesn't determine the Pro Bowl.
Derrick Brown wasn't among the top 10 in fan voting in 2023, when he was in the process of breaking the league record for tackles in a season by a defensive lineman. But players and coaches saw what was happening and used their electoral votes to get him the honor he deserves.
And a lot of time, once somebody goes once, there's a certain inertia that keeps them going. But Derrick only playing one game last year stalled some of that. But this year, he's playing as well as ever, and on a better team.
He's got a league-high seven passes defensed, and career-high 4.0 sacks, which might not sound like a lot, but for a guy who is primarily a run defender who gets pressure it's a good number. (He never had more than 4.5 in a season in college, but you can pressure pockets without getting sacks, and he always has.)
Having that game-clinching sack-forced fumble against the Rams before the bye was big for him because highlights increase the top-of-mind awareness. But even without it, there's just the standard of excellence he's gotten back to (and the getting back was why he won the Ed Block Courage award in voting by his teammates).
He's in the top 10 of fan voting this week, which is a good sign for his chances of making the Pro Bowl. Because his peers realize how good he is already.
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When they are good, they are really, really good. When they are bad, they are horrible. And now, thanks to the Saints, we are tied for first place.
I remember when Ron Rivera became the head coach. He went through a learning curve the first couple of years. Can you compare his early years with coach Canales' first two years?
Coach Rivera became Riverboat Ron when he became more aggressive. Coach Canales is already there. What nickname would fit him? — Roger, Matthews, NC
Still stuck behind Patriot enemy lines in Massachusetts. Last Mailbag, it seemed like "Stephen, North Charleston, SC" was reading my mind. The amount of times Carolina has gone for it on fourth down at critical times of the game does get the blood pumping. Almost like the Riverboat Ron days. Has Canales earned the nickname "Double-Down Dave"? I can see the T-shirts now. — Michael, East Falmouth, MA
As we discussed last week, the nickname has to be organic. Something will happen, someone will say the thing, and everyone will know it's right.
But I do think it's also worth remembering that Canales has served as a head coach in the National Football League exactly 30 times in his life.
We talk about this being a young team and needing time to develop, and that goes for him, too.
And that's not a bad thing.
All the qualities that Ron Rivera possessed when the Panthers went to the Super Bowl — the dedication, the direct approach, the linebacker toughness, the work ethic, the military attention to detail, the subtle but firm style of leadership, the selflessness, and the self-deprecating sense of humor — he had all of that in him when he got the job in 2011. But it took time to grow into the job because he hadn't been a head coach before.
He was 13-19 in his first two seasons, and started 1-3 in his third, before things started to turn because he turned them.
And Canales is going through the same process. The way he responded to the not running enough in San Francisco by owning it and then running more was instructive. That's what recognition and adaptation looks like, friends.
So the fourth downs that get all the attention are a sign of what's happening, rather than the thing itself. He's growing more confident in the job, and that's showing up on the field.
And it's working.
The Panthers are fifth in the league in fourth-down efficiency (70.0 percent). But they're second in the league in fourth-down attempts (30), and second in the league in fourth-down conversions (21). I'm always hesitant to declare small sample sizes a trend prematurely, but that's just who they are right now.
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Thank the maker! I had you pegged for a Trekkie. To be fair, the Chris Pine movies do add a coolness factor to the franchise. Anytime you are blowing up alien ships while jamming to Sabotage, it's a win. Anyway, the Saints Bucs game was so wizard, Ani...I mean Dari. It gave me A New Hope for the upcoming game this Sunday. It gives us a chance to Strike Back against the Saints for what happened in Week 10. OK, I'm done. I'll be sure to think of you while enjoying our annual trip to Galaxy's Edge. There is a much better chance of watching meaningful football being played while hanging out in Oga's Cantina in my Panthers boonie, FOTM shirt, and Beskar pauldron. OK, I wasn't done.
To my question(s): I still hear or see comments like "Bryce is not the answer" or "Bryce is too small". I like to stick to "Time will tell" as the best response, but I still would like to throw some things out there. First, what year was Cam in when he made his first playoff appearance? Second, do you know the batted passes to attempts ratio for all active quarterbacks? — Jonathan, Whittier, NC
NEEEERRRRRRRDDDDD!
Sorry, that was reflexive.
Learned, you have (my family loves it when I talk like Yoda), that "time will tell" is usually the correct answer to any question.
Young remains the youngest quarterback in the division, with a second-year head coach, a second-year GM, and a bunch of first- and second-year receivers. The fact that he's first among quarterbacks since 2023 in game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime, is instructive as well.
He's got a little something about him that shows up late in games, and that beats the alternative. At a certain point in his development, you'd love him to avoid the trouble he's so good at getting out of, but the guys who possess that ability are few and far between. It's like the old golfer Seve Ballesteros, being great at playing out of the rough is a mixed blessing.
And yes, Cam Newton didn't go to the playoffs until his third season. And this is, ... checks notes, ... yep, Bryce's third season. So maybe we wait until the appropriate time to declare.
Also, and this is my personal soapbox when it comes to transactions, but all the people who want to get rid of Bryce and find a new one seem to ignore a few economic realities. Beginning with "Who are you going to replace him with?" Next year's free agent class is led by Daniel Jones and his unfortunately torn Achilles, 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers, and 37-year-old Russell Wilson. The draft is said to not include a sure thing at the top of the first round, and the Panthers don't pick until the middle of it.
Also, the Panthers are 23rd in the league in spending on quarterbacks between Bryce and Andy Dalton. Young counts $10 million and change against the cap this year, and $12 million and change next year. And if they pick up the option on his rookie deal for around $26 million for 2027, that number would rank him 20th among this year's quarterbacks (not factoring in inflation), right behind Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield. The point is, to upgrade would be expensive, and also more difficult than a lot of people would care to believe.
Now, to another bit of myth-busting that I enjoy.
Just because Bryce Young is not tall does not mean he gets a lot of passes batted down.
He's at eight so far this season, which is tied for 16th in the league with Jones and Tyler Shough of the Saints, who has done it in five starts. The 6-foot-6 Trevor Lawrence and the 6-1 Caleb Williams lead the league with 15. The 6-2 Dak Prescott and the 6-3 Darnold are tied for third at 13 each.
My hunch is that if Bryce were regular-sized, it wouldn't even be a topic since it only happens about every other game.
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This Philip Rivers news has to make you happy, doesn't it? I figured I had to Ask The Old Guy about the Old Guy, right? — Will, Rock Hill, SC
I am ecstatic. Old cats everywhere should be. Youth is served often enough, thank you very much, stand back and watch the dads for a second. (And Rivers has more experience at being a dad than most of us.)
Also, he's great at football.
He's a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year, and I had already sent in a ballot with his name among my final 15. If he takes a snap on Sunday (and he probably wouldn't have signed with the Colts today if that wasn't his intention), we're going to have to adjust, because he won't be eligible for another five years.
And in my opinion, he's absolutely deserving to be in Canton, more than a lot of his quarterback contemporaries (that's him being chased by Thomas Davis, if you want to carbon-date him.)
But mostly this tickles me because it reminds me of one of my favorite chapters in Panthers history — the Vinny Testaverde era.
In 2007, they signed the 43-year-old Testaverde midseason in response to injuries to Jake Delhomme and David Carr. He rolled in here older than John Kasay, which is something a teammate hadn't done in seven or eight seasons. He also started that week in Arizona, and among other things, overthrew Steve Smith. You know what kind of cannon you have to have to overthrow Steve Smith? He had that kind of cannon, at least once a week. Vinny needed a couple of days between attempts, so he could play on Sundays and practice on Wednesdays. That was about the limit. As good once as I ever was, etc.
But everything about a 44-year-old quarterback (he had a birthday while he was here, and was the third-oldest QB to ever start a game) delighted my spirit. He was, as the kids say, a real one.
When Vinny got here, and they started teaching him the playbook, they made him an armband with all the plays to wear on his wrist like the rest of the quarterbacks. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, he squinted at it for a moment and threw it back at them, because the print was too small and you can't really wear reading glasses inside of a helmet. If the playbook was three plays long, and you went with a large-print edition, he'd have been fine. But if a little presbyopia is the worst thing you can find in your quarterback, then you're doing OK for yourself.
Vinny was a legend. He's 19th on the NFL's all-time touchdown pass list with 275 (seven spots in the rankings and 21 touchdowns ahead of Andy Dalton). He's also fourth on the all-time interception list with 267 (59 spots in the rankings and 116 picks ahead of Andy Dalton). But for a guy who was colorblind and couldn't always tell teammates from opponents, throwing to the other team every now and then is going to happen.
I could tell Vinny stories for days. I might. I'm not proud, or tired. Some of the best ones can't be reprinted in a family Mailbag, though. But for teeing me up for one of the clean ones, I'm making you this week's Friend Of The Mailbag, and will get you the appropriate honorarium, with the senior discount, momentarily.
And for Rivers and everyone with kids during the holidays, here's to a peaceful night's hotel sleep in a city you don't live in, where all you have to do for a few hours a day is work. That's a non-zero part of why he's doing this, for sure.
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Exams are next week, and they really, really count for the last time. I have three tests to take before then, though. Before I get back to studying, I would like to share a school update from the bye week.
I tried out for my school's musical last week, it's Sweet Charity. I really wanted the role of Daddy Brubeck, who was played by the fabulous Sammy Davis Jr. in the movie. Sweet Charity is a '60s/'70s musical, which is right up my alley. I literally wrote my common app essay for colleges about how I love 70s music and people in their 70s. I unfortunately did not get the role of Daddy Brubeck, which stunk. Instead, I am Dirty Old Man/Marvin/Manfred/Barney. I hoped to get a bigger role because it's my senior year musical, but that didn't happen. Oh well. Who knows, maybe I will be pleasantly surprised in those roles.
Although I tried hard, I didn't have the best academic week last week either. A math quiz went awry, a Latin project shockingly didn't go the way I expected, and I got a rude email sent to me. Sometimes things just do not go your way at school, I guess.
I'd love to hear a story of yours that can lift me up or give me a laugh — it would be great to hear something from you that puts things in perspective. Looking forward to seeing the Panthers play again! I can't wait to root for this team over the next few weeks! — Zach, Charlotte, NC
Zach is a smart young kid with an old soul, so playing the role of Dirty Old Man is the kind of perfect in a way. (I know he digs classic rock, but I don't know where he comes down on Wu-Tang and ODB.) The fact that he aspires to play a role once played by Sammy Davis Jr. is part of the reason he's our youngest FOTM ever. His future is bright. Seriously, any amount of Latin you can carry into adulthood is just going to allow you to sound smart at parties, which is one of the main goals in life (that, and helping people). "Tu stultus es" does not apply to you, but I'm guessing you know or will learn where it comes from.
And since we're on the topic of Legendary Panthers quarterbacks of the mid-2000s, how about another story?
There once was an undrafted quarterback from a little school in Louisiana who scraped his way into a camp invite and got to hang around for a year on the practice squad. Then he went to NFL Europe, where he backed up a guy who used to work at a Hy-Vee grocery store. Then he spent another year on a practice squad, and then back to Europe, where he became one of the most popular players in Frankfurt Galaxy history. Then he got to actually be on an NFL roster, and in his second NFL start for a team going down the tubes and about to change coaches, he threw four interceptions against his future team which was helpful because they were trying to run up the score that day.
Then he failed to beat out Rodney Peete for the starting job at his new place, at a time when Rodney was kind of begging to be beaten out for a starting job. And then he came in at halftime of the opener, immediately led an all-time comeback, and became a sudden star.
In the years that followed, he'd lose a Super Bowl, get the rear-end torn out of his game britches in the middle of the game in Atlanta in front of god and everybody, need Tommy John surgery when his elbow disintegrated, and eventually throw five picks in his final playoff game, causing his coach to say "he picked a bad day to have a bad day."
But in between, he also did a bunch of cool stuff, including leading a team that no one figured to a Super Bowl, driving a vintage Dodge Charger with a chicken on top for a Bojangles commercial, throwing enough YOLO balls to his co-pilot Steve Smith to help make him a future Hall of Famer, and buying an "undrafted" gelding that outran one of the world's great racehorses.
He also once foiled a couple of locker room pranksters, including Jordan Gross, who wanted to dump ice water on his head when he went to the toilet by hiding an umbrella in his sweatshirt pocket, and loudly and inappropriately announcing to everyone in earshot that he had to go to the can.
Man, Jake Delhomme has lived a life, in addition to being a Hall of Honor quarterback.
You can't throw touchdowns without throwing a few picks. You can't tell funny stories later without being able to laugh at yourself sometimes. And you won't have any stories to tell at all if you don't push yourself into uncomfortable places and try, knowing that failing is one of the possible outcomes.
So file away all those setbacks, let all that character you're building wash over you, and come out clean on the other side. But until then, you can GET BACK TO CLASS, ZACH.
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How do you like to spend your bye week? Do you just catch up on football from around the rest of the league and college? Do Christmas shopping? — Eric, Brick Township, NJ
Respectfully, the last thing I wanted to do was watch football, especially college football (takes too long, poorly played, officiated, and administered, with from the looks of it, morally bankrupt).
I accidentally saw some NFL on Sunday, including the end of the Saints-Bucs game, but probably not more than 45 minutes worth all weekend, and none of the night game. I am old, and I get tired.
But in general, I have many recommendations for down time, and most of them begin with leaving the place you live, so you don't get dragged down into the day-to-day stuff that pops up when you're at home. You have to be intentional about everything, including rest.
The wife and I snuck off to the mountains for a couple of days, and it was lovely. A whole lot of nothing scheduled. I have also learned that as an adult with an actual job, I appreciate the bougie side of Boone much more than when I was a student at Appalachian State, and couldn't afford it. I'm also aware that makes me a gentrifier, but I only stayed a couple of days, so I didn't ruin it all by myself. Highest recommendations to The Horton Hotel, and to The Local, and The Social (a Crunkleton-level cocktail bar). When I asked my recently graduated from ASU Baby Girl, she just said she never went to any of those places because she was broke, and suggested a place with $4 house vodka on Friday. We passed.
But I rested, recharged, went to church for the first time in 14 weeks (Happy 75th birthday, Park Road Baptist, see you in January), and saw the family. Now it's time to get after it, foot to the floor, for the next four weeks.
Also, Christmas is kind of a rumor when you work in this industry, same as Thanksgiving. You squeeze it in when you can. I had a 25-minute window of availability last night, and we went and got the perfect tree for the house, which just happened to be the first one we saw on the lot.
But yes, bye weeks, I approve. When they make me commissioner, there are going to be a hell of a lot more of them.
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And on that note, let's go lightning round, brought to you by the patron saint of the lightning round Jeff from Fuquay-Varina, to close it out this week.
Darin: This team is GREAT. But the question I have is, how can they keep their good players who will become free agents? I'm still bothered by losing Luvu, Chinn, Burns, Reddick, etc. Is it cap space, or is Mr. Tepper just not willing to pay them? Keep Pounding. — Brian, Myrtle Beach, SC
I don't know, maybe I should ask Derrick Brown, Jaycee Horn, and Robert Hunt about the unwillingness to pay big contracts around here.
Some of the guys you mentioned were dudes, the kind you don't mind paying, who got caught in changes of administrations and new priorities. Some were good decisions. Can't sign everybody. But between those last three names I mentioned, cats like Chuba Hubbard, and keeping a nine-deep offensive line together, they've shown they're willing to invest in what they value.
Any update on David Moore? — Jose, Los Angeles, CA
David's out of the big ol' elbow brace, and he's running around and working and getting himself ready. I have no doubt that if he's needed, he could jump in and make a play late in the season or in the playoffs, because that's what he's been doing for Dave Canales his whole career. But right now, they've got an ascending young receiving group that's doing OK for themselves.
But he's still around, and still being David Moore, which is a good thing for a locker room.
Why will Dave Canales not let Bryce Young play out of the pocket more and scramble and throw on the run ?I think he plays better like that. Your thoughts and opinions, please. — Shane, Hurricane, WV
I don't think they're particularly opposed to it, but there's also an element of self-preservation involved. He's not the biggest cat, as you may have noticed, so being intentional about putting him in harm's way seems wise.
Hi Darin. I hope you are doing well. I just want to ask everyone in the Mailbag to vote for our Walter Payton Man of the Year club winner, Austin Corbett, in the 2025 Nationwide Charity Challenge. It would be awesome if we could help him win the $35,000 prize for his charity. Thank you. — LeeAnne, Lincolnton, NC
This is true. Austin's an extremely deserving winner of that award. He will literally go anywhere and do anything. That includes charitable appearances and football.
He's one of a lot of quality people who are willing to sacrifice individual goals for the good of the team and the community. That's part of the reason the team is in this cool spot as well.
