CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There is a sense around the Carolina Panthers that this year will be different.
Of course, losing teams always hope this, and it’s easier to believe it when you haven’t lost a real game in nine months. The Panthers haven’t played anything that counted since Jan. 9, 2022, when their two quarterbacks were Sam Darnold and Cam Newton and they got pounded, 41-17, by Tampa Bay.
They will field a team that’s a good bit different in 2022, but the coach directing it all is the same. Matt Rhule enters his third season in the NFL with no certainty he’s going to get a fourth.
