So the honeymoon is officially over.
Sam Darnold looked to be a steal for the Carolina Panthers after three games. He had his team sitting on top of the world with a perfect 3-0 record. Then a loss to Dallas in Week 4 opened the floodgates as they are now in the midst of a four-game losing streak.
As if that’s not bad enough on its own, they haven’t been losing to powerhouses every week. Other than the Cowboys, the Panthers have not faced a team that has a winning record during their losing streak with the 3-3 Vikings serving as the second-best team they faced.
This weekend, they were on the road against the New York Giants who were just 1-5. That changed for them as they made it look easy in a 25-3 route. During their loss, the Panthers even benched Darnold who was sacked three times and threw one pick.
P.J. Walker was worse, with just 33 yards on 3-of-14 passing. Yes, three completions and 11 incompletions.
It’s hard to envision them turning to Walker full-time but it’s also hard to see Darnold turning this thing back around. What once looked so promising is now becoming a doomed experiment as the Panthers are going to be back to the drawing board in 2022 looking for yet another starting quarterback.