By Sonny Jones
There’s still one game remaining on the schedule, but the season came to end Sunday for the Carolina Panthers as Tom Brady rallied Tampa Bay for a 30-24 win.
Carolina, now 6-10, will close out the season Sunday at New Orleans, then enter an offseason with lots and lots and lots of questions.
Who will be the head coach? Interim coach Steve Wilks has gone 5-6 since replacing Matt Rhule five games into the season. The Charlotte native brought life to the team with a physical style of football and had the Panthers in the hunt for a playoff spot late into the season. Did he do enough? The players want him.
Who will be the quarterback? It has looked like a different Sam Darnold over the past month, although he turned the ball over Sunday in Tampa. He has managed games well and got receiver D.J. Moore involved in the offense. Surely the Panthers won’t go for another rent-a-quarterback like they did during the Rhule era. Do you draft a QB and toss him into the fire? Do you re-sign Darnold for another season and let a draft choice and/or 2022 draft choice Matt Corral get ready to take over?
What is the status of general manager Scott Fitterer? He’s been with the Panthers the past two seasons after spending 20 season with the Seattle Seahawks. Rhule had a lot of say in the roster so that may have hampered Fitterer’s efforts to build the team. Can he put together a winning roster working with a coach wh is on the same page?
The defense is good enough to win, especially when the secondary is healthy.
It’s going to be an interesting offseason for the Panthers and owner David Tepper.
BOWLS, BOWLS, BOWLS
Heading into the home stretch attempting to watch every bowl game. A couple of games might be difficult to find a replay. So far, I have watched 34 of 38 bowl games either live or on-demand.
Games played: 38 (through Jan. 1)
Games watched live: 21
Games streamed: 13
Games to watch: 4 (Sun Bowl, Arizona Bowl, Orange Bowl, Music City Bowl)
• GATOR BOWL: Notre Dame 45, South Carolina 38
(Played Friday, Dec. 30, watched Sunday, Jan. 1)
Notre Dame quarterback Tyler Buchner accounted for seven touchdowns. He ran for two scores, threw three touchdown passes to a teammate and also threw a pair of touchdowns to South Carolina in the form of interceptions returned for a score. His final touchdown — a pass to teammate Mitchell Evans with 1:38 to play — won it in the highest scoring Gator Bowl in history.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
• 2002 — Carolina’s Ron Francis becomes the fifth player in NHL history to record 500 goals and 1,000 assists when he scores in the Hurricanes’ 6-3 loss to Boston.
POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY
• RELIAQUEST BOWL: Mississippi St. vs. Illinois, noon, ESPN2
• SOCCER: Liverpool at Brentford, 12:30 p.m., USA
• CITRUS BOWL: LSU vs. Purdue, 1 p.m., ABC
• COTTON BOWL: Tulane vs. Southern Cal, 1 p.m., ESPN
• NHL: Winter Classic – Pittsburgh at Boston, 2 p.m., TNT
• HOCKEY: World Juniors – United States vs. Germany, 4 p.m., NHLN
• ROSE BOWL: Penn St. vs. Utah, 5 p.m., ESPN
• NFL: Buffal at Cincinnati, 8:15 p.m., ABC, ESPN, ESPN2
• NBA: Atlanta at Golden State, 10 p.m., NBATV
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com.
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