Even though two other NFL teams — the Browns and Patriots — are also 1-6, neither can match the Carolina Panthers (or should we call them the "'Anthers" instead?) for their sheer ineptitude.
Carolina's point differential of -133 is far and away the worst in the league (New England is second worst at -76), also allowing the most points, with 243, putting them on pace to crush the record of 533 set in 1981 by the then-Baltimore Colts (even though the latter played only 16 games).
How bad were the '81 Colts on defense, you ask?
That entire season they had 12 punt returns for 56 yards!
For those who prefer using yards gained and allowed over points scored and allowed as their measuring rod, the 'Anthers are 29th in total offense, 23rd in rushing and 28th in passing — while on defense they are 30th overall, last against the run, and 25th against the pass.
Antonio Pierce must still be wondering how this team went to Las Vegas and beat his Raiders by two touchdowns in Week 3 for Carolina's only win (all six of Carolina's losses have been by double digits).
This is a highly instructive example of what can happen when a team gives up the top overall pick in the draft for a quarterback who has the weakest arm since Eddie LeBaron (LeBaron, of course, was the first quarterback the Dallas Cowboys ever had, after Washington left him unprotected in the expansion draft in 1960. He went 5-22-1 as a starter with Dallas before retiring in 1964).
Maybe Carolina's self-inflicted plight has served as an object lesson — because at this writing all 32 teams still have their original first-round draft choices.
If the Panthers do what they ought to do, they will bite the bullet the rest of this season (if they lose at Denver on Sunday, they will be 1-7 — and no team in NFL history has ever made the playoffs after a 1-7 start) and they will almost certainly have a shot at drafting Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders (son of Deion Sanders) with the first pick in the 2025 draft (it is a safe assumption to say that they won't trade away the number one pick again).
Hopefully the senior Sanders will do the right thing and discourage his son from doing something rash, like signing with the CFL. After all, nobody really wants to play for Carolina at this point.
It's hard to believe that teams still go the George Allen "quick fix" route to try and build a team, been as not only did Allen never get a ring with either the Redskins or the Rams, but his teams were one-and-done every time they made the playoffs except 1972, when they lost to the perfect Dolphins in Super Bowl VII.
Sure, it worked out for the 2021 Rams.
But did it work out for the Browns, when Deshaun Watson suffered what might prove to be a career-ending Achilles tear two days ago? (Cleveland gave up three first-round picks, among other things, to obtain Watson — and the Texans have built a potential Super Bowl team with those picks.)
Maybe that's why Cleveland fans booed when Watson was carted off the field on Sunday. (In 1975, the son of Mike McCormack, both the head coach and general manager of the Eagles, was mercilessly bullied in school because the Eagles did not have, or would have, a pick until the third round in 1974, not until the seventh round in 1975, not until the fourth round in 1976, not until the fifth round in 1977, and not until the third round in 1978. McCormack was shown the door one day after the 1975 season ended.)
Having a bad team is one thing — but taking any and all hope away from the fans of such a team is another thing entirely.
If there are seven deadly sins in the NFL, trading away high draft choices for especially veteran players is far and away the deadliest.
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