What team is in more trouble? Arizona or Carolina?

I think both teams are treading into dangerous territory. I'd say Arizona looks to be in deeper trouble, especially the way Los Angeles is suddenly playing (though I think their long term success is much less likely to continue than Atlanta's)

What say you?

It's Arizona.

They've played 3 of 4 games at home, 3 against teams not expected to make the playoffs - and the Patriots missing their two best players.

The Panthers on the other hand have played two teams that are still undefeated, and have played a split of 2 home games and 2 road games.


On top of that I disagree with the OP - the Falcons long term success is not more sustainable than the Rams. The Falcons defense is awful and will prove them once again to be pretenders. Panthers will probably still win that division.

The Cardinals on the other hand still have Seattle to deal with. Arizona is looking up at two 3-1 teams, Carolina just one.

AZ

AZ. At least cam is young. Palmer might be done.

AZ, but Carolina is a dumpster fire too!

Arizona. Their QB play is bad and it's not fair to expect it to get better this year or next year. Palmer has the yips and if there's any penetration he throws it up. They've also lost 2 at home this year so far.

Panthers still have Newton, who is a good QB. Unless he regresses. The equalizer here is that the Panthers have a harder schedule, but a softer division. Their secondary is a hot mess right now, and that's not good.

I'd say it's 50/50 with the tie breaker going to AZ due to QB play.

Good points made. The Panthers have issues which I won't get into in this thread, but Cam and Luke are signed through the next election cycle. Gettleman is taking heat now, but there are no bad contracts and the salary cap situation is rosy. I didn't mind letting Norman go (for a 3rd round comp pick upcoming) but Gettleman said "a lot" could be done with his $14 million this year. Right now that simply looks to be rolled over, and that's frustrating with several issues in the present.

Arizona. They just dropped 2 of 3 home games and seem off. I was surprised how much so. Palmer is out for at least the next game, and Stanton looked horrible.

Their next 3 games are on primetime, so whichever way they go from here, everyone will get to see it.

Thurs @SF
Next MNF vJets
Next SNF vHawks

After that, @Panthers, vNiners, @Vikes.

Not an easy part of their schedule coming up, they probably initially thought the first 5 weeks were the easy part.

That said, I'd like to see them start winning and get their season together.

RedAlice":2cx346h7 said:

Arizona. They just dropped 2 of 3 home games and seem off. I was surprised how much so. Palmer is out for at least the next game, and Stanton looked horrible.

Their next 3 games are on primetime, so whichever way they go from here, everyone will get to see it.

Thurs @SF
Next MNF vJets
Next SNF vHawks

After that, @Panthers, vNiners, @Vikes.

Not an easy part of their schedule coming up, they probably initially thought the first 5 weeks were the easy part.

That said, I'd like to see them start winning and get their season together.

Click to expand...

Wow. I didn't realize their schedule was THAT brutal!
Great post RA. :2thumbs:

For this year, I'm going to say the kitties are in worse shape. I really think it's going to take the better part of the year to shake off that final loss of last season. They will be back with a vengeance next year though.

Longer term, it's the birdies. Their two best players (Palmer and Fitz) are about ready for retirement. They have some rebuilding ahead of them. Most importantly, they weren't as good as the Panthers to begin with.

Definitely Arizona.

I will say Arizona for a few reasons.

1. Arizona plays in a much tougher division. Good luck having to play the Hawks twice more. NFC South is a cakewalk, Carolina can recover by beating up on the Saints, Bucs and the Falcons (yeah i'm not a believer in Atlanta).

2. Carolina still has a franchise QB who will be around for a long time. Can't say the same for Palmer

3. Carolina has a much younger team. Arizona's old defense is finally starting to show.

4. Rivera is a better coach than Arians. I think it was the NBC crew (Dungy and Rodney Harrison) that brought this up, but they questioned Arizona's patience on offense. Everything with them has to be a homerun. They don't know how to take their time with methodical drives. As fun as it is to watch Palmer launch the ball 40-50 yards down field multiple times a game, it just doesn't work.

Hawk-Lock":1jaojx2v said:

I will say Arizona for a few reasons.

4. Rivera is a better coach than Arians. I think it was the NBC crew (Dungy and Rodney Harrison) that brought this up, but they questioned Arizona's patience on offense. Everything with them has to be a homerun. They don't know how to take their time with methodical drives. As fun as it is to watch Palmer launch the ball 40-50 yards down field multiple times a game, it just doesn't work.

Click to expand...

This is more a product of Palmer than BA, typically, most plays have several options at several depths - and that is what makes our offense click (not so much in the red zone). But Palmer seems determined to start taking shots when the underneath receivers are available.

It worked last year most of the time until the end, but this year, Palmer is off, isn't as accurate and making the same dumb decisions as he did at the end of the last year - throwing deep into double coverage with John Brown, for example. Kind of sad, I was hoping for a Superbowl win and then into the sunset with Palmer and Fitz.

Cardinals are definitely in worse shape than the Panthers and have about 22 UFA after the season.

Carolina, for one reason: Cam Newton's fragile ego. He doesn't lead well from behind.

Ramfan128":2coaoz0k said:

On top of that I disagree with the OP - the Falcons long term success is not more sustainable than the Rams. The Falcons defense is awful and will prove them once again to be pretenders. Panthers will probably still win that division.

Click to expand...

The Falcons defense is about equally bad as the Rams offense.

b8rtm8nn":3mvbacbx said:

Hawk-Lock":3mvbacbx said:

I will say Arizona for a few reasons.

4. Rivera is a better coach than Arians. I think it was the NBC crew (Dungy and Rodney Harrison) that brought this up, but they questioned Arizona's patience on offense. Everything with them has to be a homerun. They don't know how to take their time with methodical drives. As fun as it is to watch Palmer launch the ball 40-50 yards down field multiple times a game, it just doesn't work.

Click to expand...

This is more a product of Palmer than BA, typically, most plays have several options at several depths - and that is what makes our offense click (not so much in the red zone). But Palmer seems determined to start taking shots when the underneath receivers are available.

It worked last year most of the time until the end, but this year, Palmer is off, isn't as accurate and making the same dumb decisions as he did at the end of the last year - throwing deep into double coverage with John Brown, for example. Kind of sad, I was hoping for a Superbowl win and then into the sunset with Palmer and Fitz.

Cardinals are definitely in worse shape than the Panthers and have about 22 UFA after the season.

Click to expand...

Was just going to bring that up. Fitz is my favorite non-Hawk. It'll be a shame he may never get a ring.
He plays the game the right way and is pure class.

Didn't Carolina just give up like 400 yards passing? Seriously people are picking the Cards as most worrisome?

Arizona plays in a tougher division and has a QB who is now 36, was never elite even in his prime, and who once again likely won't play a full sixteen. That team has more talent than Carolina does on offense, but it doesn't matter when Drew Stanton is throwing picks and the team can't win even when it outgains its opponent.

It's Arizona. They're going 0-4 against Seattle and Los Angeles. They're done.

Arizona for sure. You're in a division with a Hawks team on fire and a Rams team who might be for real (their strength is divisional games and they've only played one game outside of the division so far).

Carolina only has the Falcons to worry about and after the next two weeks they might very well be tied for first place in the south at 3-3.

It's a tough call.

Carolina's decision to eviscerate their secondary kind of boggles me. Especially considering the division they play in. Falcons, Bucs and Saints can all sling it and have extremely good passing games.

They intentionally made themselves far weaker against their division's singular strength.

Arizona's success was always questionably flukey. Relying on the continued health of Palmer. But the astonishing change has been their defense underperforming consistently. They don't seem whole. And it seems they are suffering a bit of a Cary Williams experience of their own this year.

Add that they play in a division that is stronger -- and that their tough part of their schedule lay in the next seven weeks. I cast my vote for Arizona. They could legitimately be out of the playoff race before December. They are going to have to kill it in the post bye period for them (weeks 10 through 17). Because their two toughest division road games cap the season (@SEA and @LAR).