Even if he’s pointed a finger (or two) in the wrong direction on a few occasions, Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule has not had an issue with taking on criticism. So his reaction to the disgruntled home crowd on Sunday wasn’t that surprising.
“Yeah, I mean, I come from Philadelphia,” Rhule said when asked of the booing fans at Bank of America Stadium this afternoon. “To me, it shows that people care. I’m walking off the field, people booing. We’re not winning. I have no problem with that. People spend their hard-earned money to come watch us play.”
Those people watched, and even threw in some “Fire Rhule” chants, as the Panthers stunk up the joint with a 32-6 loss to the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This latest outcome marks the fifth straight defeat for Carolina and the 10th in their past 12 outings.
Fans, long before the final seconds ticked off, also booed at the first sight of quarterback Sam Darnold, who subbed in for Cam Newton at the beginning of the second quarter. And for that, Rhule did feel a bit sour.
“I think our fans have been great. They support us. And sometimes, you need to be booed.” he continued. “Now, for Sam, I hate it for him because all he’s done is played hard and got hurt. He’s just not Cam and what Cam means to so many people. But Sam was able to handle that. I have no issue with our fans. What our fans deserve is they deserve a winner.”
Boos from the crowd as Darnold comes in at QB pic.twitter.com/DZsEjHqdYW
— Carolina Blitz (@KeepBlitzin) December 26, 2021
Rhule, Darnold and (maybe) Newton will have two more shots at trying get the fans a win this season. That starts next week with a trip to New Orleans.
