INDIANAPOLIS _ There are different levels of embarrassment in the NFL, but the Carolina Panthers' 38-6 loss to Indianapolis on Sunday will be remembered for a long time as a low-water mark.
The Panthers managed to give up both an 84-yard punt return and a 71-yard punt return for a touchdown (to former N.C. State running back Nyheim Hines). Defensive tackle Vernon Butler got thrown out after punching a player in the face _ the wrong player, no less _ and then flipping the bird to the fans during his walk of shame off the field and into the tunnel after he was ejected.
It just went on and on. Rookie quarterback Will Grier threw three interceptions, although on two of them Colts defenders out-fought Panthers receivers for the ball. Carolina's defense allowed three rushing touchdowns, 218 rushing yards and 6.8 yards per carry.
The Colts scored five touchdowns. The Panthers had zero. If you thought it was bad when Ron Rivera was coach, check out what it has looked like since he left.
It truly appears that the Panthers _ in the midst of a seven-game losing streak that will surely go to eight next week at home against New Orleans _ are now the worst team in the NFL.
Other notes from the nastiness:
_ Butler did offer an apology after the game for a selfish act that took him off the field for a Panthers defense that already is short-handed.
"I want to apologize to this organization and to my teammates that needed me out there," Butler said. "I'm sorry. ... I take full responsibility for it. It won't happen again."
Butler added that he flipped his middle finger at the fans because "they said something" but added that fans always talk and that "I should keep my cool."
So what should the Panthers do with Butler? The NFL will certainly fine him. But if I were interim head coach Perry Fewell, I also wouldn't play him Sunday against the Saints. There has to be a public message from the Panthers that this sort of thing won't be tolerated. Butler also undoubtedly lost himself some money with the punch _ he's going to be an unrestricted free agent in 2020.
_ One thread of hope to tug on: I remember another Panthers loss by a 38-6 score. If you're a longtime PSL holder, you may have been there. Carolina's final loss in the 1-15 season of 2001 came by a 38-6 margin, to New England, at home in Charlotte. Two years later, the Panthers were in the Super Bowl.
_ Fewell said that punter Michael Palardy was supposed to kick the ball out of bounds to Hines in the fourth quarter, but that Palardy "mis-hit" it. Hines promptly took it back 71 yards for a score. Carolina's net gain when punting the ball Sunday was a fairly remarkable minus-12.
_ How did Grier play in his first start? Not well. He moved the ball OK between the 20s, but the Panthers were 0-for-3 scoring touchdowns when they got to the red zone. He also didn't have No. 1 wide receiver DJ Moore for about 80% of the game.
Grier's final numbers _ 27-for-44 for 224 yards, with three interceptions and zero TDs _ weren't good. I'd still give him one more start, though, against the Saints on Sunday. It's not like Kyle Allen would have made any difference Sunday, either _ the Panthers are in the midst of being swallowed up by an avalanche.
"We've got to help Will," Fewell said. "Everyone has to help Will. We have to go up and compete for the ball."
_ Since this game was in Indianapolis, it reminded me of the time the Panthers tried to trade for Peyton Manning _ or, more accurately, for the right to draft Manning.
In 1998, former Panthers general manager Bill Polian and the Richardson family had split, with Polian moving on to Indianapolis to run the Colts. But Polian still was very familiar with the Panthers, and in particular he loved his first-ever draft pick for Carolina _ Kerry Collins, with the No. 5 overall pick in 1995. Polian thought Collins was going to have a long and fruitful career (and he did, but not in Carolina).
The Panthers wanted to trade up for the right to pick Manning with the No. 1 pick. They offered Collins, promising wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad and all sorts of draft picks. "I thought Bill would do it because he wanted Kerry," then-Panthers owner Jerry Richardson would tell The Observer many years later.
But Polian finally said "no." He's now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame because of both the deals he made _ and ones like this that he didn't. And Manning, to add insult to injury, beat the Panthers in the 2015 Super Bowl _ even though he was a shell of himself, by then playing for Denver.
