Jaguars have favorable path to No. 1 seed: Predicting final 6 games of 2023 season
• Here's a look at how the next six games on their schedule could play out
Week 17 vs. Carolina Panthers: Win
Maybe, just maybe the Carolina Panthers' dreadful schedule release video should've been a sign of things to come. Without a doubt, they're the worst team in the league, and that's a pretty difficult distinction to achieve. Then again, they've put on a lot of effort to earn that dubious distinction. Following the dismissal of Ron Rivera in 2019, they brought in Matt Rhule the following year to right the ship.
The issue is that Rhule was arguably worse than Rivera and after nearly three seasons of minimal success, he was given the boot. To replace him, the Panthers hired Frank Reich earlier this year but he's already been shown the door too, less than one year after getting the job. Heck, Urban Meyer (remember him?) lasted more than him at the helm, that's how bad things are in Carolina right now.
The common denominator has been owner David Tepper, who's earned a reputation for meddling in football operations and not letting his coaches or player personnel do their respective jobs. Tepper recently met with the media and said that he's patient when it comes to processes but his track record of hiring head coaches says otherwise. As a matter of fact, the Panthers have had six head coaches, counting full and part-time since 2019. Not even the Jags were that bad in the 2010s. Yikes!
Furthermore, the Panthers have become someone of a destination for former Jaguars. Besides trading for 2020 draftees Laviska Shenault and C.J. Henderson, they signed wide receiver D.J. Chark this past offseason and just added cornerback Shaquill Griffin after being released by the Houston Texans.
The good news is that the 2023 season is close to an end. That not may be much of a consolation prize but there's not much left for the Panthers the next six weeks.