As you’ve probably assumed, a 25-3 loss to the 2021 New York Giants won’t be doing any favors for the Carolina Panthers as far as power rankings go. Well, wouldn’t you know who won the pony!

USA TODAY

Author: Nate Davis
Rank: 27 (-12)
Author’s take: “They’ve devolved from losing to being non-competitive Sunday against Giants. Crucial five weeks ahead with Arizona the only squad Carolina will face that’s currently above .500.”

Touchdown Wire

Author: Nick Wojton
Rank: 21 (-2)
Author’s take: Back at MetLife Stadium, Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold saw his team’s big loss to the Giants from the sidelines. He was benched.

It was a brutal couple of hours for Darnold on Sunday, who completed 16 of his 25 attempts for 111 yards and an interception.

NFL.com

Author: Dan Hanzus
Rank: 25 (-6)
Author’s take: “The Panthers will stick with Sam Darnold for now, because Sam Darnold’s backup is P.J. Walker, and P.J. Walker isn’t playing at Temple anymore. Matt Rhule has boxed himself into a corner: It’s becoming apparent he’s whiffed on his hand-picked starting QB for the second straight year, and the coach has no escape hatch … for now, anyway. After Sunday’s ugly 25-3 loss to the Giants, reports surfaced that the Panthers are “evaluating their pursuit of a franchise quarterback,” and Carolina is expected to be involved in trade discussions for Deshaun Watson. The legal entanglements of Watson will likely keep him out of action no matter where he’s employed at the Nov. 2 trade deadline, but Carolina looks ready to make a major push for another hard-reset QB.”

ESPN

Author: David Newton
Rank: 24 (-7)
Author’s take: “I really was optimistic that Cameron Erving was the answer at left tackle, and that the Panthers had upgraded enough across the board to handle a few injuries on the line. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The line has been a mess, giving up 21 sacks over the past five games (4.2 average). Compare that with Sam Darnold’s three years with the Jets, when the line that gave up 2.5 sacks a game was called a mess.”

Our final take:

Week 7 may have very well played host to the worst loss, at least in quite some time, for the Panthers franchise.

Not coming away with a victory over a mess of a 1-5 team without its top three or four offensive players is one thing. But not scoring anything outside of an opening-drive field goal is just straight pathetic.

The tide has turned quickly and viciously for this once 3-0 squad, and there’s no lifeboat currently in sight.

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