Five days ago, the Panthers were 3-2 and had Tampa Bay coming to Charlotte. The Buccaneers had won one game, and I thought Carolina had a pretty good chance to get to 4-2 before heading to Green Bay four days later.

Well, that went about as bad as it could've gone. Tampa Bay beat Carolina 43-13, and the Panthers followed that with a 27-19 loss at Green Bay. They're 3-4 now, and I'll admit I'm looking at the rest of this season a lot differently than I was a week ago.

I Keep Coming Back to the Tampa Bay Game

The Green Bay loss isn't the one that gets me. Carolina was on the road four days after getting beat up by Tampa Bay, and the Packers are a good football team. The Panthers actually did some things I liked in that game.

They held Josh Jacobs to 39 yards on 21 carries. That was nice to see after Tampa Bay ran for 258 yards Sunday. Chuba Hubbard had another good night with 119 yards from scrimmage, and Carolina took the ball away three times.

Getting three points off those turnovers is what hurts. Carolina had the ball three extra times and couldn't turn any of them into a touchdown. Young also took six sacks, and Green Bay eventually put the game away.

Tampa Bay is harder for me to explain. The Panthers were at home against a 1-5 team and got beat by 30. If Carolina ends up a game short of winning the division or getting into the playoffs, I have a feeling we're going to remember that one.

What Happened to the Offense?

I've watched Young throw for 329 yards against Detroit this season. He had 287 against Atlanta, and a few weeks later he threw for 281 against Philadelphia. We haven't seen much of that lately.

Thursday was rough. Young threw for 209 yards and took plenty of hits while trying to get the ball out. Six of those plays ended with him on the ground.

Carolina doesn't have its normal offensive line out there right now. Taylor Moton is on injured reserve. Damien Lewis wasn't available against Green Bay, and then Corey Bullock hurt his quad during the game.

I had the offensive line on my list after Thursday's loss. The Panthers have more than a week before Denver, so we'll see who they can get back by then.

Hubbard hasn't been the problem. He ran for 81 yards and a touchdown Thursday and added 38 more through the air. I'd keep throwing it to him too, especially if Young is going to have defenders in his face that often.

I Don't Love What's Left

Denver is up first on Nov. 8. Carolina gets New Orleans after that before Baltimore comes to Charlotte. The Panthers will see Tampa Bay again at the end of November.

December isn't exactly empty either. Minnesota and Pittsburgh are both on there, and Seattle comes to Charlotte a few days before Christmas.

Maybe I'm putting too much into two bad games. Carolina has played well this season, and I've seen enough from this team to know Thursday night isn't necessarily what we're going to get every week.

But 3-4 doesn't leave much room to keep finding out.

The Panthers still have their division games, which is probably the best thing they have going for them right now. They'll get another shot at Tampa Bay, and they haven't played New Orleans yet. Atlanta comes at the end of the season.

I'm looking at Denver first. Get that one and you're 4-4 with New Orleans coming up. Lose it and you're sitting at 3-5.

I'm not ready to call the season over.

I'm getting a lot closer.