Reeling Panthers at a loss

Play reminiscent of Seifert era

CHARLOTTE -- John Fox inherited a 1-15 team and had the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl two seasons later.

After reaching the NFC championship game two seasons after that, the Panthers entered the 2006 season as the trendy pick to make the Super Bowl.

Boy, does that seem like a long time ago.

Sunday's horrific 31-6 home loss to the New Orleans Saints was eerily similar to the end of the George Seifert era in 2001 -- awful quarterback play, mental errors and signs the Panthers had stopped playing for their coach.

Things happen quickly in the NFL, and Fox and general manager Marty Hurney have gone from highly regarded to among those with uncertain futures after a series of bad personnel moves and uninspired play.

"The buck stops here," Fox said after Sunday's loss, the Panthers' fifth consecutive overall and seventh straight at home dating to last season.

A day later, Fox was asked to evaluate his performance.

"That's for other people," said Fox, whose contract runs through 2010. "We're not pleased with where we are right now. We still have five games to go, and those decisions are not in my control."

The man making those decisions, owner Jerry Richardson, isn't talking. The former NFL receiver, who played with Johnny Unitas in Baltimore, rarely speaks in public. A team spokesman said Tuesday that it is Richardson's practice not to comment until after the season.

But Richardson hasn't kept a coach if Carolina has finished with fewer than seven wins.

Dom Capers was fired in 1998 after going 4-12, only two seasons removed from leading the Panthers to the NFC title game in their second year of existence.

Seifert was a goner after 2001, two years after nearly squeaking into the playoffs in his first year.

Realistically, the Panthers (4-7) have only one winnable game left, Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers (3-8). Their final four games are against the Jacksonville Jaguars (8-3), Seattle Seahawks (7-4), Dallas Cowboys (10-1) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-4).

And with the way they looked Sunday it's hard to envision the Panthers beating anyone.

The argument for keeping Fox and Hurney is that the season was ruined when starting quarterback Jake Delhomme was lost to a season-ending elbow injury.