Are They Laughing Or Clapping?

Image by @Panthers

Let's not get too cocky, but the Carolina Panthers are above .500 and just a 1/2 game back from the NFC South lead!

I've been open about my fluctuating fan-ness, but made it clear I'm riding this dysfunction as far as it goes. And strangely I may not be the only one on the El Camino.

As the Panthers swept the Falcons on Sunday afternoon, 30-27, there was so much fitting about the whole game. Bryce Young had to battle back from potential injury, and he eclipsed the franchise record for passing yards in a game. The score was once in-favor of the Falcons 21-7, with Atlanta's total yards almost three times what Carolina had. Michael Penix Jr. did have to leave the game because of injury, leaving the vet Kirk Cousins. And it looked like the Panthers may face heartbreak again, when Atlanta was able to drive the field for a game-tying field goal at the end of regulation.

Instead it was those steady Panthers that had the game-ending field goal in OT.

Never in doubt.

What's fascinating and leaves me wondering today, are all the supporters flooding in-favor of Carolina after the fact. Is this resilient, rag-tag, bunch becoming America's sweetheart? Or, are people using their complimentary engagement as a way to poke fun?

If you've been a longtime fan of this team, you'd know that it takes miraculous happenings for the shield to take notice. A 6-5 record, seems like we're main-draw when the NFL starts posting Carolina MiC caricatures (image above). I'm not even sure we got that type of respect from league reps when we made the Super Bowl in '15, until the week leading up.

I didn't have Ochocinco as a fan on my Bingo card (see above). Nevertheless, this is where we are.

It doesn't really matter for 'the brand' if the attention is genuine or not. It's been said a billion times that any pub is good pub. It's normal for a lot of Panthers fans to be sent to a pub, resorting to adult beverages to overcome the rollercoaster they endure.

Nothing, like this newfound attention, should surprise me. This misfit franchise is as quirky as they come. And now that we're in the hardest part of our schedule, within reach of the division lead -- I could see us go either way: On a run to beat teams we shouldn't, or another collapse that seems all too customary.

Are the masses laughing at us, or clapping for us?

It doesn't really matter. I end up doing both each game I watch, anyways.