carolina panthers on fire: regret, frustration, disappointment pile up for Bryce Young, Panthers… Losses are mounting and answers are tough to find as Carolina’s season swirls down the drain..

For just a moment — maybe for the first time all season — the Carolina Panthers held the tiniest shard of hope in their hands. Bryce Young, the No. 1 draft pick upon whom the Panthers have staked their future, had guided Carolina through a 17-play, nine-minute touchdown drive that pulled Carolina within a possession of the mighty Dallas Cowboys. The Panthers had converted three different fourth downs on the drive, which ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Tremble, the tight end with a name like a ‘50s pop star.

For a moment, it was all right there. And then it wasn’t.

On the next possession, Dallas effortlessly carved through the Panthers defense — eight plays, 75 yards, 3:01 of game clock — and Tony Pollard rolled into the end zone to extend the lead to 14. And then, on the very next play from scrimmage, DaRon Bland stepped right into Young’s passing lane to notch his NFL-record-tying fourth pick 6 of the season. That was pretty much that for Carolina, and the cheers of the thousands of bandwagon Cowboy fans in attendance were the grim icing atop the fetid cupcake.

No one seriously expected Carolina to beat Dallas; the Panthers were 11.5-point underdogs in their own building. But the way the Cowboys dispatched the Panthers — swarming over the offensive line like it was a sand castle at high tide and shoving aside the defense like it was a little brother in the back yard — that kind of humiliation stings, and lingers.

Add to that the fact that Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer named Panthers head coach Frank Reich as a man on a hot seat, and the mood is tense indeed in Charlotte. Reich was asked during his Monday media availability if he was concerned about Glazer’s report. He tried to brush it off, but really, what was he supposed to say?