Black and Blue Review

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Does This Panthers’ Preseason Finale Actually Matter?

[vc_row no_margin=”true”][vc_column width=”1/1″]When the Carolina Panthers wrapped up their 2014 preseason, the biggest story centered around Derek Anderson’s sleep.

If you’re to believe coach Ron Rivera, what happens during Thursday night’s trip to Pittsburgh could be much more interesting.

“This final cut we make, no pun intended, is not very clear cut,” Rivera said this week. “[General manager Dave Gettleman] and I have talked extensively, we’ve gone through a couple exercises already, and every time something’s different. So we’re going to take a real, good hard look at these guys. Thursday is very important.”

Typically teams have about two or three spots still influx before the preseason finale. Ahead of their annual meeting with the Steelers, the Panthers have at least six position groups that could see a shift before Saturday’s final cutdown.

“It is a make or break situation for some of these young men and hopefully they make it even tougher on us,” Rivera said. “The numbers are not set by position. There’s not five here or four here or three. That number has not been set at any position.”

No spot is as intriguing as receiver, even if that intrigue is about a largely uninspiring group. It’s obviously less than ideal when, less than two weeks before the season, your coach says, “If we don’t have it in-house, we’re going to have to go out and find it.”

Even after acquiring wideout Kevin Norwood, and no matter what happens against the Steelers, the Panthers plan to comb through Saturday’s cuts for potential help.

A solid showing by Devin Funchess would help ease concerns, at least slightly. But it’s unclear if or how much the rookie will play on the sore hamstring that sidelined him against the Dolphins and Patriots. It’s also still unclear what the second-round pick may be able to do in the offense.

“He hasn’t been on the field enough for us to get the evaluation and really see what his role will be for us,” Rivera said. “We’re trying to get comfortable with the role he’ll have, and the more he practices and gets on the field, the more we’ll know about that role.”

The Panthers thought they had a role for Corey Brown, but his sudden case of the drops added another wrinkle to this mess of a month. Once a lock for a second season, another night like last Friday could see Brown cut on Saturday.

“He needs to attack the ball. If you look at the drops that he had, he was waiting for the ball to come to him,” Rivera said. “[Receivers coach Ricky Proehl] has been working with him, so we’ll see how it is once he gets back on the field come Thursday night.”

So, sure, final preseason games are mostly meaningless. This one may be different.[line][vc_raw_html]

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