The Carolina Panthers lost a tough game to the New Orleans Saints in Week 17, 18-10. This was another disappointing week for the Panthers organization and fans are starting to grow angry about the lack of success that they have had and everything that Matt Rhule has done for this.

Their offense found little to no success on Sunday and that was a major reason for them losing this game. Let's take a look at four reasons why the Panthers lost in Week 17 to the New Orleans Saints.

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Panthers Week 17 Takeaways

4. Matt Rhule has to go

Matt Rhule has really not done anything in terms of finding success for the Panthers this season. They're currently 5-11 after losing to the Saints on Sunday.

He has made questionable decisions as a head coach all season long and that has certainly resulted in some of the downplay that we have seen from this Panthers team. There can definitely be a case made about this Panthers team just not having enough talent and the lack of quarterback talent is certainly not going to help them. At the end of the day, Rhule has made some very questionable decisions and that has resulted in the Panthers being one of the worst teams in football.

3. Quarterback situation?

The quarterback situation in Carolina just doesn't make much sense. Either they need to stick with Sam Darnold or they need to give Cam Newton an actual chance.

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Having quarterbacks play in the red zone, and then play when they are backed up in their own end zone, then a different one, and any other possibility, just doesn't make much sense. No team in the NFL that has any sort of success changes their quarterbacks midway through a drive unless they get hurt.

If the Panthers want to have any success in the future, they're going to need to figure out that quarterback situation. Having Sam Darnold play up until they get into the red zone and then taking him out to put in Cam Newton just does not make sense. This is another reason why Matt Rhule needs to go because a good head coach would never do something like this.

2. Many questions heading into the offseason

Unfortunately for Carolina, none of the answers that they were looking for the last offseason have been answered and that's going to cause another very long and unfortunate offseason. Unless they can go out and get an elite quarterback while also making many other changes, they will not find much success next season once again.

The first thing that they were going to need to do in the offseason is to fire Matt Rhule. Right after that, they need to go out and make a decision on the quarterback. Do they want to be average and have Cam Newton run the ship and maybe be .500, or take a risk and pay a quarterback and hope that they can do better than Newton or Darnold would?

1. Sam Darnold isn't the answer

Everybody knew this when he was coming in, but Panthers fans somehow got excited about him being on their team. He has been injured at parts throughout the season but even when he is on the field, he simply isn't the answer.

They need to get rid of him as soon as possible this offseason and go out and get a legit quarterback.