Rams-Panthers, Week 6: Carolina fires head coach Matt Rhule ahead of game vs L.A.

When the Los Angeles Rams face the Carolina Panthers next Sunday, they will see a slightly familiar face coaching them on the other sidelines: Former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks. That’s because the Panthers made Matt Rhule the first head coach fired in 2022.

Rhule went 11-27 during his tenure with the Panthers, including 1-4 this season. The Panthers failed to win more than five games in either of his first two years, and 2022 wasn’t going to get any better with Baker Mayfield replacing Sam Darnold. Carolina is now definitely angling for a top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, potentially to get another quarterback even after many attempts to fix the position since Cam Newton stopped playing well.

Wilks coached the Cardinals for just one season in 2018, being fired after a 3-13 campaign. The team then hired Kliff Kingsbury and drafted Kyler Murray number one overall. Carolina could be looking to do something similar and Wilks may need to teach a masterclass in coaching to keep the job beyond 2022. In his two games against the Rams, the Cards lost 34-0 and 31-9.