Monday Morning Optimist: Ian Thomas is reason enough to keep watching

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images Nobody should be surprised that the Carolina Panthers lost again to the Atlanta Falcons. For all that the Falcons are probably well on their way to firing their own head coach, the Panthers are just hurt enough and just enough in shambles that they won’t be beating many—if any—teams any time soon. They flashed life on both sides of the ball but ultimately lacked the sustained energy and focus to play a complete game of football.

That’s OK, though. If the team were capable of winning as currently structured then they would have been doing so. That team wouldn’t have fired its head coach with four games left to play. Nobody who is honest with themselves is…