NEW ORLEANS — Two-time Country Music Entertainer of the Year Luke Combs felt the same way as many other Carolina Panthers fans after Sunday’s 47-10 season-opening loss to the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome.

The Huntersville, North Carolina native wasn’t shy about speaking his mind, writing on X shortly after Carolina suffered the worst opening day loss in team history.

New year, same old @Panthers.A truly gruesome film to watch.

—Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) September 8, 2024

It almost sounds like the beginning of a country song.

Combs, who grew up a Panthers fan about 20 minutes away from Bank of America Stadium and often wears the team colors to performances, shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’s frustrated. He vented his pain on social media earlier this year, posting “WHAT ARE WE DOING?!?!?” after the team traded Pro Bowl edge rusher Brian Burns to the New York Giants for a 2024 second- and fifth-round pick and a 2024 draft pick.

.@Panthers WHAT ARE WE DOING?!?!? No first round pick for McCaffrey a few years ago and now no first round pick for Burns?!?! Are we just going to firebomb the entire team here or what? I don’t normally comment on this kind of thing, but it’s just becoming a slow torture at this point.

—Luke Combs 🎤 (@lukecombs) March 12, 2024

Carolina’s lack of pass rush against the Saints, and the fact that they made Derek Carr look like future Hall of Famer Drew Brees with three touchdown passes and a 142.5 passer rating, fueled the negativity.

And the overall sense of hopelessness in Combs’ message Sunday was understandable.

The Panthers trailed 10-0 less than six minutes into the game after giving up a 59-yard touchdown pass to a quarterback who hadn’t caught a pass since 2021. An interception by Bryce Young on his first play led to a field goal for the Saints.

After the first quarter the score was 17-0 and 30-0 until Carolina kicker Eddy Pineiro made a 43-yard field goal on the last play of the first half.

Ultimately, Carolina’s 37-point loss was bigger than the 28-point loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at the start of the 2009 season. It was the fourth-worst loss in franchise history.

New coach Dave Canales offered no timetable for a quick turnaround. When asked what he would say to Carolina fans frustrated after six straight losing seasons and such a poor showing in the season opener, he began with, “It’s a long journey.”

“It’s been a long journey to become who we are,” Canales said. “I knew that whether we started 4-0 or 0-4, whatever it was, what I knew is that it would take a long time for us to become who we are. I just can’t help it, but I believe that you have to have adversity to become who you want to be.”

Wide receiver Adam Thielen seemed to agree with Combs that nothing positive happened.

“It’s a negative thing,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it’s reality. It can be a positive thing if you turn it into a positive thing, but you have to accept it, you have to be mentally strong and you have to present yourself with a sense of urgency.

“We’ve been beaten up. Let’s figure out a way.”

That’s apparently what Combs was hoping for on Sunday, which led to his disappointing report about X.