Carolina Huddle

If the Panthers have any good fortune at all where injuries are concerned, this is the stretch that will define their season. The first four games in 2008 are difficult, and a split in that span would be welcome. In the second group of four and in the third group of four games, the Panthers will be playing in what looks to be the easy part of their schedule. There’s a lot of good reasons to be optimistic about a 6-2 record over that span. If all of that comes together, the Cats could be 8-4 heading into the home stretch.

But the Panthers aren’t the only team which figures to be in good shape come December. The Buccaneers and Saints both feel like they’ve done a good job patching their holes in this off season. The Saints should have a powerful offense, and if their defense can stay healthy and if they get decent secondary play they’ll be right there with the Panthers in the division hunt. The Buc’s defense will be stout again, and all they really need is good play at the QB spot and a decent running game to be right there as well. The Panthers play both of these teams during the last month of the season, and those games are likely to define the season for all three of them.

Week Fourteen, home versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2007 record: 9-7, first in the NFC South
2007 offensive rank: 18 (11th in rushing, 16th in passing, and 18th in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 2 (17th against the run, 1st against the pass, and 3rd in points allowed)

The Buccaneers host the New Orleans Saints the week before this match up, and that’s going to have a real impact on their mood. Tampa Bay will come into Bank of America stadium riding high off a win against the Saints and ready to try and put the division away, or they’ll be desperate to stay in the hunt after a loss. Either way, they’re going to be motivated and hopefully looking to avenge an earlier home loss to the Panthers. This game will be on Monday Night Football, which is always good for pumping up the players on both sides.

December is the month where all the minor injuries that accumulate over the season really start taking their toll. The defense should be fine; The Bucs have a lot of good young talent on that side of the ball. Monte Kiffin also takes good advantage of the talent he’s given to work with, and that side of the ball is a traditional strength down the stretch. On offense however, the Bucs are thin at all of the skill positions and they have an unproven line. They can recover from injuries to their defense, but if they get a lot of injuries on the offensive side of the ball their season is sunk, and at this point it will be pretty obvious.

Even if both teams are at full strength, the match ups still ought to favor the Panthers. Assuming good health all around, the Panthers secondary is far better than the Tampa receivers, and the front seven shouldn’t have too much of a problem containing their running game. The Panther defense should have an easy time keeping the Bucs under 20, so it’s going to come down to the offense.

Right now we’re discussing December in June. Yes, this is the off season, where all the questions have only good answers. But come December the following things will be known:

• The strength of Jake’s elbow and the extent of his recovery;
• D. J. Hackett’s injury status, and Moose’s effectiveness as a second receiver in his thirteenth season;
• Stewart’s ability to run in the NFL like he did in college;
• Otah’s adjustment to NFL speed, and the play of the right side of the offensive line;
• Peppers return to All-Pro form, and the Defensive Line pressure in general.

If at least four of those five items are net positives, the Panthers should be feeling pretty good about themselves. With Jake under center and a decent running game, 21+ points on the Bucs in December will be a solid expectation, and the team will play like it.

It’s always difficult to sweep a division opponent, unless the teams involved are the Panthers and the Bucs. It’s a Monday Night game, and the Panthers are due to look good on the national stage. Call it another win at home to really get the crowd rolling, and to send the Bucs spiraling down to third place in the division standings.

- Carolina leads series 9-6.

Week Fifteen, home versus the Denver Broncos
2007 record: 7-9, second in the AFC West
2007 offensive rank: 11 (9th in rushing, 13th in passing, and 21st in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 19 (30th against the run, 7th against the pass, and 28th in points allowed)

The Broncos are one of three teams that the Panthers have never beaten, with Houston and Miami being the other two. In that group, Denver is probably closer to the Dolphins skill-wise than it is the Texans. This game is the season finale at home for the Panthers, and it’s nice that Denver is probably the easiest team they’ll play this month. Ending the home season with a win would be a nice gift to the fans.

In 2007 the Broncos couldn’t stop the run, and uncharacteristically struggled running the ball themselves. They could move between the 20s, but when it came time to put points on the board everything ground to a halt. Although they had the 9th most rushing yards in the league, breaking down the situational stats tell a different story than that suggests, The Broncos were 15th in rushing first downs, 20th in rushing TDs and second in rushes over 20 yards. Those are the type of stats that can put the lie to something that at first glance looks like a strength. Their backs didn’t score a lot, and padded their stats with a few big runs per game. If their backs can be contained, then they’ll end up in a lot of third and long situations.

The Broncos know their running game is weaker than it looks, so in the off season they took a lot of action here, overhauling their running back position and adding a strong left tackle in the draft in Ryan Clady (although come to think of it, wasn’t his strength supposed to be protection?). Travis Henry and his attitude have been cut, making way for second year man Selvin Young to assume the starter’s role. Young showed some nice flashes last year with a 5.2 yards per carry average, but he only had 10 carries per game. There’s reason to question his ability to be an every down back also, as his yards per carry fell 6.4 in the first half of games to 3.6 in the second.

The Broncos also signed Michael Pittman to back up Young and be the second back in their offense. That’s assuming he can beat out their two rookies, Ryan Torain from Arizona State and Peyton Hillis from Arkansas. Hillis is more of a Nick Goings-type fullback, but should make the roster based on his ability to catch out of the backfield. Torain is kind of a sleeper, but in Denver sleepers have a way of becoming stars. Look for Young to need a lot of relief and at this point in the season, based on what Carolina fans know of Pittman, look for Torain to be the one providing it.

At receiver, the Broncos are hurting enough to have given Keary Colbert a nice contract in the off season. They have a great number two receiver in Brandon Marshall, and are solid at the slot with Brandon Stokely. What they need is a solid number one, and they don’t have one on their roster. Javon Walker was supposed to be the answer, but he didn’t work out. They’re left with Colbert, Darrell Jackson, Samie Parker, Edell Shepherd, and a fourth round draft choice to see if one will emerge. It’s not too likely, given that group, so the air attack in 2008 should look a lot like the one in 2007.

Defensively the Broncos were a mess. They really, really couldn’t defend the run, and they couldn’t keep opposing teams out of the end zone. Their problems started at the Defensive Tackle position, where they just couldn’t stop the opposing teams running game at the point of attack. To address this they went shopping in Free Agency and brought in DeWayne Robertson from the Jets. The Jets were barely better against the run than the Broncos were in 2007, but Robertson seems better suited for the 3-4 so he may have an impact. They also drafted Carlton Powell out of Virginia Tech, but he’s a rather one-dimensional run-stuffer type and may not see the field enough to help.

Niko Koutouvides and draft pick Spencer Larsen will be tried at the MLB spot to allow D. J. Williams to move outside, but if that doesn’t work out then don’t expect much to improve for the Broncos on the defensive side of the ball. They might be better than they were in 2007, but there’s no reason to expect them to improve enough for real playoff consideration. This is especially true when you look at the rest of the defense. In the secondary, John Lynch is 36 years old and clearly on the downside of his career. To back him up, Denver signed Marquand Manuel and Marlon McRee. Any defense that depends on those two to improve their Free Safety prospects is in a world of pain.

It looks like another long year is in store for the Broncos. At this point in the season a .500 record will be a moral victory, and you can expect a lot of talk out of Denver about 2008 being a rebuilding year. In December the young guys will be getting the playing time, and the coaches will be looking for things that they can build on for 2009. Denver’s streak against the Panthers will surely be broken here, and it won’t be difficult.

- Denver leads series 2-0.

Week sixteen, at the New York Giants
2007 record: 10-6, second in the NFC North, won Superbowl
2007 offensive rank: 16 (4th in rushing, 21st in passing, and 14th in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 7 (8th against the run, 11th against the pass, and 17th in points allowed)

The Panthers visit the world champion Giants in late December, in a game that should mean more to the Panthers than it will to the Giants. By this time the Giants will have gone through the NFC East and will already know whether they’re playing for a wild card spot or the division title. It’s possible that they’ve clinched the former or that they see the latter as being out of reach. In any case, it’s not likely that they’re going to rest their starters, but they may not yet be at playoff intensity. Still, Tom Coughlin’s teams tend to play well in December, so this won’t be an easy game by any stretch.

On offense the Giants return just about everyone responsible for their Super Bowl win, and get Jeremy Shockey back to boot. Eli Manning is a much better QB than last year’s 73.9 rating suggests, and in Tom Coughlin’s system he doesn’t need to do much more than manage the game and not turn the ball over. His line was a big surprise last year, given that the entire left side was re-tooled and a guard was shifted to tackle. In 2007 they provided a huge boost for the running game and didn’t perform that poorly in protection either. They’ll return intact in 2008, as one of the strengths of the offense.

The Giants have good depth at running back in Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. They’re also set at receiver. Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer return, and even if one or both is injured they still have Sinorice Moss and Steve Smith, both of whom showed promise last year. The Giants also drafted Mario Manningham out of Michigan who could be a great find. He’s got a lot of personal problems, but he was an excellent playmaker in college.

On defense New York lost Gibril Wilson but probably upgraded him by snagging Kenny Phillips with the last pick of the first round of the draft. They also lost Michael Strahan to retirement, and Kawika Mitchell to Free Agency. They’re set across the board though, as they had great depth and developmental players across the board where their front seven are concerned. If there is a downside to the defense it’s in the secondary. The Giands will likely start the rookie Phillips and Sam Madison and R. W. McQuarters are both getting up there in years. Corey Webster played well in the playoffs, but was disappointing during the regular season. Strong Safety James Butler struggled at times last year. All in all, only CB Aaron Ross looks like a solid and dependable player at this point. This is June though, and a lot can happen between now and December.

Calling December games before minicamp has started takes way too much guesswork to be anything more than just fantasy or a mildly entertaining way to pass the time. Still, some games (like Denver) just seem like they’re going to go a certain way based on personnel or history. On the surface, this one looks like a Giant win. However, the Panthers went into the Meadowlands a couple of years ago to take their beating and shut out the home team. In 2007 the Giants walked into Bank of America stadium and laid down an ass-whupping on an injured Panthers team. These are two physical teams with similar philosophies, and John Fox loves to win in New York. This could go either way, and likely will be defined by which team is more banged up when they meet. Call it a toss-up.

- Carolina leads series 3-1.

Week Seventeen, at the New Orleans Saints
2007 record: 7-9, third in the NFC South
2007 offensive rank: 4 (28th in rushing, 3rd in passing, and 12th in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 26 (13th against the run, 30th against the pass, and 25th in points allowed)

And then there are the Saints. Call me crazy, but I think that this game decides the division. I think that both teams are going to come in to this game in the 9-10 win territory. I think that this will be a huge match up. I think the Panthers are going to feel pretty good about their ball control offense, and I think the Saints will feel good about the pressure they can bring and their ability to score points. All in all, I think I think too much. At any rate, the teams don’t like each other a whole lot, they know each other well, and they’ll both be looking to play the spoiler while vaulting into the playoffs, because the second place team in the NFC South is no lock for a wild card game.

There’s really no telling how this game will go. No one wants to face Drew Brees in a big game, but no one wants to face Jake Delhomme either. The Saints defense will be all pressure, all the time, but the Panthers don’t mind getting physical and have receivers that can beat the Saints’ secondary. If the Panthers keep this from becoming a shoot-out, they win. But even if it is a high scoring affair, don’t count out anyone. For all intents and purposes, this will be a playoff game, and there are few teams in the NFL that are more dangerous on the road in the playoffs than the Carolina Panthers.

- Carolina leads series 14-12.

Season Summary

The NFL Schedule makers didn’t do the Panthers any favors. The toughest opponents the Panthers will likely face come at the beginning and at the end of the year. Carolina may find themselves in an early hole, and if they pull themselves out of it they’ll be there at the end trying to hold on to a playoff spot. It’s not going to be an easy year at all.

In the division, New Orleans has a relatively easy time of it, with their toughest opponents coming to the SuperDome. Their difficult match ups are also scattered through the middle of the season, rather than concentrating at a particular point. The Saints should get off to a fast start, and they’ll get to finish with three easy games in December before coming home to face the Panthers. 12-4 isn’t out of the question for them, but if they stumble or face injuries at the wrong positions they might struggle to get to 7-9.

Tampa Bay has just as many questions, and the most difficult schedule in the South. They get a lot of favorable match ups at home, but they play the first place teams in the NFC and that’s going to be a real challenge. The Bucs don’t really have an easy stretch of games, which could break them. On the other hand, it could make them tough as nails. Given the issues they have on offense though, a late season skid isn’t that unlikely.

As for the Falcons, this isn’t going to be their year. It doesn’t matter what the schedule is like, they’re just not going to make a playoff run. I really only include them here to be polite.

The Panthers are playing a schedule that, in a weird way, is almost designed to bring them huge success. The early games will test them, and could break them. Injuries have played a large part in determining the Panthers’ mediocrity for the past two years, and they may still need to learn how to overcome them. If they get that part of the game though, or if they finally catch a few breaks this could be a great year. After the initial challenges the Panthers will know a lot about where they’re strong and what needs to be improved. They’ll have some great opportunities during the soft part of the schedule to address those areas, and December provides a series of tests to see how well they’ve put it all together.

If they roar into the playoffs on the strength of a three or four game winning streak, book tickets to Tampa. If they stumble over the last two weeks, then don’t even look for a January game because the wild cards probably won’t be coming from the South this year. This year should be full of promise, but if the crash comes it will probably at least happen late enough to keep the fans interested into December.

Speculating is always fun, but you have to play the games of course. I suspect I’ll eat a fair bit of crow for these four articles, but it’s still fun to play what-if during the off season. We play what-if every year, of course, but this year seems different. Lots of regulars have been cut. There’s depth everywhere. All of the injury reports are good, and there’s no “Dan Morgan” out there causing nail-biting worries among the faithful.

I’m sure a lot of you would like to see things the way I do, and some if you have your own ideas on how things will turn out. In the end, it doesn’t matter who’s wrong or who’s right, as long as we enjoy the ride.

Here’s to 2008!

The third quarter picks up where the second leaves off–with a talented opponent that should be an easy win based on matchups. At this point the Panthers should hopefully have a winning record, with the promise of a great season still intact. Fans and players alike will be talking about gearing up for a playoff run. At the same time the division race should be very close, and based on schedule there’s a lot of reason to think that the Panthers will only be sharing first place at best, and could be in second or even third. This is where the Panthers need to establish themselves as a contender, and make their push for the division title.

Week Ten, at the Oakland Raiders
2007 record: 4-12, last in the AFC West
2007 offensive rank: 25 (6th in rushing, 31st in passing, and 23rd in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 22 (31st against the run, 8th against the pass, and 26th in points allowed)

You can almost always count on the Raiders to ignore conventional wisdom and do things their own way. Last year they were good at running the ball and solid defending the pass. On the other hand they couldn’t throw the ball, and defending the run was a huge problem. So naturally when they approached the draft they doubled down on their strengths, drafting a running back and getting help in the secondary. They also got a couple of projects at Wide Receiver, but overall they really ignored their most glaring needs and went for style points instead.

On offense the Raiders look very set at Quarterback and Running Back. They have two former SEC stars there in JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden. The McFadden pick was a big surprise to some, but if you look at Minnesota in 2006 they looked set with Chester Taylor. Then they drafted Adrian Peterson and he almost got them into the playoffs. Maybe McFadden can do the same thing for the Raiders. He’ll team with Justin Fargas to give the Raiders good ground production between the 20s, and maybe they can take enough attention off of Russell that he can stretch the field with his cannon of an arm.

The Raiders do not have a starting quality Wide Receiver on their roster. On most teams, Ronald Curry would be a number three receiver assuming he could avoid the injury list. It won’t be a big surprise to see Javon Walker and Drew Carter starting for the Raiders, which might bring a smile to a Panthers fan or two. The Raiders drafted two receivers as well, obviously hoping that they get lucky with one of them and find someone who can breathe life into their passing game. They also need help at Left Tackle, and didn’t get it. The lack of protection there may cause problems for Russell.

On defense their needs are legion. Looking at their run defense, they really needed two defensive tackles and at least one defensive end. They could have used a better strongside linebacker, and help at Free Safety. They may have found help at the FS position in the draft, but the defensive line is still a mess. The Raiders’ pass rush in 2007 made the Panthers’ look good by comparison, that’s how bad it was. In the secondary they have talent and speed, but why throw it when it’s so easy to run? Also, when you do throw if you have all day it’s easy to make a cornerback look bad.

Another thing the Raiders have working against them is their schedule. The Panthers come in to Oakland off a bye week. The Raiders will have played through their conference schedule, at New Orleans, at Baltimore, and at Buffalo. If they’re over a .500 team at this point it will be a shock to many. By this time their holes will be apparent to all, opponents will have plenty of film to study, and the book will be out on how to beat the Raiders. The only good news for them is that they’re hosting Carolina a week after hosting Atlanta, so they may be feeling a little confident.

Assuming the injury bug hasn’t changed the Panthers playbook, expect a steady diet of Stewart up the middle and Williams around the edge. The Panthers will eat up as much clock as possible and force the secondary into one-on-one matchups, which is how Smith will get his yards. The Raiders will do the same with McFadden and Fargas, so it will come down to which team can play better against the run. Given the relative off season activities, the nod goes to the Panthers there. This should be a win to open up the third quarter of the season.

- Oakland leads series 2-1.

Week Eleven, home versus the Detroit Lions
2007 record: 7-9, third in the NFC North
2007 offensive rank: 19 (31st in rushing, 9th in passing, and 16th in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 32 (23rd against the run, 31st against the pass, and 32nd in points allowed)

Maybe this is the year that Detroit finally gets back to the playoffs. Their record was close in 2007, and if the season was only eight games long they would have been a shoe-in last year. Unfortunately, they went 1-7 in the final eight last year, and fortunately for the Panthers it’s week eleven, which is past time for the Lions to begin folding again.

The Lions have a decent passing game, but no rushing offense to speak of and they didn’t do a lot to improve that in the off season. They got rid of Kevin Jones and T.J. Duckett and kept Tatum Bell. Now all they have to do is run the ball. Their biggest need, by far, is someone, anyone, who can open holes in the running game. They drafted Godser Cherilus who should team with Johnathan Scott to give them some good bookends, but their interior wasn’t addressed and it was largely ineffective at creating running lanes in 2007. Maybe their new offensive coordinator will figure it out; if he doesn’t then don’t figure on Detroit taking the next step anytime soon.

On defense they needed a real overhaul, and they got it. The Lions allowed more points than anyone in 2007, and that was a big part of their late season collapse. They dropped six key defensive players from the 2007 unit, trading away the disgruntled and cutting the unmotivated and unskilled. As a result, their defensive line especially is a huge question mark. Detroit wants to run a Tampa-2 (which is good news for Jake Delhomme), and that will require a strong push from the front four. At first glance it doesn’t look promising. They replaced Shaun Rogers with former Seahawk Chartric (Chuck) Darby, who’s athleticism won’t make anyone look twice. Their ends didn’t do a lot in 2007, but upgrading them was a low priority given the more pressing needs Detroit needed to address. They’ll likely end up with a rookie at MLB, but at least they’ll be in good shape at the Mike and Will positions.

Their secondary will also improve, simply because it would be hard to make it worse. Not only did the Lions fail to produce pressure on opposing QBs, they regularly blew assignments in coverage as well. The good news is that they’ve made a real effort to restock the secondary. They’ve gotten enough warm bodies into camp that someone should emerge as a decent number one cornerback. But though there are a lot of names, none stand out that really build confidence. Unless someone steps up as a nice surprise, it could be another long, high-scoring season for the Lions.

This should be a win. The Lions are on their way up, and look like they’ve filled the holes on their roster, but they have no playmakers and few prospects in their problem areas from last year. The offense may be more balanced, but the defense looks worse, despite all the new faces. If Hackett is healthy, then for a week at least the Panthers will look like the Greatest Show on Turf. This could be a break-out game for Robinson or Jarrett too. Played in the friendly confines of Bank of America stadium, look for the Panthers to light up the scoreboard en route to an easy win.

- Carolina leads series 3-1.

Week Twelve, at the Atlanta Falcons
2007 record: 4-12, last in the NFC South
2007 offensive rank: 23 (26th in rushing, 18th in passing, and 29th in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 29 (26th against the run, 23rd against the pass, and 29th in points allowed)

Here’s where it gets fun. Between week four and week twelve, the Falcons have to go to Green Bay and Philadephia, and host hungry teams from Chicago, Oakland, and Denver. They also get New Orleans in the mix. That’s two hard places to play, a division opponent, and three teams that look at the Falcons as a potential win if they take the game seriously. Anything more than four wins for them at this point will look good, and that’s the place they’ll be when Carolina makes their annual appearance in Atlanta.

Carolina won’t need to sense an opportunity to get themselves up for Atlanta. History will do that for them. In this series the visitor has claimed the last five (although hopefully that streak will have been broken), so it’s not difficult for either team to play on the other guy’s home turf.

Atlanta, on the other hand, will be faced with the prospect that the wheels are about to come off on any hopes they have for the playoffs. Every year each team starts with high hopes, and the ugly realities set in at different stages for each of them. Atlanta’s will likely come in this span. After the Panthers, they face trips to San Diego, New Orleans, and Minnesota, and have to host Tampa Bay. Assuming they don’t shock the world, they’ll be approaching this as a spoiler.

It’s entirely possible that Matt Ryan will be starting by now. Sam Baker certainly will be. Anyone who Atlanta considers a part of their future plans will be on the field getting valuable experience for 2009. Injuries will have set in, exposing holes and forcing players into unfamiliar roles. It’s not going to be pretty on a team that started with as many holes as the Falcons have.

So, given all that, you should probably just make this a Falcons win. Why? Well, more than any team in the South the Falcons have had the Panthers’ number. The games are always intense, and they’ve spoiled more parties than most Panther fans care to remember. This is a time for overconfident Panthers to march into a thicket of rookies and free agents prepared to have career games. The Panthers will represent the Falcons’ own private Super Bowl, and if history holds they won’t be ready for it. Every year the Panthers seem to blow a game that they’re expected to win, and this year there’s no better candidate than Atlanta in week twelve.

- Atlanta leads series 16-10.

Week Thirteen, at the Green Bay Packers
2007 record: 13-3, first in the NFC North
2007 offensive rank: 2 (21st in rushing, 2nd in passing, and 4th in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 11 (14th against the run, 12th against the pass, and 6th in points allowed)

The “third quarter” of the 2008 season finishes with Carolina ending their tour of the NFC North in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Playing in Green Bay in November is always an adventure, you never know what the weather is going to do. The old advantage that the frozen tundra gave is long gone though, and without Brett Favre under center the Packers don’t seem nearly as daunting an opponent. The Packers are still the favorites in the NFC North though, and they’re also one of the youngest teams in the league. Barring injury or a complete meltdown in the locker room, this looks to be a fairly difficult contest.

On defense there is reason to think that they may be a little more vulnerable against the pass than in 2007, as they’re replacing their best defensive tackle and their two starting cornerbacks are both in their 30s. They needed an upgrade at their strong-side linebacker, as Brady Poppinga is weak against the pass. It’s not like he’s terrible though, and when you’re reduced to making criticisms like that then it’s a sign that you’re talking about a pretty solid unit. All in all, the defense is good in coverage, good against the run, and good at keeping the scoring to a minimum.

On offense they’re in good shape too. They have a little age on their offensive line, but they also have depth to cover it. At running back Ryan Grant will have proven he’s no fluke by now, or maybe this becomes a much easier game. They still have Donald Driver and Greg Jennings, and second year man James Jones will look to improve on a 47 catch rookie campaign. All they need is for someone to throw the ball. Unfortunately for Green Bay, no quarterback on their roster has ever started a game in the NFL.

Despite the lack of experience, there’s plenty of talent at QB on their roster. Aaron Rodgers is a former first round choice who was drafted and groomed to be Favre’s replacement. He looked great in limited action against Dallas last year, knows the system, and has the skill to succeed. Brian Brohm was the preseason favorite to be the number one overall pick this year, until Louisville laid an egg during the regular season and Matt Ryan began staging comebacks. Matt Flynn was the leader of the LSU squad that executed the annual “SEC dismantles an over-rated Ohio State team” game. So there’s talent on the roster. It’s all about how well they integrate it on the field. Regardless of who ends up starting (Rodgers is a near lock), Driver, Jennings, and Jones should make the transition fairly smooth, and Ryan Grant will help keep the pressure off.

So what’s it all look like? The Panthers need a complete game here to compete. They’ll have to contain the running game while getting enough pressure to force Rodgers into some bad throws. The good news is that they’ll have plenty of tape on him by now. They’ll need to deal with the pressure of playing in Green Bay. They’ll also need to move the ball in a balanced attack on a stout Packer defense, because if they go one-dimensional then the game’s over. Will they do it? Of course! The Panthers won’t be given a shot in hell at winning, but after the Atlanta game they’ll be in a mood that allows them to pull it off. This is going to be a close game between a surprised Green Bay team and a scrappy and poised Carolina squad. If life is good the victory will come on a five yard QB draw as time expires for a two point win.

- Green Bay leads series 7-3.

So on evaluating all the games, there’s a real shot at a second straight 3-1 “quarter” for the Panthers. An 8-4 record sounds great, but if you look around the division you can easily imagine the Bucs and Saints at 8-4 as well. This year the division title is going to go down to the wire, with no likely resolution until the final week when the Panthers are at the Saints. The title hunt will take shape in the first game of the fourth quarter of the season though, as the Panthers host the Bucs and the Saints host the Falcons. That’s going to mean more excitement around Panther territory than the fans have seen in some time. It’s not even too far fetched to imagine fans in the lower deck actually standing during some games. Ok, maybe that’s a little much…

See you all next week with a season wrap-up.

Last week we reviewed the first four games of the 2008 season. There’s no reason to think that the Panthers will end up 4-0 or 0-4, but while we dream happily of a 3-1 start, 2-2 is a pretty distinct possibility and 1-3 isn’t outside the realm of possibility. That’s not great, but fortunately for them the second quarter gets a little easier.

In October teams start to forge their identities. Rookies begin to gain confidence, offensive lines start to gel, and teams discover who their new playmakers are. For the Panthers, that group should include Steve Smith, Jake Delhomme, and Julius Peppers. Adding Stewart or Godfrey to that list would be a nice surprise. At any rate, at this point Panther fans will know what the team that’s going to show up on Sundays will look like. Jake’s elbow will be strong or it won’t. The Offensive Line will have an identity (let’s hope it includes protection!). The effectiveness of the defensive line will not be a question mark. Stewart’s running, Godfrey in coverage, and our Wide Receivers as a unit will all be answers instead of questions.

After four games another thing happens. Teams begin to get enough film on rookies to start exploiting their tendencies. An offensive tackle that relies on the same sort of blocking technique for every speed rusher will find himself looking silly a couple of times in a game when someone realizes the tendency and exploits it. A cornerback that can’t defend a crossing route will get picked on until he’s pulled. Rookie Quarterbacks who eyeball their receivers will start getting picked off. This is when good study habits start to show themselves. That’s going to come up big in our fifth game of the season.

Week Five, home versus the Kansas City Chiefs
2007 record: 4-12, third in the AFC West
2007 offensive rank: 31 (32th in rushing, 20th in passing, and 31st in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 13 (28th against the run, 5th against the pass, and 14th in points allowed)

The Chiefs struggled to win four games in 2007, but that’s not a reason to count them out in 2008. Kansas City still has plenty of talent on the roster, maybe enough to make a playoff run. Brodie Croyle and Kolby Smith got some good experience at the end of 2007, Larry Johnson will return from his injury, and Dwayne Bowe will be back. In short, it’s not all bleak, particularly when you consider their stellar draft. Granted, they’ll need to get really lucky with their play in the trenches, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

The biggest need for the Chiefs in the off season was along the offensive line. That unit begged for a severe overhaul and it doesn’t look like they got enough. They needed at least two new players here, a left tackle and a right guard, and it could be argued that they needed a right tackle as well. Every interior offensive lineman they have is over 30, and they really showed their age in 2007. Brandon Albert is expected to take over at Left Tackle, but there’s no guarantee he works out there as his college position was Guard. They did get a couple of journeymen and a late round pick here, but all in all there’s not a lot to get excited. Unless Johnson makes a strong return and creates his own holes, the offense doesn’t look like it’s going to be much improved in 2007.

On the other side of the ball the Chiefs will depend on their first pick to improve their rushing defense. Glenn Dorsey is a rare talent who should be able to create significant pressure from the Defensive Tackle position. Granted, he’s still a rookie. In college his physical burst was enough to create havoc and demand regular double teams from opponents, but with a months worth of film he won’t be catching any of the Panthers by surprise. He also won’t have the benefit of Jared Allen occupying the other team’s attention, as the rest of the Kansas City line provides a pass rush that’s questionable at best.

At linebacker, they return a unit that redefined the concept of bad against the run in 2007. Derrick Johnson is good, but he needs a lot of help. Napoleon Harris is a journeyman who couldn’t stick in Oakland or Minnesota, and Donnie Edwards is 35 in April. For some reason, the Chiefs looked at the term “team run defense” and saw Atlanta Falcons so they signed away Demorrio Williams. Who knows, maybe he’ll do for them what he did for Atlanta. In the secondary the Chiefs have few holes but questionable depth. At the safety position they have two young starters and a probable rookie backing them up. The Cornerbacks are both in their 30s, and as with the Safety they’re likely to have a rookie at backup and playing nickel.

So on paper, this looks like a pretty good game to warm up with for the real conference play. On offense the Panthers should have plenty of time to throw, and the running game ought to shine against the Chiefs. On defense the Panthers will once again pit their strength against the opponents’, and it looks like the Carolina pass defense will be more than a match for the Chief’s offense. This looks like a probable win.

- Kansas City leads series 2-1.

Week Six, at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2007 record: 9-7, first in the NFC South
2007 offensive rank: 18 (11th in rushing, 16th in passing, and 18th in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 2 (17th against the run, 1st against the pass, and 3rd in points allowed)

Although the Panthers will have already played Atlanta, this is the game where conference play really begins. The Bucs, Saints and the Panthers all have designs on the division title, and none of them likes the others very much. The Panthers and Bucs almost look like mirror images where the question marks are concerned. Both teams have a lot more questions on offense than defense, and both organizations feel like they’ve done a good job in the off season addressing weaknesses and building depth.

Tampa Bay has a young and aggressive defense that’s traditionally among the tops in the league. This year should be no different, the Bucs are poised for yet another top five finish. There are only a few areas of potential weakness. At cornerback, they lost starter Brian Kelly and Ronde Barber is 33. To address that they drafted Aqib Talib and signed Eugene Wilson from the Patriots, presumably to play the nickel. The other positions that may be exploited on the Bucs Defense are both on the line, at Left Defensive End and at Defensive Tackle. Gaines Adams is a solid player at the right DE position, but on the left side Kevin Carter is 34 and Jimmy Wilkerson isn’t going to scare anyone. At Defensive Tackle, the Bucs are solid if a bit thin.

Offensive questions are another story. To start with, Tampa plans on going with Jeff Garcia, who will be 38 when the season starts. Joey Galloway will be 37 in November. Michael Clayton is Tampa’s own version of Keary Colbert, with 87 catches in the three seasons since his 80-catch rookie year. They added Dexter Jackson here from Appalachian State, but he’ll still be adjusting to the speed difference between cornerbacks in Division II and cornerbacks in the NFL. On the line Luke Petitgout will probably be injured by now, and they need someone better than Donald Penn if they want to improve on last years 36 sacks allowed. At running back Carnell Williams has been demoted to a Yugo, while Warrick Dunn is at the end of his career. Earnest Graham is about their only reliable option here. They drafted Corey Boyd as well, but aside from a solid performance at the Shrine game there’s nothing to suggest he’ll be anything special at this level. On paper the offense looks fragile. If they can avoid injuries like last year, then they’ll be able to make things happen. If the wrong player goes down, then their season will look less like 2007 and more like 2006.

In sum Tampa Bay looks to follow last year’s formula. Depend on the defense to keep you in games, run the ball as best you can, and let Garcia’s veteran leadership find ways to win. It was good enough to win the South in a down year, but they went nowhere in the playoffs and they can’t depend on bad luck in both Carolina and New Orleans for two years running. Tampa Bay will be coming off of two games against opponents that like to run in Green Bay and Denver, so they may be banged up a little on their interior line. If Carolina’s plans for the season hold up, they should be able move the ball on the ground. Jake Delhomme also has an absurdly good 7-1 record against the Bucs and is undefeated at Raymond James Stadium. This may not seem like a probable win at first glance, but if tradition holds and the Panthers are healthy, it should be.

- Carolina leads series 9-6.

Week Seven, home versus the New Orleans Saints
2007 record: 7-9, third in the NFC South
2007 offensive rank: 4 (28th in rushing, 3rd in passing, and 12th in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 26 (13th against the run, 30th against the pass, and 25th in points allowed)

The 2008 Saints are in many ways like the 2007 Panthers. The organization suffered through many injuries in 2007 but feel like they have the core group they need to get back to the top quickly. There’s a lot of talent on their roster, but a lack of balance that could make them vulnerable to injuries if things break the wrong way. At this point in the season the Saints will have played four of their games at home, including the two opponents that are most likely to be difficult–Minnesota and Tampa Bay. If things have broken the right way, this will probably be a battle for the division lead.

In 2007 the Saints had some pretty obvious problems. They gave up 245.3 passing yards a game and no team allowed more passing touchdowns. Opposing quarterbacks looked great against them, with an NFL worst 96.9 passer rating allowed and an NFL worst 7.9 yards per attempt given up. Their run defense wasn’t that bad, but that could be a lot like the Vikings situation–if it’s so easy to throw why bother running the ball? They had no real pass rush and their secondary was so bad that they were starting a free safety at cornerback. They needed pressure and presence in the middle, and the good news for Saints fans is that they got both in the off season.

After Glen Dorsey, Sedrick Ellis was the most dominant defensive tackle in college football last year. By this point in the season, the Panthers will know just how much game planning will have to be done to account for him; it’s all but certain that he will give the Saints more pressure than they had last year. Behind him they signed Jonathan Vilma to play middle linebacker. If he avoids the injury bug they’ll be much better against the pass, but it remains to be seen how well he can play the run in a 4-3 defense. At cornerback they drafted and signed several players in an effort to find someone who can be reliable opposite Mike McKenzie, assuming he is able to come back from injury. Even if he does, he’s 32 years old and can have trouble keeping up with faster receivers. There is a huge hole at Free Safety named Josh Bullocks, and the Saints didn’t choose to upgrade there.

The bottom line on defense is simple. The Saints are banking heavily on Vilma’s presence in the middle and Ellis’ pressure to reduce the effectiveness of their opponents’ passing games. Given where they finished in 2007, they’re very likely to improve on paper. However, entering 2007 they were considered as a very vulnerable team against the run (consider that DTs Brian Young and Hollis Thomas are both in their 30s). By this point in the season, that will be exposed given the teams they will be playing. If the Saints can’t stop the run then all the high-jumping fast-bursting rookie defensive tackles in the world won’t help them. Expect a lot of shoot-outs where the Saints are involved.

Which is fine to a lot of Saints fans, given how good their offense is. There is no more explosive unit in the NFC South, and possibly in the NFC as a whole. The only question marks are at center (which should be stable and fine at this point), running back (Bush isn’t an every down kind of guy, Aaron Stecker is a slow-and-steady guy who gets the yards he needs but isn’t a break-away threat, and McAllister is aging), and Tight End. By and large, there aren’t a lot of weaknesses in this unit.

So basically, this should be high scoring affair. The Saints’ strength on offense is obviously passing. The strength of the Carolina Defense will be in coverage. The Panthers look to run the ball, and the Saints played well against the run in 2007. If Duece McAllister makes a strong return the Saints’ offense will be difficult at best to stop, and the defense will benefit from the increased rest. If the Panthers get the strong running game they seek, then they’ll be in more or less the same shape. This game will likely be decided earlier in the year as the first injuries begin to mount. Given that the Saints off season is already a little rocky, what with the retirement of Dan Morgan and Charles Grant’s legal troubles, we’ll go out on a limb here and suggest that they’re going to have a difficult time in 2008 where this sort of thing is concerned. Given that, mark up a probable win for the home team. Or you can go the other way and look at the Panthers’ home record over the past few years and the fact that the road team has won eight of the previous nine matchups between these two teams, and figure it as a probably not. We’ll call it a firm maybe here.

- Carolina leads series 14-12.

Week Eight, home versus the Arizona Cardinals
2007 record: 8-8, second in the NFC West
2007 offensive rank: 12 (29th in rushing, 5th in passing, and 7th in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 17 (9th against the run, 28th against the pass, and 27th in points allowed)

After two tough weeks of division play, the Panthers get a good breather against a good team. That is, they’ll get a chance to play a game against a talented opponent without the added pressure of division standings on the line. The Cardinals have a lot of talent, but they can be beaten and often are when they face the Panthers.

Last year the Cardinals had an injury report that read like the Panthers’. After starting the season with playoff hopes, they ended up playing for pride as their quarterback, defensive end, tight end, safety, and cornerback all had starters that finished on the IR list. This year they have a difficult early schedule, but will be coming into Bank of America stadium off a bye week, presumably rested and well prepared to gain revenge for last year’s loss.

The 2007 Cardinals had problems on defense both against the run and against the pass. Given that most of their major injuries were on the defensive side of the ball, that may be no surprise. Still, the lack of depth that was exposed killed their playoff hopes. To address that they drafted defense early, going with CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and DE Calais Campbell. With Rodgers-Cromartie the Cardinals hope to find a strong working combination for their secondary. They need to replace last year’s free safety, Terrence Holt, because he’s now a Panther. They’ll probably move a cornerback over and let a starter emerge from last year’s committee at the other side. At Linebacker they need to replace the strong side, as they lost both their starter and backup at that position to free agency. They’ll depend on a rookie, an undrafted free agent, or a 31 year old journeyman from the Steelers to man this position, which isn’t going to build confidence in their run defense. Still, just getting back the players on the 2007 IR list will give the defense a big boost.

On offense the Cards are largely set. They needed a little depth on the offensive line, and help at running back just because of Edgerrin James’ age. At tight end, neither Leonard Pope nor Ben Patrick have really shown anything special, although Pope spent most of last year on IR. With Leinart back though, and considering the skill of their two top receivers, the Cardinals should be able to move the ball well again.

This is a good game for Carolina to have after meeting the Saints. The Cardinals are yet another team that’s better in the air than on the ground, and by now the Panthers’ secondary should be playing in rhythm. Stopping the run shouldn’t be too much of a challenge, given the lack of improvements made in this area, and a one-dimensional Cardinals offense ought to be easy to shut down. If their receivers are healthy the Panthers should be able to move the ball against the Cardinals defense, at least enough to outscore them. The most damning Cardinal statistic is this though–over the last five seasons, the Cardinals are 7-33 on the road. Five of those wins have come against division opponents and the other two were against cellar-dwelling opponents that were having terrible seasons. The Cardinals may be talented this year, but this should be a win for the Panthers.

- Carolina leads series 5-2.

That concludes the second quarter of a John Fox season. Two games that the Panthers should win, and two where they have a pretty good shot. If things break the Panthers way then look for a nice winning streak entering the bye. If they don’t, the Panthers should still be in the thick of the playoff hunt and in the division race. Call it a 3-1 record, and if they can exit the first quarter at 2-2 then they’ll get to the halfway point at 5-3. Not great, but not too shabby and given Fox’s historical performance in November, enough to get the fans really excited.

See you next week with part three!

We all know that the offseason sucks. Aside from third-tier free agent news, not a lot happens in May (unless you’re in New Orleans I guess). The draft is a month old, training camp isn’t until July, and aside from the occasional interview not a lot is going on that’s worth discussing. That means it’s a great time to talk up stuff that will get us excited about next year. Everyone’s a homer in May, right? It’s easy to dream about going 16-0, no matter who your team is (except the Falcons of course).

If it’s so easy for us to do, how about our opponents? What do we know about them, and what they’ve done to improve? I’m not going to go into great depth here, but this article will take a quick look at who we’re facing in 2008. It does so from a May perspective, meaning that what you get probably won’t be close to what we see now. Still, it may be worthwhile to some to see how the teams will change.

So here’s my analysis, John Fox style. By that I mean looking at the season as four quarters, with a goal of going 3-1 or 4-0 in each one. This week’s installment will begin with quarter one.

Week One, at the San Diego Chargers
2007 record: 11-5, first in the AFC West
2007 offensive rank: 20 (7th in rushing, 26th in passing, and 5th in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 14 (16th against the run, 14th against the pass, and 5th in points allowed)

The Chargers open 2008 thinking about a deep playoff run, and their team and fans will be disappointed with anything less. Simply put, the Chargers have no holes in their starting lineup. Their starting 22 is arguably the best in football, any problems they have are with age and depth. Since we’re talking about their season opener, neither should be an issue for them in this game.

On offense Philip Rivers and Ladanian Tomlinson will be healthy and ready to break down defenses either in the air or on the ground. There isn’t any proven depth behind Tomlinson, but at this time of year who cares? The big question marks for them on offense will come on the offensive line. Specifically, will the right side be able to open good holes for the running game, and how well will their left tackle fare in protection against quicker defensive ends?

On defense, Jamal Williams returns to plug up the middle and Shawn Merriman will be there to provide plenty of pressure. Although they lack depth, their ends are solid and so are their cornerbacks and linebackers. That said, the Chargers have a soft spot in the middle that may be exploited if Jake gets enough time. All in all though, they’re a pretty solid if not spectacular unit that doesn’t dominate against passing or rushing, but still keeps the scoring to a minimum.

So this looks like a pretty tough season opener. A bright spot here is that over the past four years the Chargers are 3-3 at home in September, and we’re getting them early. In the last four years the Panthers are 4-2 on the road in September. Under Norv Turner the only team that’s ever started fast was the 1996 Redskins. Ladanian Tomlinson is a notoriously slow starter. So there’s an argument that this Chargers team is likely to be like the ones in the past in that you can expect them to start slow but finish strong. If that trend holds true, there’s some hope here for an opening day Panthers win. Still, maybe it’s best to save your gambling dollars for a different game…

- Carolina leads the all-time series with the Chargers at 2-1.

Week Two, home versus the Chicago Bears
2007 record: 7-9, fourth in the NFC North
2007 offensive rank: 27 (30th in rushing, 15th in passing, and 18th scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 28 (24th against the run, 27th against the pass, and 16th in points allowed)

Most Carolina fans have learned to approach home openers with a cautious optimism. The Panthers are not known for success in those games; they’ve compiled a historical 4-9 record in home openers, including a 1-4 mark over the past five years. Chicago will be a good opportunity for win number five though, especially early in the season.

The Bears had a lot of problems in 2007. Their offensive line struggled to open holes in the running game (3.1 yards per carry), and at the same time gave up 43 sacks. They weren’t terrible on offense - certainly they were better than the Panthers - but they didn’t do a lot to address their biggest problems until the draft. They drafted Chris Williams presumably to anchor one side of the offensive line (2007 starter Fred Miller was cut), but they didn’t grab any of the better guards in Free Agency. Depending on rookies and aging veterans who didn’t do that great a job to begin with is not the way to regain any sort of form in the running game. They also didn’t try to improve at the QB position, which was a big surprise in many circles. At Wide Receiver they drafted a couple of decent prospects and signed a couple of journeymen, but this was after letting both 2007 starters go. It’s almost as if they think they don’t need a good offense to win.

The good news for Bears fans is that they’ve done a decent job of reloading on defense. Urlacher returns, of course, and Lance Briggs was brought back in a move that means the Bears still lay claim to the best Linebacking corps in the NFL. Their line is still a little thin across the middle, and they could use more depth at Safety. Still, all the pieces are still there for a dominant defensive unit. All save one–Ron Rivera. When Rivera was there, the Bears defense adjusted more to their opponents and masked injuries a lot better. The great defense of 2006 got new position coaches everywhere and a new coordinator for 2007, and responded by going from fifth overall to 28th. Theres a big question concerning which unit shows up in 2008.

This could be a win, and most teams would mark it down as a should. The Panthers will be healthy and the Bears defense still doesn’t have an answer to Steve Smith. The matchups favor the Panthers in a lot of places–the Panthers will want to run and they have a playmaker at the receiver position. They can completely smother the Bears receivers and turn them one-dimensional on offense. They’re at home. That says it all though, given their history they would be more likely to win this one if it was a road game.

- The all-time series record with Chicago is tied at 2-2.

Week Three, at the Minnesota Vikings
2007 record: 8-8, second in the NFC North
2007 offensive rank: 13 (1st in rushing, 28th in passing, and 15th in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 20 (1st against the run, 32nd against the pass, and 12th in points allowed)

The 2007 Vikings would have dominated in the early days of football, back before you could throw the ball. They had the best rushing attack in football and were also the best at keeping the opponents from running. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t throw the ball and they couldn’t keep teams from throwing all over them. Until Adrian Peterson came on, they looked bound for the division cellar. Even with his strong running, they still couldn’t keep other teams out of the end zone enough to compile a winning record.

On offense the problems start with the Quarterback. Tarvaris Jackson looked brutal at times last year, and they sorely need a little more accuracy than he can provide. They drafted John David Booty because he has a neat name, and they also signed Gus Frerotte, but this position will probably still be pretty uncertain this early in the season. Of course, the running of Adrian Petersen makes a lot of that uncertainty irrelevant. If the Panthers can contain him, then they’ll look dominant on defense. If they can’t, they’ll look like the dominated. The Viking’s left tackle has problems with speed rushers, so that’s a point in the Panther’s favor assuming Peppers is having a good year.

The 2007 Viking defense was powerful against the run, or maybe it was just so easy to pass against them that teams figured out that they didn’t need to run to be successful. Stats can be funny things that way. If Pat Williams has another good year left in him (he’s 35), the Vikes defense should once more be stout against the run. They sorely needed a pass rush, so they traded for a one man gang there in Jared Allen. Between Allen and Ray Edwards’ return (he was suspended late in the 2007 season for steroids), they should be able to apply significantly more pressure to opposing quarterbacks in 2008. In the secondary, the cornerbacks and free safety were all awful in 2007, but that could be a result of no pass rush. Give an opposing quarterback enough time and any defensive back can be made to look foolish.

In ways, this looks like the anti-Bears team. Where the Panthers match up well against the Bears on paper, against the Vikings it looks like their areas of strength are the Panthers question marks. On defense, if the Panthers can keep Peterson from running wild against them then they should be able to keep the game within reach. The question mark on offense will be if the offensive line can give Delhomme enough time to pick apart the Viking secondary. This could be a close game, as long as the Panthers contain the pass rush. Call it a toss-up if you’re a homer.

- Minnesota leads the all-time series against the Panthers 4-3.

Week Four, home versus the Atlanta Falcons
2007 record: 4-12, last in the NFC South
2007 offensive rank: 23 (26th in rushing, 18th in passing, and 29th in scoring)
2007 defensive rank: 29 (26th against the run, 23rd against the pass, and 29th in points allowed)

The Falcons ended the 2007 season in exactly the shape fans wanted them; Panther fans that is. They took a team in disarray with locker room problems and huge holes on both lines and lowered the talent level by releasing some of their best players on both sides of the ball. Just listing their needs would make you wonder if they had a team at all: Quarterback, two tackes on each line, running back, center, guard, tight end, wide receiver, middle linebacker, cornerback, and safety. All that before you even address depth in general. Fortunately for them they went into the draft with a pile of picks. Rookies won’t do it alone though, and that suggests an interesting 2008 campaign.

At quarterback they have last years committee plus the new golden boy in Matt Ryan. If they don’t ruin him by throwing him to the wolves right away, he could develop into a great QB, a la Peyton Manning, to whom a lot of comparisons are already made. Too bad that in Manning’s first year he posted a whopping 71.2 rating on 26 TDs, 28 INTs, and 22 sacks for 109 lost yards. That was after a significantly better college career too… This early in the season they’ll probably still be starting Redmon, who doesn’t suck too bad although he still kind of sucks.

Their re-tooled offensive line will feature rookie Sam Baker and returning tackle Tyson Clabo in an engaging contest to see who’s more suited for the right side. The line surrendered 47 sacks, and the hope is that Baker will team with free agent Alex Stepanovich to upgrade the overall talent level and maybe get that number down to a more respectable 42. At Tight End, it’s doubtful that the committee of Ben Hartsock, Martrez Milner, and Keith Zinger will strike the same fear into opposing defenses as Alge Crumpler did.

At running back the Falcons do have something to look forward to. They signed Michael Turner from the Chargers in the offseason, but it remains to be seen how much of his 5.0 yards per carry average was due to Tomlinson fatigue and a strong offensive line. Being the feature back and running behind the likes of Kynan Forney may not give the same results, and by week three that should be plenty apparent.

On defense their problems start up front. They have a good pass rush in John Abraham and Jamaal Anderson, but they have no run stuffers on the defensive line. Ex-Panther Kindal Moorehead is slated to start next to Jonathan Babineaux, giving the Falcons two undersized defensive tackles on their front. Their linebackers are still the same group that they had last year, and one year older. That’s pertinent because Keith Brooking is 32 this year, and his replacement is a rookie who may be good, but who doesn’t look like the next John Beason.

Their secondary is just sad. Of their four starters, only Lawyer Malloy jumps out at the average NFL fan as someone to watch, and he’s 34. When half of your secondary is made up of castoffs from the Jets and Texans, you may need to worry about the passing game. There are several rookies here that might make an impact, but this is easily the weakest part of the defense.

So in summary, the Falcons are not likely to be very good this year. On offense they’ll try and run the ball, but it remains to be seen if last year’s 26th ranked attack was a one-time aberration or a sign that it’s time to rebuild. Their passing attack leaves a little to be desired, particularly since they lost more than they gained in Alge Crumpler’s departure.

So in this, the last game of the first quarter, the Panthers should get a good win against a struggling Falcons team. The Falcons defensive interior will wear down from the constant push of our large offensive line and the running style of Jonathan Stewart. Jake will have more targets in the passing game than the Falcons can cover. The Panthers should be able to shut down Atlanta’s passing game with minimal pressure, and if they can keep the Falcons from grinding it out on the ground then it’s no stretch to pencil this game in as a likely win. Coming at home versus a team we all love to hate will give a lot of cause for optimism, even if we’re just 2-2 at that point.

- Atlanta leads the all-time series against the Panthers 16-10.

So there you have it, the first quarter in a John Fox season. Call it two probables, a maybe, and a probably not. If the Panthers come out of here 2-2 I think a lot of fans will be happy, given the nature of the schedule. 1-3 is a possibility, and if the offense catches fire 3-1 isn’t out of the question. Of course, it’s all speculation at this point, but what else can you do in May?

According a Nittany Lion Blog, Coach John Fox is pretty high on third round draft pick Dan Connor, penciling him in as high as #2 on the depth chart at linebacker. What is not clear is which linebacker position Connor is slated for. Speculation seems to point to the middle linebacker position behind DROY candidate Jon Beason.

http://blogs.mcall.com/nittany_lines/2008/05/carolina-high-o.html

by Blindsite 

Round 1

13th Overall: Johnathan Stewart RB Oregon

Scouting Reports:

http://www.nfl.com/draft/profiles/jo…stewart?id=949

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/sco…anstewart.html

http://condraft.com/profile.php?id=1221

http://www.fftoolbox.com/nfl_draft/p…ospect_ID=1223

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/draft/p…tentId=8021418

Quote:

Quote:

My Take:

Solid take I suppose for the draft pick. Easily the best value remaining on the board however you look at it. I understand with this pick where Fox wants to take the team in the future and he’s very clearly looking to run the ball a lot more in the coming seasons. This pick will help to open the passing game and will help the Panthers control the clock a lot more.

Not my pick, but I do like it and Stewart was my number 2 back over Mendenhall so we got the best back and probably the best player available.

19th Overall: Jeff Otah OT Pittsburgh

Scouting Reports:

http://condraft.com/profile.php?id=1733

http://www.fftoolbox.com/nfl_draft/p…ospect_ID=1255

http://www.nfl.com/draft/profiles/jeff-otah?id=292

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/draft/p…tentId=8021730

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/sco…/jeffotah.html

Quote:

My take:
To take Otah we gave up our next years first round pick, this year’s second and a fourth. That’s way too much to spend on a guy who’s been called “fat” “lazy” “soft” and has serious motivational concerns. Otah is a mauler who should be able to open some holes at RT but will require help in the passing game for his rookie year at least.

The coaching staff have to see something I don’t because I don’t really like the idea of trading away a bit part of our future, a huge part, for a guy with big question marks.

Something to keep in mind in a year or so time for the same price we could’ve had Williams/Albert and Mendenhall.

Mike Rucker is to retire according to WFNZ…

Discuss it here….

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/carolina-panthers/76088-mike-rucker-retires.html

Here it is boys and girls. Let the 16-0 predictions begin…

Sunday, Sept. 7 Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers 4:15 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Sept. 14 Chicago Bears at Carolina Panthers 1 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Sept. 21 Carolina Panthers at Minnesota Vikings 1 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Sept. 28 Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers 1 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Oct. 5 Kansas City Chiefs at Carolina Panthers 1 p.m. CBS
Sunday, Oct. 12 Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Oct. 19 New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers 1 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Oct. 26 Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers 1 p.m. FOX
Week9 BYE
Sunday, Nov. 9 Carolina Panthers at Oakland Raiders 4:05 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Nov. 16 Detroit Lions at Carolina Panthers 1 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Nov. 23 Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons 1 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Nov. 30 Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers 1 p.m. FOX
Monday, Dec. 8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers 8:30 p.m. ESPN
Sunday, Dec. 14 Denver Broncos at Carolina Panthers 1 p.m. CBS
Sunday, Dec. 21 Carolina Panthers at New York Giants 1 p.m. FOX
Sunday, Dec. 28 Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints 1 p.m. FOX

Carolina Panthers agreed to terms with WR D.J. Hackett on a two-year, $3.5 million contract.

Discuss this move here… 

According to our good friend Darin, Justin Hartwig has been released. Hartwig’s biggest contribution was the mohawk under his helmet a couple of years ago.

That says it all.

Talk about this transaction here….