Panthers seek back-to-back winning seasons

[Rod Butsecks]

(By Charles Chandler, [email protected]) p//pp/The Carolina Panthers have been reasonably successful during their 14-year history, but they're still striving for more consistency./pp/They've played in a Super Bowl, reached the playoffs four times, appeared in three NFC Championship games, and finished with double-digit losses only twice./pp/But they've never made the playoffs in consecutive seasons or put together back-to-back winning records. /pp/From the very top of the organization, reaching a higher level of consistency is a huge priority./pp//pp/This Panthers team has a chance to be the first to make the breakthrough. It returns 20 of 22 starters from last season's 12-4 team that won the NFC South title, and hopes to avoid another slide to mediocrity. Carolina fell to 7-9 each season after its 1996, 2003 and '05 postseason runs./pp/ldquo;I think one of our first goals every year is to make the playoffs,rdquo; said general manager Marty Hurney. ldquo;Then when you look from a historical perspective, we're all competitive people. So when you have the opportunity to do something for the first time (in franchise history), your competitive nature just zones in on that a little more./pp/ldquo;Season-to-season, as an organization, one of our goals is to be consistently competitive. Making the playoffs is something that goes to that.rdquo;/pp/Quarterback Jake Delhomme said the Panthers were ldquo;devastatedrdquo; by injuries in 2004, when they lost their top three running backs. After an '05 playoff berth, Carolina was picked by many preseason prognosticators to win the Super Bowl, but Delhomme said the lsquo;06 team simply wasn't as good as expected./pp/Now, Delhomme said, making it to the playoffs for a second straight year is a ldquo;big goal, no doubtrdquo; for the players./pp/ldquo;I think that means a lot to us,rdquo; he said. ldquo;It's fun when you win. When you go through those ups and downs, it's frustrating.rdquo;/pp/The Panthers are hoping to stay healthy, but lost starting defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu (ruptured Achilles tendon) for the season on the opening day of training camp./pp/Even when injuries have affected the Panthers, Fox has somehow managed to keep the team in contention until late in the season. They almost pulled off a miracle recovery in '04, starting 1-7 and going into the final game with a shot at the playoffs before losing to finish 7-9./pp/Fox is quick to defend the team's overall performance since he took over as coach in 2002. Carolina was coming off a 1-15 season at the time./pp/ldquo;Although we've not made it to the playoffs consecutively ndash; that's obviously a goal ndash; we've been very competitive and we've been very close,rdquo; he said. ldquo;We've not been out of a season ndash; ever.rdquo;/pp/The Panthers have made the playoffs in three of Fox's seven seasons and are tied with Green Bay for the second-most wins in the NFC during that span (63), seven behind Philadelphia./pp/Carolina also is one of only four teams (along with Denver, Indianapolis and New England) that have not had a season with double-digit losses in the past seven seasons./pp/But during the same time, 13 teams around the league have had made the playoffs in consecutive seasons, led by Indianapolis with seven straight. In the NFC, seven teams have done it, including stretches of five straight appearances by Seattle (2003-07), four by the New York Giants ('2005-08) and three by Philadelphia (2002-04) and Green Bay (2002-04)./pp/Fox, however, does not believe the Panthers can be labeled as inconsistent under his watch./pp/ldquo;It depends on how you define consistency,rdquo; he said. ldquo;I define it as (consistently) competitive. Being in the hunt is important. I think we've been in the hunt consistently.rdquo;/pp/Fox said merely making the playoffs isn't his primary goal anyway./pp/ldquo;At the end of the day, the only way you're going to be truly happy is if you win it all,rdquo; he said. ldquo;If you don't win it all, you always end the season with a loss. Whenever that loss is, even if it's in the Super Bowl, it's a bummer.rdquo;/pp/There has been speculation that Fox may need to make the playoffs this season to remain secure in his job, especially with an all-star cast of former head coaches sitting out this season and available for hire, including former Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher./pp/But Fox said he doesn't feel any extra pressure./pp/ldquo;Nobody could put any more pressure on me than me,rdquo; he said. ldquo;So I guess the answer to that is I always feel the pressure, but it's from myself, not anywhere else.rdquo;/p

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