what was the most talented team in panthers history

[davos]

On the offensive side of the ball, imo the 03/04 Superbowl team.  Arguably the best group of receivers we ever had with Smith, Proehl, and Moose.  Stephen Davis had some juice left in the tank, and he and Foster made a excellent rb tandem.   The offensive line was very good (albeit with some help) and Delhomme was solid enough at qb.  I think the level of talent on offensive that year was underrated, but it did take them a while to gel.  On the defensive side, I think the 02 squad was best, although I guess there wasn't much difference between 02 and 03 talent wise. 

 

IMO, the 05 squad didn't have much offensive talent.  Moose was gone, Proehl and Davis were to close to the end of their careers.  Our offense was basically 4 ypc from Foster, and throw it to Steve Smith. Fortunately, our defense forced a lot of turnovers, which helped the offense quite a bit. 

Offensive line wise, I think 05' was the best mainly because Steussie was gone but you're right about the skill positions.  Foster had some great games in 05 though Davis had noticeably declines.  Wahle didn't last long here but he was on top of his game when he first arrived.  Gamble and Lucas balled out that year as well with Minter.  Peppers and Rucker were still rocking together with very strong backups in Wallace and Moorehead on the DL.  Morgan played most games, and Witherspoon was in his prime.  03' though was a special bunch.    

[OneBadCat]

2008.  That offensive line and that running game we had was top notch.  If we had pre-surgery Delhomme I think we would have ran through the playoffs that year.

Yep. Imagine if we had Cam back then. We would be unbeatable. We also lacked a true threat at TE that year but having Steve Smith at the absolute peak of his game probably would have countered that. 

[L-TownCat]

Talent?  I dunno, maybe this squad we have now.  Best team?  That 08 squad was straight clickin man.  30+ ppg a decent defensive squad and a special teams that didn't show up on the short bus.  I don't know what happened to Jake, but that game was just brutal.  We win that we go all the way.  Fugu the steelers, we would have smashed them.

[TN05]

I think you could make a very good argument it was 2008. We were a top-ten team in points and yardage (the only Panthers playoff team that's ever done that), and that's not just because of the one-two punch of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Steve Smith was utterly insane most of the season (you could make the argument he was better than 2005), and Muhsin Muhammad was also very, very good (close to 1,000 yards). That being said, Jake Delhomme really faded down the stretch, our defense was probably the worst of any of our playoff teams, and our special teams (outside of Mark Jones and John Kasay) wasn't really that good, either.

[TN05]

Talent?  I dunno, maybe this squad we have now.  Best team?  That 08 squad was straight clickin man.  30+ ppg a decent defensive squad and a special teams that didn't show up on the short bus.  I don't know what happened to Jake, but that game was just brutal.  We win that we go all the way.  Fugu the steelers, we would have smashed them.

For the life of me I don't know why we abandoned the running game after that first turnover from Jake (the fumble). We went into desperation mode when we were only down a touchdown very early in the game.

[bababoey]

I would go with 08 as well.  The 05 team had a better d-line, even though Jenkins missed most of that year with an injury,  but everything else was better with the 08 team.  Better O-line, better running game, better receivers ( even though it was only 2 of them),  Gamble was a better corner than he was in 05 (even though Lucas starting sucking at the end of the season),  TD was starting to figure out how to really play LB.  How we went from that team to, in 2 years time, 2-14 is hard to believe.

[KendrickPanther]

2004 and 2005 we had really nice rosters. Injuries and other issues did us in. 

[Seltzer]

2006 team was stacked, but they probably had the worst chemistry in team history. SI picked the Panthers to win the SB that year, and team seemed off from the very first game where Vick and Warrick Dunn ran all over us. Delhomme made some awful throws in clutch time that year, and the Panthers got out coached a lot. I remember we almost started 0-3 and could never get any sort of momentum. Keyshawn threw Jake under the bus a couple of times which didn't set well with management. Smitty was out the first 2 games with a hammy, and him and Keyshawn never clicked either. All around disappointment, but on paper the talent was ridiculous on offense and defense. Peppers, Jenkins, Maake, Rucker, TD (rookie), Dan Morgan (got hurt), Gamble, Ken Lucas, etc. Started the beginning of the end for the Fox era, which lasted 2 years too long. And I loved Fox

[OneBadCat]

For the life of me I don't know why we abandoned the running game after that first turnover from Jake (the fumble). We went into desperation mode when we were only down a touchdown very early in the game.

Great point. I also still think Fox should have put Matt Moore in at half time. Screw Delhomme's pride and ego. You can't let one player continue to tank the game. That could have been a special playoff run. We were a better team than Arizona.

[OneBadCat]

2004 and 2005 we had really nice rosters. Injuries and other issues did us in. 

2004 was a great roster on paper for sure. Injuries destroyed that team. Jake was at his peak that season in my opinion. The way he bounced the team back to a 6 game win streak with Moose was awesome. 

[CatMan72]

1996 and 2008, the '08 team was undone by Jake's turnover meltdown. 

[TN05]

Great point. I also still think Fox should have put Matt Moore in at half time. Screw Delhomme's pride and ego. You can't let one player continue to tank the game. That could have been a special playoff run. We were a better team than Arizona.

Matt Moore wouldn't have done any better. 2010 gave fairly good evidence as to why Fox was always reluctant to put him in.

[OneBadCat]

Matt Moore wouldn't have done any better. 2010 gave fairly good evidence as to why Fox was always reluctant to put him in.

But obviously Delhomme was tanking the game with no signs of recovery. 2010 was not a good indicator as Moore was handed the keys to a team that was extremely weak with a head coach that did not give a fug.

The line was garbage. Additionally Fox didn't give Moore any sort of leash to grow. If a guy is to get a fair shot he needs to be able to make mistakes and not worry about his job. I though Moore played admirably that year for the most part. He was the only QB who made the offense functional that year.

Moore played great in other instances. In 07 and 09 he was solid. Even an inconsistent Matt Moore is better than a Delhomme past his prime.

From what I gathered Fox didn't like Moore because he was an easy going guy and not the hot head leader Jake was.

[TN05]

But obviously Delhomme was tanking the game with no signs of recovery. 2010 was not a good indicator as Moore was handed the keys to a team that was extremely weak with a head coach that did not give a fug.

The line was garbage. Additionally Fox didn't give Moore any sort of leash to grow. If a guy is to get a fair shot he needs to be able to make mistakes and not worry about his job. I though Moore played admirably that year for the most part. He was the only QB who made the offense functional that year.

Moore played great in other instances. In 07 and 09 he was solid. Even an inconsistent Matt Moore is better than a Delhomme past his prime.

From what I gathered Fox didn't like Moore because he was an easy going guy and not the hot head leader Jake was.

 At the end of 2009 - when we had no chance at the playoffs and there was absolutely no pressure - he looked fine. The problem is, give him the slightest bit of pressure and he crumbles. 2010 showed he's just as prone to throwing into triple coverage as Jake was, and even in his best game (San Francisco) he still had a really bad interception that almost lost it. Moore would not have won the Arizona game, and he wouldn't have gotten far if he did. He's just not a very good quarterback.