Rosenthal: In reality, the Panthers have a roster full of No. 4 receivers

[top dawg]

And for those interested, Adam Schein drops us to 6-10 at the loss of Benjamin:

General manager Dave Gettleman just has not done a very good job surrounding Cam Newton with much talent on offense. I've had a hard time understanding his approach on many fronts -- including the head-scratching release of Steve Smith last offseason. And while we're talking receivers, that's the clear issue of the moment for this team.

Honestly, I didn't think Carolina had enough at receiver before the Benjamin injury. Now? Devin Funchess is the current No. 1, and that's not fair to the second-round pick. He just doesn't appear to be as physical or NFL-ready as Benjamin was entering last season. And the rest of the Panthers' receiver depth chart looks like a witness protection program. Jerricho Cotchery? Ted Ginn Jr.? Philly Brown? Brenton Bersin? Who??

I am all for lowering expectations, but 6-10 may be too low. We'll see this season.

[Mr. Scot]

Actually, the Colts were the 11th ranked defense in the league last year....right behind us. So we really need to stop d*ckwaving like our defense was great...

First off, you're citing the stat for yards, which isn't that great a way to judge defenses.  If you wanna judge by a stat, points are far better, and neither the Panthers nor the Colts were anywhere close to the Top Ten there.

That said, the Panthers defense started rough but got stronger as the year.  The Colts, not so much, despite playing in a division with some of the NFL's absolute worst teams.

And did you watch that Patriot game?

 

[tiger7_88]

d*ckwaving 

 

In fairness, our defense stiffened up towards the end of the year, but I get your point.

ISWYDT.

[Ornias]

I imagine that we are going to see a lot of stacked boxes this year. No wide-out other than Olsen is going to scare anyone. I hope Shula figures out what a screen play is this year. 

[Oudaman90]

First off, you're citing the stat for yards, which isn't that great a way to judge defenses.  If you wanna judge by a stat, points are far better, and neither the Panthers nor the Colts were anywhere close to the Top Ten there.

That said, the Panthers defense started rough but got stronger as the year.  The Colts, not so much, despite playing in a division with some of the NFL's absolute worst teams.

And did you watch that Patriot game?

 

They were right behind us in points allowed, passing yards allowed, rushing yards,allowed, etc. It also helped we finished up against other weak teams and a depleted Cardinals team. We're still pretty much the New York Jets in structure with a mild-mannered Rex Ryan in Ron Rivera...

[top dawg]

That's  true,  but our defense really came strong by year's end,  including the DBs.   If we had had any kind of legit offense in the playoffs,  we could have beaten Seattle.  

That being said,  last year was last year.  This year it would seem that we can only get better with the addition of Tillman,  Coleman and Thompson.  That,  along with momentum from last year,  should keep us in some games.  Of course everybody gets tired if they are on the field too long,  so we are going to have to find some semblance of a legitimate passing game to make it all work. 

[Oudaman90]

The onus is on the defense to carry us. Thats where we have the most talent and that's how our HC and GM constructed the team. If we fail, they should get most of the blame. Something they get too little of for a defense driven team. All the offense can do is not lose the game. They're too limited to lead us....

[mcdougal]

^ You made great points, but you're forgetting one major difference:

After the Colts bottomed out, they tore that roster completely apart, including releasing Peyton Manning.

After the Panthers bottomed out, they spent a ton of money to keep that team intact and continued to operate that way all the way into the next season before Hurney was let go.

Even though there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel, Gettleman has never had the clean slate the Colts had to build their team from scratch and has been essentially tearing the team down in order to do that since he got here, which makes our recent success (given previous seasons) remarkable.

Just last week folks were excited to see Corey and Ted stretch the field with the "Twin Towers" being unstoppable in the red zone. Now all of a sudden it's the "worst receiving group in history."

Our strengths are still our strengths and our weaknesses are still our weaknesses, so I'm not going to be too concerned.

I am not sure I agree with that. Since Newton has been drafted, for example, the Panthers have drafted a defensive player (while the offense has never been what I would truly consider elite) in the first round 3/4 years.

DG has had 3 draft opportunities. IMO, his biggest priority appears, to date, to be building an elite defense. The Jags, for example, have done more in the draft, IMO, to surround Brotles with talent in 2 seasons than the Panthers have for Newton in 5 seasons. 

Again, the approach isn't the biggest problem. It is the approach coupled with our fans then expecting an elite offense is the concern. 

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

Cam is already an awful QB, with these receivers I'm expecting about 2,000 yards, 12 TDs, 16 INTs 

yeah man remember how he threw 14 points worth of interceptions returned for touchdowns with the division title on line

oh wait, that was your quarterback

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

Didn't he throw a pick six at the goal line during a potential  game tying drive in the divisional round of the playoffs? 

Sounds a lot worse than some regular season antics. 

basically what you're saying is cam had a bad game against the most stacked secondary of the salary cap era which is probably not as impactful sounding as you would have hoped.

it shouldn't be shocking to anybody though that the first thing you jumped to was a team that's about a light year out of atlanta's league to make your point.  because that's all you've got.

 

[cbarrier90]

I am not sure I agree with that. Since Newton has been drafted, for example, the Panthers have drafted a defensive player (while the offense has never been what I would truly consider elite) in the first round 3/4 years.

DG has had 3 draft opportunities. IMO, his biggest priority appears, to date, to be building an elite defense. The Jags, for example, have done more in the draft, IMO, to surround Brotles with talent in 2 seasons than the Panthers have for Newton in 5 seasons. 

Again, the approach isn't the biggest problem. It is the approach coupled with our fans then expecting an elite offense is the concern. 

The approach has been to draft BPA regardless of need. The "wrong" approach has gotten us back to back division titles while in the middle of a rebuild.

What has to happen for this narrative of "Gettleman doesn't care about offense" to die? He's given Cam two tall receivers to throw to, rebuilt the offensive line in front of him, and given him 40 some odd million in guaranteed money.

Also, his job is to build the best team around Cam Newton, and that includes building a defense that will create shorter fields and on occasion put up points themselves.

Again, what do you want? Kelvin got injured. It happens. Bad luck. Nothing more.

[Verge]

I forgot how legendary the battle of wide receivers was at the super bowl this year

 

Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola vs Doug Baldwin and Chris Matthews. 

The sky is not falling.

[top dawg]

Again, what do you want? Kelvin got injured. It happens. Bad luck. Nothing more.

The short answer is a receiving corps that is not on life support with the loss of its star receiver. 

[mcdougal]

The approach has been to draft BPA regardless of need. The "wrong" approach has gotten us back to back division titles while in the middle of a rebuild.

What has to happen for this narrative of "Gettleman doesn't care about offense" to die? He's given Cam two tall receivers to throw to, rebuilt the offensive line in front of him, and given him 40 some odd million in guaranteed money.

Also, his job is to build the best team around Cam Newton, and that includes building a defense that will create shorter fields and on occasion put up points themselves.

Again, what do you want? Kelvin got injured. It happens. Bad luck. Nothing more.

As I said before, it is not the "wrong" approach. Just the approach that IMO makes less sense given who are head coach and offensive coordinator are, and one I would not take. But the this approach can lead to a Superbowl.

I personally do not feel that way about Gettleman and his approach to our offense. I feel as though Gettleman cares about our offense only to the extent that it doesn't drastically interfere with his ability to build an elite defense.

I am not so sure about that "rebuilt the offense line in front of him..." assertion. And yes he has given Newton a fair deal, which means that Newton should be expected to elevate his level of play given that he is sucking up more of the cap/ resources. However, that doesn't mean that Newton should be subjected to mediocre talent either. As you know, there are many NFL teams that right now play their QBs handsomely and continue to field talented players in other positions on the offense. 

 

And as I continue to say, what I want is for Panther fans to recognize that the Panthers didn't build a team in the image of the Packers or Falcons or Broncos or Colts. So come September we should not litter the Huddle with threads entitled: "Newton and the offense are bums, 17 points against the Falcons isn't going to cut it..."