This Team Is Ahead of Schedule: Remember That

[arieslibra1]

55 minutes ago, fieryprophet said:

Before this season began, and even with a healthy Benjamin, I was convinced the Panthers were still a year away from contention. The shaky offensive line, the lack of weapons around Newton, and the holes in the secondary were all evident and many Panthers fans were resigned to playing second fiddle to the Seahawks and Patriots of the world.

But a funny thing happened as the season progressed: Cam's growth lifted the entire offense, with the threat of him running helping to alleviate his offense line. The defense was its typical steady self and Norman gave it the shutdown corner they were missing. A young, cocky, confident team beat the bullies of the past and stormed to the Super Bowl easily. Too easily. When the only pass rush ferocious enough in the league to shut down the offense was encountered in the pressure cooker of the Super Bowl, miscues abounded and a young team lost its bearings and overall the game.

Losing hurts, but it can be a springboard for a better team, one in prime position to fill in its holes, refocus its efforts and with a singleminded rage embark on a campaign of vengeance against the rest of the league. We have a full draft and salary cap space, we regain our best wide receiver, our rookies contributed and grew, our quarterbacks on both side of the ball are signed long term, and there is still room to grow at every level. There is no guarantee for the future but the window is opening, not closing, and a team that arrived ahead of schedule is in prime position to stay a long time. We have won the division three years in a row, we have young players ready to ascend into places of weakness, and we have continuity across our staff on both sides of the ball. Yes, this loss hurts, but every season since 2013 we've taken a step forward, from making the playoffs, to winning a playoff game, to making it to the Super Bowl. Only one step left :)

Keep Pounding.

Yeah youth is on Carolina's side. They got some special for the next couple of years. 

[Growl]

No, it isn't. and this yearly rubbish is the reason so many of us are weary of this ride as a whole.

 

Ryan Kalil himself was on television explaining how rubbish this opinion is. This isn't the 1980's and it doesn't take teams 7 or 8 years to come together (it never did though honestly but it especially isnt the case anymore)

We are now roughly halfway through this tenure's time here and have absolutely nothing to show for it. It's exhausting and this trope makes it even moreso

[KillaCamNewton]

The future is bright but this is still the toughest loss this franchise will probably ever take. We just lost the Super Bowl to a team we were better than and a QB who wasnt even a threat. This was the best chance at winning a Super Bowl we've ever had an we completely wet the bed

[fieryprophet]

3 minutes ago, Growl said:

No, it isn't. and this yearly rubbish is the reason so many of us are weary of this ride as a whole.

 

Ryan Kalil himself was on television explaining how rubbish this opinion is. This isn't the 1980's and it doesn't take teams 7 or 8 years to come together (it never did though honestly but it especially isnt the case anymore)

We are now roughly halfway through this tenure's time here and have absolutely nothing to show for it. It's exhausting and this trope makes it even moreso

Because those teams that run through coaches and GMs every few seasons win a lot of Super Bowls, huh?

[Growl]

Just now, fieryprophet said:

Because those teams that run through coaches and GMs every few seasons win a lot of Super Bowls, huh?

you must be quoting the wrong person something because nothing you said has any pertinence to anything i said in that post

[fieryprophet]

7 minutes ago, KillaCamNewton said:

The future is bright but this is still the toughest loss this franchise will probably ever take. We just lost the Super Bowl to a team we were better than and a QB who wasnt even a threat. This was the best chance at winning a Super Bowl we've ever had an we completely wet the bed

I would be pissed if this team didn't understand they blew a prime opportunity. Now the question is whether they respond with a championship mindset or give up. If they give up, then they didn't deserve it in the first place. There's still some growing up left to do for this entire team, and that is a bright spot, but it's on them to fulfill that. I believe they can and will.

[fieryprophet]

1 minute ago, Growl said:

you must be quoting the wrong person something because nothing you said has any pertinence to anything i said in that post

"We are now roughly halfway through this tenure's time here and have absolutely nothing to show for it. It's exhausting and this trope makes it even moreso "

 

Whose tenure are you referring to, then?

[LinvilleGorge]

I appreciate the enthusiasm, but just to add a dose of reality, both of our Super Bowl appearances were completely shocking by preseason standards.  Neither team was considered a serious threat before the season started.  Both teams made the Super Bowl and came up short, but the future looked bright.  The '03 squad out together some more quality season but never got back to the big show.  It's really hard to get to the Super Bowl.  We've done it twice and came up short both times.  That fuging sucks.  I hope this core group of guys can get back again, but it's far from guaranteed.

[fieryprophet]

6 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I appreciate the enthusiasm, but just to add a dose of reality, both of our Super Bowl appearances were completely shocking by preseason standards.  Neither team was considered a serious threat before the season started.  Both teams made the Super Bowl and came up short, but the future looked bright.  The '03 squad out together some more quality season but never got back to the big show.  It's really hard to get to the Super Bowl.  We've done it twice and came up short both times.  That fuging sucks.  I hope this core group of guys can get back again, but it's far from guaranteed.

That core made it to the NFC title game just two years later, but the Fox-era playoff teams were always heavy on the veteran side of things. We went into every draft looking for pieces to replace guys who had fallen off. This Panthers squad has youth all over and cornerstone pieces other franchises would kill for.

 

I'm not saying we won't potentially regress badly, as this is the Not For Long league, after all, but within the framework of future potential we are in great shape if things pan out. That path to future success is much more than many other fanbases have right now.

[Daddy_Uncle]

We will have an awesome off season and we are going to have one fired up team next season with better talent. We should be better next season and will have superb owl experience. I just feel sorry for anyone that has to play us