Who would win? 2008 Panthers vs 2015 Panthers

[Matthias]

Delhomme was epicly bad against the Cards, but that night was like a bottom dropping out of a lid.  Through the season he wasn't that bad.  He had great games that year.  With the help of the run game, he was at his best.  If it came down to Delhomme winning the game by throwing the ball for the majority, then I believe it would be no question 2015 would win.  Yet even with that, because Smitty was so good, 3 out of 10, even Delhomme could win a shootout.

[NanuqoftheNorth]

2003's team found a way to win games when they had no business winning.  A team that made the most of what they had to work with and took their SB opponent to the limit.

2015's team may be the most talented team with the deepest bench but they could learn a thing or two from our first SB squad when it comes to making the most of what you have to work with.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

the 2008 defense wouldn't have been able to do a damn thing to stop our rushing attack.  the middle of that line was actually pretty soft with a poor rotation and little depth.  kemoeatu was the only one who was consistently effective against the run.  i believe the 2008 team had one or two injuries on the d-line late in the year and the giants rushed for almost 300 yards in what i think was week 16.

you also have to consider the prospect of an elite tight end vs. a john fox/trgovac defense.  any panther fan who was paying attention during that era should have just gotten a chill at the mere mention of such a thing.

what was lost in the monday nighter against the bucs was antonio bryant ripping us apart for 200 yards.  that pass defense was definitely exploitable.  a rookie charles godfrey playing out of his college position got lost in coverage frequently and ken lucas was rapidly declining as we all remember from the playoff loss.  chris harris is one of the underrated panthers of the fox era but he was at his best when he was able to come down into the box.  the 2008 secondary only had one good cover corner and that was chris gamble.  the 2015 wide receiver corps was far from elite as one or two people might have mentioned on this site but i believe the deep threat posed by ted ginn would have caused a problem.

[Frizzy350]

44 minutes ago, Matthias said:

 

Moose had a good season as our number 2 that year.  I don't think Tillman could do a whole lot to slow him down.  In one game against the Chiefs, he outran their whole squad for a 60-70 yard touchdown.  Ultimately however, Smitty could take on a whole secondary by himself.  He would torch everyone on this year's secondary.

 

As for the 2008 defense, it was good overall.  Now Cam is excellent, but when you look at the pieces around Cam, our 2008 defense could beat him.  Again Peppers would absolutely destroy Remmers.  He could do the same for Oher as well.  Our linebacking core back then was fast enough to contain the run and our secondary with Gamble and Lucas was nothing to sneeze at.  When it comes to that tandem, it's the best we've had to date. (Though Bene and Norman likely could challenge that claim in time)  I just don't see the 2015 offense being good enough, or specifically the offensive line, to beat the '08 squad.  If Cam had a great receiver (again KB was hurt this year), I might give the edge to them, but I '08 squad could cover Philly Brown and Cotchery.

No Peppers would get a sack or two, then get double teamed and give up after the first quarter, like he always did.  He also only racked up his sacks against terrible teams.  He'd get spanked dealing with any bit of extra work from Norwell or Turner.  Who would step up?  Tyler Brayton?  Damon Huard?  That crappy, undersized, project white backup guy we always had on the roster?

Lucas sucked for pretty much all of 2008.  He lost all his ability pretty quickly after signing him.  Gamble was good, but not fast enough for Ginn and would get manhandled by a healthy KB (why are you talking about Philly and Cotchery?).  The safeties were pure trash, and the whole secondary had huge issues understanding their responsibilities.  Lotta finger pointing back there.

2008 Smitty was great, still not quite as good as 2005, where even he couldn't take on the entire Seahawks secondary in the playoffs.  If 2008 TD is going to take on covering Olsen, then Cam will run circles all over that team.

I remember that big play Moose had, but that was probably the only impressive play he made on the season.  Other then that he was just complimentary.

You also need to account for depth, something none of our Hurney teams had.  It matters, a lot.

[JawnyBlaze]

2015 would beat 2008 45-7 with the lone 2008 score being a Smitty miracle play where takes a bubble screen 80 yards, juking out 17 defenders along the way.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

oh yeah and 2008 thomas davis in pass coverage is another point that bears mentioning.  thanks for bringing that up @Frizzy350

he was still pretty damn raw up until roughly his 2009 season which was cut short by the first of his three ACLs.  he could occasionally be a liability in pass defense which is a far cry from his elite status in that area now.  there was actually some noise about him being a bust on this site over the first few years of his career.  he could hit like a freight train but wasn't a great pass rusher and wasn't elite in coverage.  he was pure potential, then all the injuries came, then he came back in 2012 and let the world know.

[Davidson Deac II]

52 minutes ago, NanuqoftheNorth said:

2003's team found a way to win games when they had no business winning.  A team that made the most of what they had to work with and took their SB opponent to the limit.

2015's team may be the most talented team with the deepest bench but they could learn a thing or two from our first SB squad when it comes to making the most of what you have to work with.

2003 had better receivers, a slighty better group of running backs and a roided up offensive line.  The offense took a while to gel that year, but it happened at the right time. 

[frash.exe]

the 2008 team got outclassed way too many times to be considered seriously. The first Tampa game (the shitshow that wasn't the Monday Night game in Dec.), the second Falcons game where they put up like 45 points against our swiss cheese defense, the 3rd week game against the Vikings, and the Giants game where Derrick Ward runs for over 200 yards and then proceeds to never do anything again. Then of course there's the Arizona game at home where idk what the fug they did the two weeks leading up to that game.

The 2015 team really broke out of the mold of the same ol' Carolina we'd seen for years. I hope we continue to build on what we accomplished that year. I honestly can't think of a better season the Panthers ever had thus far.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

that team was supposed to run over the cardinals in that playoff game.  everybody thought the panthers' gameplan would be to have jake turn around and hand the ball off and there just wouldn't be anything arizona could do about it.  i think greg cosell was the only guy in the media saying that our team was a mirage and that the cardinals would win.  he cited the rapidly declining performance of our defense and jake's erratic game against the raiders following a bye.  of course that opinion wasn't met kindly here but that's how it goes.

instead of deangelo williams and jonathan stewart splitting like 45 carries we got ken lucas getting posterized by larry fitzgerald all night and the coaching staff having jake sling the ball around like they thought he was 1999 kurt warner or something.

but i do remember bucs fans getting really, really excited when they picked up derrick ward going into 2009.  then poof, nothing.

[RoaringRiot]

The '08 team got really lucky in a few games. I can remember the Bears and Cardinals off be top of my head. '15 team destroys them. 

[toldozer]

7 hours ago, RoaringRiot said:

The '08 team got really lucky in a few games. I can remember the Bears and Cardinals off be top of my head. '15 team destroys them. 

Didn't they barely beat the winless lions and crappy raiders too? They were what everyone said we were last year.

[Davidson Deac II]

3 minutes ago, 15 said:

I think 2005 at full strength may have been one of the best teams.

Not much talent on offense, outside of Steve Smith. 

[Matthias]

Now when I think about it, we did struggle with some games back in 2008.  In the Giants game where they ran over us with Earth, Wind, and Fire, we were beating them pretty solidly early on.  D-Will went on to rush for 100 yards and 4 TDs, but in the end our defense gave way.  We could have won it anyway and got home field that year, however a few hiccups cost us a game winning field goal.

 

I would still argue the 2008 o-line match up well against the 2015 d-line, and Steve Smith would go off on Norman.  Yet I think I might have overestimated the 2015 offense and what they accomplished.  I didn't mention Olsen's ability because I figure he wouldn't get much opportunity with having to double team Peppers.  Ultimately I believe when we had both the running and passing game going in our 2008 run, we were pretty unstoppable.

[Cary Kollins]

The 2015 team is one of the best teams in NFL history.

 

They would crush the 2008 team.