This sounds about right ( Post-McCoy Power Rankings).

[Double Trouble]

Walterfootball released his latest power rankings today.  The fact we have ranged from 26 to 7 on different sites tells you have much Cam's health means to this team (not that that's news to anyone here).  

 

7.  Carolina Panthers (7-9) - Previously: 12. 
The Panthers are the most difficult team to rank at the moment because we don't know what Cam Newton's status is going to be. There's some long-term concerns with Newton's shoulder, so there's a chance he may not be 100 percent in 2019. If Newton is healthy, the team could win the Super Bowl next year, thanks to the upgrade the front office made at center. Conversely, the Panthers will be locked into a losing record again if Newton is banged up. 

Update: I've heard that Cam Newton is healthy, so I was already willing to bump up the Panthers. Then, they signed Gerald McCoy. Carolina deserves to be a top-10 team, and it certainly is worth the 60/1 Super Bowl odds. 
 

[Double Trouble]

Full rankings here:

http://walterfootball.com/nflpowerrankings.php

[Double Trouble]

Looking at the rest of these rankings is pretty alarming haha. Rams 14?? Packers 4 and Steelers 5? Yikes.  

[Pup McBarky]

Wow. Those rankings are really bad.

[Tepper's Chest Hair]

I am really ignoring all Panther rankings.They are never really fair to Carolina.  Even during the 2015 run I was swamped with stories online and on ESPN, etc like "Worst 8-1 team ever?"

We know the team we have.  We know it will rely greatly on Cam's shoulder.  I am content to sit back and let it play out.  Rather fly in under the radar anyways.

[electro's horse]

20 minutes ago, Double Trouble said:

Looking at the rest of these rankings is pretty alarming haha. Rams 14?? Packers 4 and Steelers 5? Yikes.  

Rams are weird. There's fear BB exposed them, Suh is gone, the rest of the defense is a year older, and Gurley is dead.

[Carl Spackler]

Would be nice to avoid a letdown against the Rams

[07579394]

Never mind,last year we even ranged to 5th,so?

[GoPanthers123]

Every year I expect us to go 14-2 so I’m not happy with any team ranked ahead of us.  Look last year we had a string of close losses and we definitely were this close to a winning record.  

[bababoey]

2 hours ago, Tepper's Chest Hair said:

I am really ignoring all Panther rankings.They are never really fair to Carolina.  Even during the 2015 run I was swamped with stories online and on ESPN, etc like "Worst 8-1 team ever?"

We know the team we have.  We know it will rely greatly on Cam's shoulder.  I am content to sit back and let it play out.  Rather fly in under the radar anyways.

In 2015 we were never 8-1.  We were 8-0 and 9-0 but never 8-1.

[jfra78]

14 minutes ago, bababoey said:

In 2015 we were never 8-1.  We were 8-0 and 9-0 but never 8-1.

yes we were the worst 15-0 team in history

[Tepper's Chest Hair]

1 hour ago, bababoey said:

In 2015 we were never 8-1.  We were 8-0 and 9-0 but never 8-1

Sorry, my memory was fuzzy on when the loss was.  But the point remains.  There were constant articles about how we were the worst 5-0, 6-0, 7-0, etc in nfl history.  At one point the power rankings had 1 loss teams ahead of us, I believe at the week 6ish mark.

Any other team, they'd be celebrating how well they started.  Panthers?  Gotta find a negative spin.

[rayzor]

4 hours ago, electro's horse said:

Rams are weird. There's fear BB exposed them, Suh is gone, the rest of the defense is a year older, and Gurley is dead.

I think there's probably a lot to them getting exposed by belichik. It was the system and Gurley that made them so potent and then Gurley turned to mush and the system got figured out and it looks like the template might be pretty easy to copy. It all depends on a relatively new HC being able to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new angle....probably without their star RB.

[Seltzer]

Week 1 against the Rams will be a major barometer for this team.  Even with losing some guys, this is still an incredibly talented team coached by a great offensive mind in McVay and a great defensive guy in Wade Phillips who was the only guy to slow Newton down during his MVP run in 2015.

This will be a great opportunity to see how we stack up against the reigning NFC Champion and where our place among the NFC hierarchy will be to start the season. Winning or losing won't be the end-all for the season, but winning will show the national media we will be a force to reckon with in 2019.