Everyone talks about 2015 but no one talks about

[Beerfacedlegend]

No one talks about 2017 which other than 2015 was one of the most talented panther teams imo , Cam Newton glided in 2017 , a new running back made a name for himself in Christian McCaffrey with limited reps . 
 

that team had a solid defense and a great offense that was putting up numbers compared to 2015 , I though we were going to take the Super Bowl and we were going to but what happened? 
 

close your eyes to the last play of that game where if we score we win the game cam gets blitzed tossed a bomb to finches which should have been a catch but fun chess drops it and erased a season that could have been in our history book , if it wasn’t for that funchess drop I think we would have taken the trophy . We were a better team than a nick foles lead eagles which during that season we showed we can match up with the Eagles and we already beat that same Vikings team . 
 

we would have got our chance at a rematch of a time Brady Super Bowl and devin dang funchess dropped the ball Vs the Saints 

[Beerfacedlegend]

It’s all just a memory and a memory of a great season that no one ever talks about on here , that was our chance other than 2015

[Rocky Davis]

Coulda, shoulda, woulda.....close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

2017 was the last full season of "Cam" as well. 

[Uwontdoit81]

Maybe because we got beat by the same team 3 times...THREE TIMES.

[Rocky Davis]

6 minutes ago, Uwontdoit81 said:

Maybe because we got beat by the same team 3 times...THREE TIMES.

and I don't think our basic game planning changed much, if at all, over those three games. 

Usually teams hate playing a team they have beat twice already, but I am sure Payton was fine knowing Riverboat Ron and Mike Shula were coming to town.

[Beerfacedlegend]

Watching the highlights clay dropped a early td And gano botched a fieldgoal , finches got 2 td attempts and dropped both . Hurney cut Benjamin we fired gettleman if we would have had gettleman and Benjamin we would have won that game 

[Mage]

Probably because the 2017 team wasn't that good.

In fact I would argue Cam carried us harder in 2017 than he did 2015.  Stewart was washed and McCaffrey was being used terribly, so the run game behind Cam faltered (led the team in rushing).  Receivers were somehow even worse.  Ginn >>>>> Benjamin.  Then we traded Benjamin and while Funchess played well-ish, he still was inferior to Ginn.  Greg Olsen was hurt.  Offensive line was worse.  Defense was... solid, but folded every time vs the Saints.

[Beerfacedlegend]

1 minute ago, Mage said:

Probably because the 2017 team wasn't that good.

In fact I would argue Cam carried us harder in 2017 than he did 2015.  Stewart was washed and McCaffrey was being used terribly, so the run game behind Cam faltered (led the team in rushing).  Receivers were somehow even worse.  Ginn >>>>> Benjamin.  Then we traded Benjamin and while Funchess played well-ish, he still was inferior to Ginn.  Greg Olsen was hurt.  Offensive line was worse.  Defense was... solid, but folded every time vs the Saints.

Greg was heathy he was hurt in 18

[Mage]

1 minute ago, Beerfacedlegend said:

Watching the highlights clay dropped a early td And gano botched a fieldgoal , finches got 2 td attempts and dropped both . Hurney cut Benjamin we fired gettleman if we would have had gettleman and Benjamin we would have won that game 

Benjamin was trash.  Our offense improved without him.

[Mage]

Just now, Beerfacedlegend said:

Greg was heathy he was hurt in 18

He was hurt both years.  He only played 7 games (fewer than he did in 2018) and had only 191 yards.

Cam Newton CARRIED that team.  2017 was an average team at best outside of Cam, and only because our defense was solid.  Another reason that makes Rivera's tenure a fail here.  Only 3 winning seasons and one of those teams just wasn't good.

[BrianS]

1 minute ago, Mage said:

Benjamin was trash.  Our offense improved without him.

AGREE, 100%.  Anyone who thinks Kelvin Benjamin was the answer clearly didn't pay attention.

Everyone here WANTED Kelvin to succeed, but man after that knee injury he just never seemed to try.

[TN05]

2017 was a really solid team that just had difficulty against one team, the Saints. If Devin Funchess catches that gimme touchdown, I think we could have gone all the way that year. Great balanced rushing attack, above-average defense, and a very very good Cam Newton.

The first half of 2018 as well, before Cam got hurt, looked particularly good. If Gettleman hadn't blown it on the line front, there's no reason we couldn't have had sustained success from 2017 on.

[WarPanthers89]

Cam definitely carried that team but we started getting hot at the right time and I really feel that we could compete with anyone and go deep in the playoffs if we could have just got past the Saints.

Unfortunately Funchess had the cringeworthy “lights blinded me” moment where he completely missed the sure touchdown to win the game for us

[SmittysLawnGuy]

Was the catch doable, absolutely. If you look deeper it would have been a hell of a catch. That ball was traveling at velocity and I believe it was kind of against the grain. I could be wrong. Haven't seen it since it happened but I remember cussing him and then put a Doo doo face on after replay. Don't think it was as easy as people made it out to be. A great receiver would have caught it. Well he never was.