I'm starting to get an early 90s Cowboy vibe with this Panther team.

[run-run-pass-punt]

There is certainly an energy to this group - from front office to player personnel and all throughout - that is of a different vibe, in a good way, than anything we've experienced imho.

Things feel hopeful, exciting, electric. Whether we see immediate fruits this season or not doesn't really matter. I think good things are on the horizon.

[SCO96]

If you study the trajectory of any NFL champion you'll usually tend to see 2 trends.

1) A coach comes in and get an underachiever over the hump

2) A coach comes with a losing record for the first couple of years  and wins the Super Bowl between years 3-5.

I've outlined Dallas' history already. Their rise to excellence eerily resembles the rise of  the 70's Steelers.

a) Chuck Noll was 1-13 in 1969. By 1975 the Steelers were back to back champions

b)Noll used his drafts to build a devastating defense . Playmakers were at each level. Jack Ham (OLB) once said "we had no weakeness on our defense". That was the straight up truth for those 70's Steelers teams. Jack Lambert (MLB) and Donnie Shell (S) were the 1974 additions that put them over the top. These two positions are ironically what we need to be addressed in Carolina.

c) His talented 1st round QB (Bradshaw) stuggled early in his career. He was viewed as a bust and was even booed by the home crowd. He lost his starting job to Joe Gilliam, a black QB in early 1974, when there were hardly ANY black QB's in the NFL. Once everything fell into place for him  and he recaptured his starting job Bradshaw won 4 superbowls between 1974-1979

d) Playmakers everywere on offense. Lynn Swann once said (paraphrasing)"every team needs a guy who wants the ball in crunch time. On offense we had 4-5 guy like that". The 90's Cowboys had several of the guys (Irvin, Smith, Harper, Novacek, Moose Johnson). Our current roster is starting to look the same way.

e) The Steelers had an awesome, but unheralded offensive line. You can't make the playoffs every year from 1972-1979 with scrubbs blocking up front. Yet, only Mike Webster made the Hall of Fame. Dallas had a great O-line in the 1990s. Only Larry Allen made the Hall of Fame...and he wasn't a starter on JJ's 1992/1993 Cowboy O-lines. He joined the team in 1994 after after JJ was fired.  Our O-line is starting to shape up nicely.

The 1990's Cowboys followed the above script almost to tee in hindsight. Had JJ not been fired, the Cowboys could have equaled...or even surpassed 4 SB wins in the 1990's.  

The 70's Steelers and 90's Cowboys followed similiar roadmaps in building their football dynasties. The Panthers "seem to be" following a similar template. It'll be interesting to see if history repeats itself in the Carolinas over the next couple of seasons. Don't be surprised if Matt Rhule is being carried off the field after winning A SB somewhere between 2023-2025.

 

Edited May 2, 2021 by SCO96