Zod Almighty's 2021 Carolina Panthers Season Prediction

[Zod]

It is now time for me, your ruler, to weigh in on the Carolina Panthers 2021 season. I have taken into account all variables, known and unknown, and developed what I think is the most accurate season prediction possible. 

 

Let us begin. 

 

Fast Start

Out of the gate the Carolina Panthers appear to be a team on the rise. starting 3-0 with talks of playoffs starting once again. While the team does look much improved, their early success is also due to the weak front end of their schedule. 

The Wall

By game 4 the Panthers will hit a wall, mainly due to the weakness of their offensive line. By then, teams will be working around Matt Rhule and his system of hiding awful players via scheme. At this point, Elfein will be benched permanently and replaced by Dennis Daley with Deonte Brown becoming the new starting right guard. The line does not improve immediately , but instead sees incremental growth with each passing game. By November they will resemble a professional football offensive line. 

The QB 

Sam Darnold will flash moments of brilliance but also inconsistency. However, his play will be strong enough for the Carolina Panthers to compete in every game. Darnold will also do what Teddy never could, win multiple games in the 4th quarter. 

The Emergence of the Dominating D

This season will mark the return of a punishing, dominating defense in Carolina. Derek Brown will come into his own as Brian Burns gets All Pro numbers. Jeremy Chinn becomes the field general we all want him to be as Jaycee Horn improves as the season transpires and develops into our first shut down corner since Bradberry. 

Conclusion

The Carolina Panthers finish their 2017 season with a 9-8 record, narrowly missing a wild card birth due to a tiebreaker loss. While disappointing, this sets up an excited fan base for the 2022 season with the playoffs a real possibility. 

 

[joemac]

I like it.  I am predicting much of the same, but one more victory, for 10-7 and we sneak into the playoffs. 

[kungfoodude]

10 minutes ago, Zod said:

It is now time for me, your ruler, to weigh in on the Carolina Panthers 2021 season. I have taken into account all variables, known and unknown, and developed what I think is the most accurate season prediction possible. 

 

Let us begin. 

 

Fast Start

Out of the gate the Carolina Panthers appear to be a team on the rise. starting 3-0 with talks of playoffs starting once again. While the team does look much improved, their early success is also due to the weak front end of their schedule. 

The Wall

By game 4 the Panthers will hit a wall, mainly due to the weakness of their offensive line. By then, teams will be working around Matt Rhule and his system of hiding awful players via scheme. At this point, Elfein will be benched permanently and replaced by Dennis Daley with Deonte Brown becoming the new starting right guard. The line does not improve immediately , but instead sees incremental growth with each passing game. By November they will resemble a professional football offensive line. 

The QB 

Sam Darnold will flash moments of brilliance but also inconsistency. However, his play will be strong enough for the Carolina Panthers to compete in every game. Darnold will also do what Teddy never could, win multiple games in the 4th quarter. 

The Emergence of the Dominating D

This season will mark the return of a punishing, dominating defense in Carolina. Derek Brown will come into his own as Brian Burns gets All Pro numbers. Jeremy Chinn becomes the field general we all want him to be as Jaycee Horn improves as the season transpires and develops into our first shut down corner since Bradberry. 

Conclusion

The Carolina Panthers finish their 2017 season with a 9-8 record, narrowly missing a wild card birth due to a tiebreaker loss. While disappointing, this sets up an excited fan base for the 2022 season with the playoffs a real possibility. 

 

This would fit with the general Rhule college track. If we are in the 7-9 win range, next year we could see our big jump.

[45catfan]

3 minutes ago, joemac said:

I like it.  I am predicting much of the same, but one more victory, for 10-7 and we sneak into the playoffs. 

I got 10 wins too, I'm right there with you.

[Joe the Show]

JJ Jansen is pissed about the competition for his position in training camp.  He long-snaps us to a 14-3 season and a Superbowl appearance.  Wins league MVP.  Retires and loses everything in bad cryptocurrency investments.

[45catfan]

11 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

This would fit with the general Rhule college track. If we are in the 7-9 win range, next year we could see our big jump.

Unlike college though, you have to recruit and that takes some time.  Taking over a horrible college program and making 4 and 5 star recruits commit to a doormat program rebuild is a task.  Also, in the NFL you typically don't have those monster swings in records either.  Teams with 1-2 wins aren't double digit clubs by the next season. Sure, it's happened, but SUPER rare.

That said, last years club won five games despite a new staff, dealing with Covid, a super green defense, Joey Slye and Teddy Bridgewater; where all but a couple losses were within a score.

Edited September 8, 2021 by 45catfan

[Scott12345]

We lost what 8 games last year by 7 or less?…without CMC

that’s tells us we were not clutch…margin of error in games is not that much

i am in the minority in that I think our QB is going to be good

if our kicker doesn’t turn out to be a choker, and our defense can stop the run (which just killed us last year), I think we can win 10 games, maybe 11

[hepcat]

Anything under 7-8 wins this season will be considered a failure of a season IMO.

And that failure will probably rest on one player - Sam Darnold.

If he even plays at an average level, this team will compete for a playoff spot. If Darnold fails…and we all know the team didn’t bring in another starting option, it’s going to be an awful, terrible, miserable season. 

[DaveThePanther2008]

So many of us focus on the offense which may be hindered by the offensive line. Our weapons are elite if you ask me so if Darnold can hang in there with our Oline we'll score some points.

Our defense is what I think will make or break us.  We'll be in every game if this defense is as exciting on the field as it is on paper. 

I believe the defense carries us to an extra win or two and we'll be between 10-7 and 12-5.

[joemac]

11 minutes ago, hepcat said:

Anything under 7-8 wins this season will be considered a failure of a season IMO.

And that failure will probably rest on one player - Sam Darnold.

If he even plays at an average level, this team will compete for a playoff spot. If Darnold fails…and we all know the team didn’t bring in another starting option, it’s going to be an awful, terrible, miserable season. 

I just don't see Sam "failing" this year.  He had one objectively bad season in NY - last year, where the deck was stacked against him from jump.  poo weapons, poo coach, poo scheme, poo team overall, and the team was 100% in tank mode.  Other than last year, Sam looked like a young, talented, developing QB.  Hopefully last season didnt give Sam the "David Carr" treatment where hes just  damaged beyond repair.  Personally I don't see it, and I think this new life is going to give him juice.  Plus, I think Joe Brady is going to scheme is ass off all year and put Sam in the best possible position to succeed. 

[BurnNChinn]

I like the optimism but I’m a realist I think we win 6 maybe 7. I think if they could have worked on offensive line a little more I would have said maybe 9 games. Darnold will struggle, I know he has weapons but I could see how he reacted to that pressure in the preseason game and I just seen same Darnold as in NY.

[kungfoodude]

27 minutes ago, 45catfan said:

Unlike college though, you have to recruit and that takes some time.  Taking over a horrible college program and making 4 and 5 star recruits commit to a doormat program rebuild is a task.  Also, in the NFL you typically don't have those monster swings in records either.  Teams with 1-2 wins aren't double digit clubs by the next season. Sure, it's happened, but SUPER rare.

That said, last years club won five games despite a new staff, dealing with Covid, a super green defense, Joey Slye and Teddy Bridgewater; where all but a couple losses were within a score.

Rhule never recruited particularly well in college. He is more of a "winning culture" guy, so I expect that might translate a little better to the NFL. 

We have some big challenges with the unprecedented dearth of talent during the rebuild but we looked ahead of schedule last season. If we nailed another draft class, it could accelerate our process even more. While we lack some key depth, we do have the talent to contend in the next few years. We just have to keep adding to the talent pool at a greater rate than it is being subtracted. On the surface, they seem to be doing that.

[kungfoodude]

Just now, BurnNChinn said:

I like the optimism but I’m a realist I think we win 6 maybe 7. I think if they could have worked on offensive line a little more I would have said maybe 9 games. Darnold will struggle, I know he has weapons but I could see how he reacted to that pressure in the preseason game and I just seen same Darnold as in NY.

I think that will be the clear storyline of the season, Darnold and that OL. We may have struggles elsewhere but that dynamic has the biggest potential to take or add W's.

I would be shocked if our failures or successes elsewhere have a bigger impact than that.

[joemac]

3 minutes ago, BurnNChinn said:

I like the optimism but I’m a realist I think we win 6 maybe 7. I think if they could have worked on offensive line a little more I would have said maybe 9 games. Darnold will struggle, I know he has weapons but I could see how he reacted to that pressure in the preseason game and I just seen same Darnold as in NY.

LOL dude he completed like 75% of his passes for 160 yards and 2 TDs / no turnovers in 1 half of football.  I will take that every single game and so will the team.