It depends, but I see our ceiling at 7-10

[onmyown]

2 hours ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

People focused on win totals.

 

Just win more games than the Bucs/Saints/Falcons and we make the playoffs. There is no powerhouse team in this division. It's up for grabs literally any team can win it. 

 

Does that not seem like a realistic goal this season? 

 

It’s not. The Saints are the best team in the NFCS thanks to a superior FO and it’s not close. But Carr is on the downside of his career and so it will be short lived. Of course we aren’t trying to lose now but we are building for being the team after that.

[onmyown]

2 hours ago, Newtcase said:

The NFL has provided plenty of examples of quick turn arounds and a few teams surprise every year.  Nothing wrong with believing we could be one of those teams this year.  
 

There’s enough talent on the team to compete.  How well the coaching staff extracts that talent and how quickly our young players progress will have a lot of influence on how the season progresses.

Theory crafting wins/losses is an exercise in futility.  Even with perfect logic the better team often loses in the NFL.

I simply hope we see a team improving with each game this season.  That’s the standard I’d like to see from a new staff and our rookie QB.  Just continue to improve, converting experience into progress.

Define quick turnaround and which teams? Which FOs? What was already in place? Take out anomalies, take out above average FOs and take out teams that that are more or less built from those FOs. Pick comparable teams, coming off multiple losing seasons and cleaning house. What’s left?

What’s left is the typical 3 year mark. That’s the norm. Sometimes 2 years. Think Burrow and Allen…and even go back further Brady, Manning, Brees. Even our own Cam.

Quick turnarounds almost always involve an above average FO/owner that have a built team. Ala San Fran. But even for them it was until the owner stepped back and let the football people preside. Our owner refuses, he wants the credit.

It takes TIME. This team is not built yet. To say we will be an anomaly, Tepper finally learned, and Reich/Young really are just that special to join the few in history is ehhh kind of pushing it for me. Deep playoffs in year 3 will already be impressive. People need to just wait.

[CamWhoaaCam]

7 minutes ago, onmyown said:

It’s not. The Saints are the best team in the NFCS thanks to a superior FO and it’s not close. But Carr is on the downside of his career and so it will be short lived. Of course we aren’t trying to lose now but we are building for being the team after that.

Saints weren't even dominating this division when they had Peyton and Brees. Now all of a sudden they are the superior team with David freakin Carr!

 

Stop it!

[Eric4280]

Carolina Huddle: home of the negative Nancy Nostradomus.

[onmyown]

10 minutes ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

Saints weren't even dominating this division when they had Peyton and Brees. Now all of a sudden they are the superior team with David freakin Carr!

 

Stop it!

It’s not that. He’s a vet. He knows the game and put up respectable numbers with a complete poo FO and franchise. Albeit he had some talent there. He’s not great but he’s good. That’s rare enough in the NFL.

A rookie QB/coach are not coming in here and beating that, it just isn’t happening.

And Peyton and Brees had formidable teams to play against. Care doesn’t. And as I said their FO is above average.

Edited August 20, 2023 by onmyown

[RumHam]

3 hours ago, top dawg said:

I've been trying really hard to see what others see, and I can't do that without making assumptions, taking a giant leap of faith and basically just throwing better judgement out the window, but I'm willing to play a game. I'm looking at our schedule and assuming that we're going to split with our division rivals (which is reasonable, though not guaranteed), how are we getting to the playoffs?

How does our all-star, know-it-all, can-do-no-wrong, perfection-personified of a coaching staff full of football gods improve upon a 7-10 season last year?

Don't get me wrong! I've told you many times over the years that historically we're likely not going to have an inkling of what we have until probably mid October. So, anything is possible! It really is. But on this day, pre season,  I can't see us winning more than 7 (maybe 8 if I'm hedging) games, and a lot is going to have to go silky smooth for us to do it.

Again, I'm assuming that we split with our division rivals. I think that some of you playoffs-or-bust people must be assuming that we're going to ride roughshod over the NFCS (which has really only happened once if you think about it), and that not only are our division rivals not improving, but all of our other rivals this year have stayed in a state of inertia, and that we're the only ones that have improved. Most people outside of Carolina---err, the Carolina Huddle, just don't believe that. 

So, take some time and explain to me why you believe that we're going to do something that almost never happens in the division and/or look at the opponents below and tell me why you believe that we're going to beat them, and try to do it analytically without all the emotions and grand generalizations.

Homer glasses off!

 

 

Week 3: 9/24 at Seahawks        L

Week 4: 10/1 vs. Vikings.            W

Week 5: 10/8 at Detroit Lions.     L

Week 6: 10/15 at Dolphins.          L

Week 8: 10/29 vs. Texans.          W

Week 9: 11/5 vs. Colts.                W

Week 10: 11/9 at Bears                L

Week 11: 11/19 vs. Cowboys.       L

Week 12: 11/26 at Titans.             L

Week 16: 12/24 vs. Packers.        W

Week 17: 12/31 at Jaguars.           L

 

October is going to be rough

[parker]

I have no idea what to expect from this team.  We aren't going to know the heart of it until 5 or 6 games.  Even if we come out and win the first few games, it doesn't mean much.  I'm not upset about the preseason games.  You have your starting QB in for 2 drives?  Not going to happen in the regular season.  If it did, the Falcons would have a superbowl ring.  I am a bit concerned about the OL because it isn't that complicated a scheme to block a guy or pick up a stunt.  

[MHS831]

The offensive line will develop into one of the best in the NFL if they commit to developing the three rookies that should make the roster.  I still say move BC to swing OT as a backup (to start in 2014 when Moton's deal costs $30m) and move Zavala beside Ikwonu.  Jensen could be the next Corbett, and Mays can back up 3 inside OL positions.  It will take until midseason to see the results of the patience, but keeping floating turds like Jordan, Brown, etc. is just paying people to suck.

Right now, we have no idea how the offense is going to look with Sanders at RB and our starting WRs in a rhythm.  We look to have 3 decent QBs and Bryce will get better.

Defense is concerning to me right now because we are leaving WRs TEs open, especially when the Qb is moving.  Carr, Baker, and Ridder are going to exploit that.  I am not seeing a lot of athleticism from the ILBs going from sideline to sideline--and that is part of the problem.

Positives:  I think Barno is going to be effective by the end of the season.  Leota is really solid at sealing and he hustles--often in on tackles when the play goes away from him.  Mingo is going to be a stud, and Smith has been better than last year.  Personally, I like Blackshear and Brown more than I like Hubbard.  Don't get too depressed about the defense--lotta new faces and a new system.  We have good athletes in most positions.

[panthers55]

2 hours ago, onmyown said:

The ceiling is 8. Slightly better than last year but considering we’ve averaged like barley 6 wins in the past half decade - people need to realize this IS optimistic. 

It’s the reason behind 8 wins that’s what should be looked at. Is it a learning curve as it should be? Or more bullshit from this franchise looking like they’ll never learn.

People say we are improved from last year because we have a better team, but don’t account for the learning curve. It’s a casual fan take, or patience wearing thin. But it overlooks the facts, how football/team building general works in NFL history.

Because even 6 wins due to the curve will make me happy. I just want a bright future and as I’ve said the record means very little this year.

But most times rebuilding teams have poor personnel and a new often inexperienced coach. Your first round draft pick is your best player with a poor surrounding staff.

That is far from the case here and why teams can turn around quickly. We moved up to 1 but finished 7-10  so we aren't rebuilding. And if the hype is believed Bryce doesn't play like a rookie. I think we take some losses early but barring major injuries I expect us to finish the year strongly and contend for the division.  As for winning the division we went 4-2 last year winning only 3 games out of division. If not for the debacle against Atlanta we would have gone 5-1.   I see 9-8 this year finishing strong the last 8 after starting slow.

[jayboogieman]

I think the Panthers win between 7-9 games. The roster still has holes, there are new systems on both sides of the ball, new coaches, and a rookie QB. That's a lot to overcome for any team. This season should be about development and hope, not trying to win the division and getting to the superbowl.

[CamWhoaaCam]

24 minutes ago, onmyown said:

It’s not that. He’s a vet. He knows the game and put up respectable numbers with a complete poo FO and franchise. Albeit he had some talent there. He’s not great but he’s good. That’s rare enough in the NFL.

A rookie QB/coach are not coming in here and beating that, it just isn’t happening.

And Peyton and Brees had formidable teams to play against. Care doesn’t. And as I said their FO is above average.

Carr has 1 playoff appearance in his entire career!

Saints had a worst record than us last year yet you're saying their FO is the best in the division.

 

Your points are not adding up. I get we have a rookie QB, but the division as a whole isn't great. If we can't compete in this division with this defense and coaching staff we simply had a failure of a season.

 

Look at the QB's Carr/Ridder/Mayfield. Bryce was the #1 overall pick. He has to be with those guys if not better. His talent is not a question. It's about the Oline protecting him. If we have decent Oline play this team can score enough points to be a threat to win this division.

[kungfoodude]

4 hours ago, Ricky Spanish said:

Our ceiling is 17-0

Our REALISTIC ceiling is probably 10-7

Our realistic outcome is probably between 7-10 and 9-8

100% agree. People underestimate how bad our division is likely to be......again.

[Smithers]

Am I the only one Concerned by Reich’s comment of not really knowing what kind of team we are until the regular season?  Hey Frank, maybe that’s because we are the only team in the NFL not playing actual football during the preseason.  

[top dawg]

5 minutes ago, Smithers said:

Am I the only one Concerned by Reich’s comment of not really knowing what kind of team we are until the regular season?  Hey Frank, maybe that’s because we are the only team in the NFL not playing actual football during the preseason.  

Smithers, no one ( with the exception of possibly John Harbaugh) is going all-out to win during the preseason. And, no, I'm not concerned by what Reich said because it's realistic, especially considering the circumstances. We are anything but a settled team. Everything is basically new. It's going to take time to develop players, processes and actually smooth the rough edges out.