How much does last year's success translate to this year?

[twylyght]

In listening to the analysts on NFL on Sirius, I am often astounded by the lack of mention of how Carolina fared in its last games of the 2009 season with a QB that didnt demonstrate a penchant for turning the ball over.

Moreover, we took on some of the baddest teams in the division and took them to task when they had everything to play for. For a couple of those contests, we were even short-handed with our talent pool and still flaunted some stellar play.

Now, with what I believe to be a much weaker schedule, I think we have a team that is poised to surprise the NFL fanbase as we did in 2003.

My biggest concern is not having our proven run-stuffer in the middle of the d-line. This could be quickly abated in pr-season if the talent we have is as good as Hollis Thomas.

I know that much has been made on the national scene about the loss of Peppers, but I am glad that we didn't tie up the cap space with a commodity that seems to inexplicably get it handed to him by a TE on more than a few occassions. I think that the answer to the question to the middle of the line will ultimately show us how good our defense can be. We take care of that, and the pieces are in place to be a severely dangerous team in the league.

The strength of our club is obviously with the Oline. This can go a long way to highlight our signature offense while making up for deficiencies on the defense end of the ball. I also think that the presence of a QB that is a caretaker only helps us more. I love Jake and I thank him for all he has done for the organization. However, to think that he didn't cost us at least 4 games last season is just kidding ourselves. There were at least 3 other games that we won in spite of him.

A lot more has been made of Steve Smith being the only viable threat in our WR corps. While this held water with Jake at the helm, I think this is fallicious thinking when looking at Moore's body of work so far. In my humble opinion, Smitty has saved Jake's career on more than a few occassions. The single game that stands out in my mind is the Seattle contest from 2005 where Jake continued to force-feed Smith in triple and quadrouple coverage. As a signal caller, this is inexcusable. Once you have a single player commanding this much attention on the defense, you should be picking it apart on the basis that somebody, somewhere is WIDE open. Regardless of how slow they may be, there has got to be a lot of offense for the taking in such situations. I was skeptical about Moore's ability to see this through when he took over, but was very pleased as his play progressed through the last three games.

Taking away the horrible decision making along with the costly turnovers allows Carolina to do what it does best and automatically makes us a contender for a playoff spot in my mind. If any of the talent that has been brought on board pans out (including the replacement special teams coach) then we are poised to make a serious run.

Very much looking forward to the season. I expect it to be one for the books.

[rayzor]

agreed. that offense was much improved after moore took over at QB and there weren't any significant losses on that side of the ball. yes, hoover was an emotional loss but not a crucial one. it seems that we have a pretty good sized number of potential playmakers there. in addition to smith, williams, and stewart we have goodson who has year under his belt and, hopefully, some more maturity. we have armanti edwards who has the potential to be spectacular. i would even say that barnidge has some big play potential as well.

on defense, we did pretty well without davis and losing peppers will hurt on some plays but we won't lose games because he isn't there. what we lost on athleticism we gained in speed and motor. brown has a year under his belt and some added bulk which will help him this year on passing downs. charles johnson has only been needing an opportunity to explode. the addition of norwood is going to add a nice new dimension to the pass rush. tyler brayton will be solid as usual. the Dline as a whole might just pick up their game a bit without peppers bringing them down. DT should have a pretty decent rotation going. it won't be world beaters but if they can keep beason free it will be ok and i think leonard is going to be a beast in the middle.

the rest of the defense should be as good or better than the end of last year even with the loss of harris. i like the direction they can take here with martin and godfrey. i also like what meeks does with the defense. he is a lot more creative than i thought he would be and has more freedom than most thought he would.

special teams should be seeing a huge improvement. new management there and some much needed additions to return coverage as well as better choices as returners.

add to that the easier schedule and you have the recipe for a pretty decent year. this is one of those seasons you don't necessarily look at the record for the success of the season but what they do with this young team. the real success may come in years after this one when the young ones start to mature and get a good feel for the game and gel as a team. leaders will emerge and help this team turn into a very solid and respectable one for years to come.

yeah, i'm drinking the koolaid. if this year doesn't go well and the record is not that great, at least we have a good reason to get a new coach and we have a lot of pick in the draft next year (including a first rounder). there should be a good number of comp picks coming to us including an additional third rounder for losing peppers. no matter how you look at it there are some positive things coming right around the corner.

[MHS831]

I think Hurney and the draft team has done a great job. Free agency is like going to a loan shark. Lately it has sucked. To suggest that we are even talking this way after losing Peppers, Hoover, Harris, Moose, Vincent, Diggs, and probably Davis--about a third of our starters--without going free agent, is incredible. Here are the moves I think will make the team better without mortgaging the future:

1. We hit free agency, but not for stars or even starters. We picked up Wright and Hudson to help fix our ailing special teams. Smart. These guys were cheap and will positively impact our team, getting a lot of bang for the buck. New Yorkers were pissed that they let Wright go.

2. Last season we went shopping for DTs at yard sales of teams going to the 3-4. We get a solid Tank Tyler and a surprisingly good Louis Leonard for next to nothing.

3. Jamar Williams will become the best trade we have made in a long time, especially in light of the Davis injury.

4. The draft. Clausen gives us options and depth, now and especially in the future. Lafell and Edwards could be Smith/Moose II for the next ten years. Norwood is a great football player and Hardy could become great--a sixth rounder. Pike gives us depth and more options. Pugh was a late round gem. Gettis could be the biggest sleeper of them all.

5. I have to think that a DT who could challenge Ed Johnson for the 4th DT in the rotation will be cut and we will add him. Remember, at Indy, Meeks never had great DTs--It was his thing. Small, undersized players like Norwood, Munnerlyn, Pugh, Brown, etc. became effective in his system.

6. We are going to spread the D more with 3 and 4 WR sets. Hurney and co. found WRs to fit that system. Sleeper: Watch Charly Martin--this system benefits him.

7. We are suddenly so loaded on Offense, I imagine we will cut 3-4 players who make other rosters--that should tell you something.

[davos]

I like the positivity in this thread

[cookinbrak]

2. Last season we went shopping for DTs at yard sales of teams going to the 3-4. We get a solid Tank Tyler and a surprisingly good Louis Leonard for next to nothing.

I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to explain this to me. How was Leonard "surprisingly good" for playing 2 below average games before he got hurt? Did he keep the Gatorade cups lined up neatly?

[jasonluckydog]

Those are some long ass responses.

[Jangler]

word

[twylyght]

Those are some long ass responses.

??

[jasonluckydog]

??

Most of us have the attention span of Alvin Greene too many words hurt our heads.

[Davidson Deac II]

I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to explain this to me. How was Leonard "surprisingly good" for playing 2 below average games before he got hurt? Did he keep the Gatorade cups lined up neatly?

I thought Leonard played fairly well in the Atlanta game up until he got injured. Not great, but he was certainly an improvement over what we had before (and for a few games after). Turner had a 105 yards, but he had to run the ball a lot (28 times) to get it. So maybe by "surprisingly good", the poster just meant that he played better than expected given that he was a last minute acquisition?

The whole defense played poorly early in the season, and the whole defense improved as the year went along. No reason to think that Leonard wouldn't have improved just as the others did.

[JungleCat]

If Peppers was making more money as a Panther and Delhomme was still the QB, I don't think the Panthers would be a better team than they are now. I like our chances with what we have to build on.

[Brooklyn Bully]

If we can't base how we might do when looking at a schedule (going by a team last season), then we can't base how we might do on our last few games with Moore at the helm. That would make us hypocrites.

But we can look at what we've done to make this team better or worse on paper. We lost Peppers and Moose, we gained decent draft picks, and we lost Thomas Davis again. On paper, that looks like we'll do worse than we faired in the Moore games but you can't base anything on paper.

We just have to wait and see. Losing Moose is my biggest concern.

[panthers55]

To answer the thread title, How will last years's success translate to this year? Not really much at all. This years team will be different at a number of positions on the field from the one that finished last year. With all the changes in leadership and veteran presence, this team will have to develop their own chemistry and success.

[DickolausJ]

The margin between success and failure in the NFL is extremely small.

Also I don't think our schedule is as easy as everyone thinks. I could see us going to the playoffs and I can also see us stinking it up. Time will tell.