Panthers NFC South Champs!

[CarolinaLivin]

12 minutes ago, shaqattaq said:

When you're coming off a "worse ever in the history of the NFL" type season... mediocre sounds pretty damned good!

Mediocre is more of a best case scenario IMO. Going from one of, if not the worst defense in NFL history to middle of the pack? Maybe im not as high as others on our off-season additions, but i dont see that as being realistic. Would love to see it though. 

[Icege]

Y'all ready for the start of our first ever back-to-back winning seasons? ᕦ(ò_óˇ)

[toldozer]

3 hours ago, Move the Panthers to Raleigh said:

17 wins

Fixed it for you

[HaricotVert]

I go into every season with the optimism that in today's NFL you cant ever really predict when a team is going to exceed expectations and another is going to be decimated by injuries or otherwise self destruct.

 

So yeah!  NFCS Champs.

[tukafan21]

1 hour ago, CarolinaLivin said:

Mediocre is more of a best case scenario IMO. Going from one of, if not the worst defense in NFL history to middle of the pack? Maybe im not as high as others on our off-season additions, but i dont see that as being realistic. Would love to see it though. 

Also remember that essentially Derrick Brown is an offseason addition to the defense too, that’s not insignificant when we’re talking about improving the defense from last year.

[CarolinaLivin]

2 minutes ago, tukafan21 said:

Also remember that essentially Derrick Brown is an offseason addition to the defense too, that’s not insignificant when we’re talking about improving the defense from last year.

Sure, DB being there last year takes us from worst in NFL history to what? Likely still 32nd, optimistically, 31st. I would love to be proven wrong, but I currently dont see it. Maybe its just a bad taste in my mouth from previous seasons that is driving this.

[Icege]

11 minutes ago, CarolinaLivin said:

Sure, DB being there last year takes us from worst in NFL history to what? Likely still 32nd, optimistically, 31st. I would love to be proven wrong, but I currently dont see it. Maybe its just a bad taste in my mouth from previous seasons that is driving this.

The team gave up nearly 180ypg on the ground with DB gone in 2024.

In 2023, they were 16th against the run (104.1ypg). That was during DB's 103 tackle campaign.

If we take that into consideration along with how this affects offensive play callers, then just the return of DB alone is a significant upgrade for the offense. The team was turning to Amare Barno to be a 3-4 DE at times... that's a massive downgrade from DB.

Then when we think about how the players that ended the season as starters are going to be competing just to be back-ups this season...

Edited 1 hour ago by Icege

[CarolinaLivin]

2 minutes ago, Icege said:

The team gave up nearly 180ypg on the ground with DB gone in 2024.

In 2023, they were 16th against the run (104.1ypg). That was during DB's 103 tackle campaign.

If we take that into consideration along with how this affects offensive play callers, then just the return of DB alone is a significant upgrade for the offense. The team was turning to Amare Barno to be a 3-4 DE at times... that's a massive downgrade from DB.

Then when we think about how the players that ended the season as starters are going to be competing just to be back-ups this season...

I just think its very optimistic to think we will be middle of the pack is all. And there's nothing wrong with having an optimistic view, as all fans normally do in the off-season. I am more than happy to be dead wrong here. 

[Jon Snow]

This team needs to finish at least 2nd in the Division. Preferably due to their own play and not due to other teams in the Divisions decline. 

I'm not one to worry about stats because I don't play fantasy football. I go by how they look on the field and who is doing their part to try to win. After the season is over I make my judgment on who needs to stay and who needs to go.

[jfra78]

1 minute ago, Jon Snow said:

This team needs to finish at least 2nd in the Division. Preferably due to their own play and not due to other teams in the Divisions decline. 

I'm not one to worry about stats because I don't play fantasy football. I go by how they look on the field and who is doing their part to try to win. After the season is over I make my judgment on who needs to stay and who needs to go.

I think this is obtainable, I think Saints are definitely at the bottom

[Jon Snow]

1 minute ago, jfra78 said:

I think this is obtainable, I think Saints are definitely at the bottom

Obviously the goal is to win the division of course but 2nd place given the current makeup of the team would be a decent consolation prize IMO.

[shaqattaq]

2 hours ago, CarolinaLivin said:

Mediocre is more of a best case scenario IMO. Going from one of, if not the worst defense in NFL history to middle of the pack? Maybe im not as high as others on our off-season additions, but i dont see that as being realistic. Would love to see it though. 

We get D Brown back, which is HUGE, and Moehrig is a really good pick up. BB3, Wharton, and Jones are, IMO, solid pick-ups but not elite, which is fine... most aren't elite. All good, however we will be relying on 3 rookies as either starters or getting significant play time. There will be growing pains. Also, after Horn and Jackson, our CB room is cringe-worthy.

We made A LOT of progress, for sure, but we're not there yet. Should be good enough to keep us in games though because our offense is loaded if Bryce continues his upward trajectory from last season.

[CarolinaLivin]

4 minutes ago, shaqattaq said:

We get D Brown back, which is HUGE, and Moehrig is a really good pick up. BB3, Wharton, and Jones are, IMO, solid pick-ups but not elite, which is fine... most aren't elite. All good, however we will be relying on 3 rookies as either starters or getting significant play time. There will be growing pains. Also, after Horn and Jackson, our CB room is cringe-worthy.

We made A LOT of progress, for sure, but we're not there yet. Should be good enough to keep us in games though because our offense is loaded if Bryce continues his upward trajectory from last season.

I agree with everything except “our offense is loaded”. Too soon for me to say that, but OFF is trending up and should be fun to watch on sunday’s.