We Might Be In the NFL's Toughest Division

[TheGreatestOfAllTimeCam]

AFC North is pretty loaded. But this is probably the toughest division in the NFC.

[Ricky Spanish]

I think Rivera will enjoy beating those pass happy teams into the dirt next year. If our D is not top 5 I will be shocked.

I don't think the turnaround will be that quick. always takes him at i think 2 or 3 years to get them to the top of the league.

[rayzor]

atlanta's offense was fine. it's the defense that was the problem, so what did they do? improve the offense at the expense of being able to fill holes on defense.

they gave up way too much for julio and ended up making their overall team weaker. the defense is just going to get worse unless they spend a lot in FA and do some trading. thats going to get expensive quick.

[The Saltman]

LOL their defense got humiliated by the Packers in the playoffs yet they go out and think one piece will make them the next colts.

:lol:

[TruCatzFan]

Lol Atlanta didn't fill poo

I don't understand this statement at all... Just to be clear I'm not on Atlanta's nuts.

They did draft Julio Jones, or did u forget about that!? He was highly regarded as the best blocking wide receiver possibly ever in the history of the draft by many people. This will make their running attack that much more fierce. Then if you add the fact of how fast this guy is and his route running abilities I think they just filled a very LARGE hole in their passing attack!

With all that said, we should hope that he's gonna have an injury plagued career, or hope that we can get a shutdown corner in FA... I know there will be people who argue that Atlanta doesn't have a defense... With all due respect, you don't go 13-3 with no defense!

The best thing that Atlanta did in this years draft (if you're a panthers fan) was that they traded a boatload of future pics, and we know all too well what the result will bs for them in the coming year's draft. It's also important to note and fairly obvious that Arthur Blank will do whatever it takes to win, and to win now. They will be busy in free Agency whenever that occurs.

Atlanta will be a formidable opponent of ours for years to come... I have a feeling we will battle them for the division crown for years TJ come. There is no doubt that the NFC South is by FAR the toughest division in all of football!

The Bucs are young, and have a solid core and took a chance in Bowers because we picked up Cam. The Saints just improved their run game exponentially.

With all that said, I still think we have a squad that is fully capable of winning the division THIS year! Rivera has a certain swagger to him and it will be the face of the franchise! This Panthers team reminds me a lot of how The U was like in the 80's... Full of swagger... Punch you in the mouth type football team.

And that makes me really excited! It's like Ruvera said... And a lot if people blew it off as s "smokescreen" he said "Cam is not the savior of the franchise, he's a part of what we're trying to do here" I believe him and I LOVE it!!!

[rayzor]

I don't think the turnaround will be that quick. always takes him at i think 2 or 3 years to get them to the top of the league.

our D wasn't in bads shape even last year. not much of a turnaround needs to take place. weak spot was DT and healthy LBs. the secondary was fine. and the LBs hung in there well. DEs would have done more damage if we had better DTs.

also, they did incredibly well for a bunch of guys who had to stay on the field 40 minutes a game. cut their time on the field down by keeping the offense on and you will see a big increase in production from them.

even just having rivera's more disciplined and mcdermotts more aggressive defense will help get this defense to the top.

[rayzor]

I don't understand this statement at all... Just to be clear I'm not on Atlanta's nuts.

They did draft Julio Jones, or did u forget about that!?

was WR a big hole for them?

the big hole was defense. they did nothing to improve that and actually that trade hurt their chances of improving it for a couple years.

julio is a good receiver, but he wasn't necessary like addressing defense was.

[TruCatzFan]

LOL their defense got humiliated by the Packers in the playoffs yet they go out and think one piece will make them the next colts.

:lol:

Hmmmm... I think the Packers went on to win the SuperBowl!! They have a pretty good QB, you might have heard of him before... Aaron Rodgers. They also have a pretty damn good receiving Corp as well... I'm just sayin, you don't go 13-3 with no defense! They got beat by the Super Bowl champs bro. GB's offense was pretty sick... And btw, it got A LOT sicker in this years draft!

[TruCatzFan]

was WR a big hole for them?

the big hole was defense. they did nothing to improve that and actually that trade hurt their chances of improving it for a couple years.

julio is a good receiver, but he wasn't necessary like addressing defense was.

Quick... Without looking it up, name a WR other than Roddy White....

Don't worry... I'll wait!

Like I said before, not on ATL's nuts but if you're gonna be a fan... Be real... Recognize what the competition is doing so that we know how to counter it!

We'd be silly stupid not to go get a shutdown corner in FA this year!

[TruCatzFan]

Rayzor, I completely agree with you on post #20

[panthers55]

I don't understand this statement at all... Just to be clear I'm not on Atlanta's nuts.

They did draft Julio Jones, or did u forget about that!? He was highly regarded as the best blocking wide receiver possibly ever in the history of the draft by many people. This will make their running attack that much more fierce. Then if you add the fact of how fast this guy is and his route running abilities I think they just filled a very LARGE hole in their passing attack!

With all that said, we should hope that he's gonna have an injury plagued career, or hope that we can get a shutdown corner in FA... I know there will be people who argue that Atlanta doesn't have a defense... With all due respect, you don't go 13-3 with no defense!

The best thing that Atlanta did in this years draft (if you're a panthers fan) was that they traded a boatload of future pics, and we know all too well what the result will bs for them in the coming year's draft. It's also important to note and fairly obvious that Arthur Blank will do whatever it takes to win, and to win now. They will be busy in free Agency whenever that occurs.

Atlanta will be a formidable opponent of ours for years to come... I have a feeling we will battle them for the division crown for years TJ come. There is no doubt that the NFC South is by FAR the toughest division in all of football!

The Bucs are young, and have a solid core and took a chance in Bowers because we picked up Cam. The Saints just improved their run game exponentially.

With all that said, I still think we have a squad that is fully capable of winning the division THIS year! Rivera has a certain swagger to him and it will be the face of the franchise! This Panthers team reminds me a lot of how The U was like in the 80's... Full of swagger... Punch you in the mouth type football team.

And that makes me really excited! It's like Ruvera said... And a lot if people blew it off as s "smokescreen" he said "Cam is not the savior of the franchise, he's a part of what we're trying to do here" I believe him and I LOVE it!!!

The Falcon's defense didn't suck but their pass defense was 22nd in the league. Compare that to their run defense which was 10th. What they actually did well was limited the points scored against them to 18 points (5th). They were successful because their offense was also 5th in scoring at a 26 points a game clip.

The general theory was that they needed to upgrade the secondary, perhaps look for a couple of DEs since Abraham is just about done and at least look to the future at RB and TE given Turner is approaching 30 this year and Gonzales is 35.

They obviously think they are 1 or 2 players away from the superbowl and believe that Jones is one of those pieces. I suspect that they will be one of the teams making a big push for Asomugha and will go after a DE in free agency.

As for the draft they really didn't pick up anyone of note outside of Jones and gave away quite a bit for next year. If they make a Superbowl run this year folks may feel they were justified. But if they don't, it may go down as one of the boneheaded drafts similar to the New Orleans Ricky Williams draft a number of years ago.

Dimitroff has balls if nothing else.

[jtnc]

We are gonna be able to run all over ATL's defense.

[Peppers90 NC]

Might be?

yeah, if we can hold our weight.

[rayzor]

Quick... Without looking it up, name a WR other than Roddy White....

Don't worry... I'll wait!

Like I said before, not on ATL's nuts but if you're gonna be a fan... Be real... Recognize what the competition is doing so that we know how to counter it!

We'd be silly stupid not to go get a shutdown corner in FA this year!

michael jenkins and (of course) harry douglas who flat out embarrassed us a couple years ago.

didn't have to look it up. more the result of me playing fantasy football for too long and having too many teams.