SN by Joe Person....Panthers 3rd in NFCS

[CatMan72]

3rd is about right. It will depend on Tampa and how well their new players jell. They added a ton of talent but it may take awhile for them to get on the same page. NO (with Brees) ATL, Carolina, Tampa with Tampa being dangerous. People will be in the Dark as to Tampa's offense, could surprise.

We're gonna beat the Skins (again) so that's one win I can count towards our 2nd place finish in the NFCS.

This is the year we overtake ATL, Saints* (with Brees) will still be good but all this offseason turmoil makes them vulnerable.

[rayzor]

we'll at least split with every team in the NFCS.

the last two years we've barely missed out on that. one year we barely missed with jimmy clausen at QB. last year we barely missed with our defense the way it was.

with the offense fixed and the defense healthy and upgraded and used to the new system we should see those "almost wons" into wins.

[Panthro]

I'd say we are dead even with ATL

Ds are similar

They have better WRs but QB and RBs go to us

We will need to have the tiebreaker against them

Saints* are a huge ?

[jarhead]

The truth is so much can happen between now and then with respect to injuries and rookie development anything can happen.From a talent standpoint ,assuming we are healthy we should be 2nd or third.I would say second but we will have to slow down JJones and RWhite.We will just have to see who is healthy on defense and how they perform.We were really close last year but could not seal the wins.

[Jase]

Knowing person's reputation for bringing yesterday's news today, are we sure this isn't a prediction for last season?

[Montsta]

Person thinks we still have Jake at QB. He's a little slow.

[DaveThePanther2008]

I'm smelling a slump in the dump this coming season (the dump being the dirty ATL).

Not the expert on Atlanta but from what I have heard they have some serious O-Line issues as well as D-Lines issues. I think the will drop to third and possibly to the cellar. I believe we will contend for the division title and at very least get a wildcard ticket.

[pOpCoRnPoPpEr]

Not the expert on Atlanta but from what I have heard they have some serious O-Line issues as well as D-Lines issues. I think the will drop to third and possibly to the cellar. I believe we will contend for the division title and at very least get a wildcard ticket.

Truth is, same could be said about the Panthers. You never know about Otah and Bell isn't exactly a proven commodity. Not to mention a rookie from a small school replacing Wharton. Also the fact that Carolina has one of the worst Defensive lines in all of football should have most Panthers fans worried.

[DaveThePanther2008]

Truth is, same could be said about the Panthers. You never know about Otah and Bell isn't exactly a proven commodity. Not to mention a rookie from a small school replacing Wharton. Also the fact that Carolina has one of the worst Defensive lines in all of football should have most Panthers fans worried.

Our defensive woos came from injuries last season. You should know this. The return of Beason and Johnson and the addition of Kuechly on defense will make us better. Our offense was 5th in the league with Bell We have not only the rookie but some solid offensive players we picked up in the off-season to make our offensive line stronger. Whether Otah returns or not our offense will be top 5 again.

You said MOST.. I wouldn't say MOST, some maybe but not most. MOST Panther fans are more optimistic especially about our offense. Defensively, once again, MOST Panther fans are not as optimistic as they are about our offense but believe our defense will be far better than 2011.

Atlanta issues are they don't have starters with the quality that Carolina does. Carolina's philosophy is a strong line is key. We have maintained a strong offensive line over the past 8 or 9 years. Other teams like Atlanta don't.

[lightsout]

Yeah but we're talking about the Panthers here. 3rd is about right. I don't see them beating out Atlanta or New Orleans and Tampa is much improved.

Trolololol

[Falcon2k12]

I could see us finishing 1st or 2nd, 2nd behind you guys the Panthers play us pretty well just like we play NO well!

Our last 5 games or so against NO besides the last game the Monday Night Massacre were decided by 4 points or fewer, I have a feeling this year we will sweep or split with them at the least.

Bucs, we all can get the broom out for them for atleast one more year! but who knows???

Im banking on the addition of our new DC Mike Nolan if he can make Miami with 8 rookies on D a top 10 defense their isnt one reason in the world why we shouldnt be just as good if not better with weapons like Abe, a healthy Ray Edwards, Babineaux, Sean Weatherspoon, Dunta Rob(hasnt got to play man to man since he left Houston), Brent Grimes and Asante Samuel.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

Truth is, same could be said about the Panthers. You never know about Otah and Bell isn't exactly a proven commodity. Not to mention a rookie from a small school replacing Wharton. Also the fact that Carolina has one of the worst Defensive lines in all of football should have most Panthers fans worried.

left guard and right tackle aren't really as important as left tackle and center which is where the falcons are hurting the most. sam baker has pretty much busted and todd mcclure is a thousand years old and declining rapidly. their best offensive lineman is seriously justin blalock, a left guard. the thing is, you can get by to some extent plugging in JAGs at RT and either G position and carolina is one of the better teams around at scouting and developing offensive linemen. that's likely why they picked up bruce campbell, a young guy who's crazy talented but wasn't handled properly by the raiders.

the main problems with their defensive line are that abraham is getting older and they've been trading away draft picks like crazy which makes it harder to restock for cheap. carolina has issues with talent at DT and some would argue DE outside of johnson but it's not like we're going to have to scrap and replace the whole thing. ray edwards flopped last season after getting a pretty big contract. there was a lot riding on him being the bookend for abraham. kroy biermann is basically their greg hardy (fan favorite high motor guy who's due to break out any day now but tends to not). they're pretty good at DT as babineaux and peters are quite underrated. babineaux will be due a new contract after 2013 though.

[Falcon2k12]

left guard and right tackle aren't really as important as left tackle and center which is where the falcons are hurting the most. sam baker has pretty much busted and todd mcclure is a thousand years old and declining rapidly. their best offensive lineman is seriously justin blalock, a left guard. the thing is, you can get by to some extent plugging in JAGs at RT and LG and carolina is one of the better teams around at scouting and developing offensive linemen. that's likely why they picked up bruce campbell, a young guy who's crazy talented but wasn't handled properly by the raiders.

the main problems with their defensive line are that abraham is getting older and they've been trading away draft picks like crazy which makes it harder to restock for cheap. carolina has issues with talent at DT and some would argue DE outside of johnson but it's not like we're going to have to scrap and replace the whole thing. ray edwards flopped last season after getting a pretty big contract. there was a lot riding on him being the bookend for abraham. kroy biermann is basically their greg hardy (fan favorite high motor guy who's due to break out any day now but tends to not). they're pretty good at DT as babineaux and peters are quite underrated. babineaux will be due a new contract after 2013 though.

your just about right with the the O-Line Sam Baker was dealing with injuries last year and replace by Will Svitek who came in and played pretty good to be a journey man hopefully Sam will bounce back, our center is old but still solid. Our D-Line is old but not Steeler old Ray Edwards played with a injury last season and he is healthy now, Babs and Corey are good, John Abe is going to get his now that he is also healthy and our rotational guys Kroy B and Lawrence S are both good so our D-Line is better then most think.

[cultclassiccat]

Its our culture. We have a perfect storm cat 5 and the players know it, with Ron and the absolutely amazing staff he has put together...how cant you be bubbling with optimism?!! With JR being prob the best owner in the sports world with the best, most LoYaL fAnS* COME ON MAN, we are a CHAMPIONSHIP caliber team and everybody needs to realize this. We are scaring the poo out of the NFL and for good reason. FU Person