Football Outsider has Panthers rated 6th best team in NFL

[CPcavedweller]

Simply put, we were an anomaly last season and anyone who watched all of our games know this. We damn sure should have won more than 7 games... I don't think I've ever seen a sports team be as consistently unlucky as we were.

Bad luck is where preparation and skill fail to meet. One or the other.

[CarolinaNCSU]

Are these the same guys who had us as like the #4 team last season? 

 

The talent/numbers are there as we all know...the luck/coaching/end game failure is what has held us back. Change a little of that around and that ranking could be justifiable. 

[Marguide]

Wow, incredible.

 

But many of us have felt the team has been underperforming given the level of overall team talent. It's now or never for this staff and more than a few vet players. 

 

 

[fieryprophet]

Mike Tanier, a former (current?) FO writer/contributor, released his NFC South predictions today. He has the Saints winning the division at 10-6 with the Panthers taking a WC spot...at 10-6:

 

 

 

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/59430332/

 

Everyone needs to watch the video in that article, Tanier starts out seeming like he's taking a dig at Cam, but then explains that there's been way too much pressure put on him and he sees the signs that Cam is growing into the leader everyone thinks he can't be. Good vid.

 

Also:

 

Football Outsiders Stat: Newton's yards-per-attempt, interception percentage and quarterback rating actually got better last year after his historic 2011 season. He also ran for more yards and more yards per carry. Yes, some other important indicators went down, but the "disastrous" sophomore slump only existed in fantasy football -- Newton's touchdown totals tailed off -- and in the minds of people who think that quarterbacks are responsible for everything that happens to a team.

[CarolinaCoolin]

Wow. 1. I'm surprised there is a football site that is purely objective and led by stats and facts not ratings and the narrative they want to push 2. There are people out there that have taken time to actually watch our games and know we aren't bad as everyone else is claiming. I for one am shocked

[LinvilleGorge]

My two biggest questions:  

 

1.  Has Rivera learned how to manage crunch time?

2.  Will the OL hold up?

 

If the answer to both is 'yes', then we can be very, very good.  However, both are absolutely critical to our success and a 'no' to either could mean another top 10 draft pick.

[Guest FredLane4Ever]

I think it will be fun to watch.

[Guest FredLane4Ever]

12-4.....

[Montsta]

The fact that we lost like 12 straight coin tosses or whatever the hell it was is a perfect microcosm of this team as a whole the last two years. Everything that could go wrong did at the most inopportune time.

As the article mentioned, simply playing similarly yet regressing to the mean gets us at 9-7. I think the team has improved by at least a couple wins above that. I'm always blindly optimistic, but 10-6 or 11-5 doesn't seem far fetched to me.

[CarolinaCoolin]

The fact that we lost like 12 straight coin tosses or whatever the hell it was is a perfect microcosm of this team as a whole the last two years. Everything that could go wrong did at the most inopportune time.

As the article mentioned, simply playing similarly yet regressing to the mean gets us at 9-7. I think the team has improved by at least a couple wins above that. I'm always blindly optimistic, but 10-6 or 11-5 doesn't seem far fetched to me.

10-6 is what I said at the beginning of the preseason and I'm sticking to that. The pieces are there to win and possibly take the division if saints and falcons fall back due to horrible defenses

[RelaxImaPro]

Well a couple of positives...

 

If we were better in 2011 we might not have gotten Luke

If we were better in 2012 we might not have gotten Star/KK

 

All three of those are looking like key franchise pieces for the future right now.

[TruCatzFan]

Just off hand I think we should have beaten Seattle, KC, ATL, and CHI. We simply didn't have the defense we needed to hold up in the 4th when teams went to the air. We should be totally different this season.

Don't forget Dallas and Seattle

[PhillyB]

fug yea bitches

[PhillyB]

suck our dicks other teams