We're only .1 points off the 1996 Panthers pace for least points allowed in team history

[Sam Mills Fan]

That 1996 Panthers defense had 4 Pro Bowlers: Sam Mills, Kevin Greene, Lamar Lathon, and Eric Davis. They went 12-4 and lost to the Packers in the NFC Championship Game for you youngsters that don't remember. They finished 2nd in the league that year in points allowed with 13.6 points given up per game, while the 2013 Panthers are allowing 13.7 which is also currently 2nd in the league. Most people recognize the '96 Panthers as having the best defense in franchise history with that sick group of linebackers.

 

Do you think the 2013 Panthers could end up being recognized as having a better defense by the time it's all said and done?

[Sam Mills Fan]

Other great defenses in team history: 2002 Panthers finished 5th (although 1st in yards given up I think), 2003 Panthers (Super Bowl team) finished 10th, 2005 Panthers finished 5th.

[ed bell]

Scoring across the league is at an all time high now, by the way.

[stankowalski]

Given all the rule changes since then, most of which have been to benefit the offense, I think what this year's group is doing is more impressive.

[csx]

I will see what happens over a full season before trying to compare them.

[L-TownCat]

Holding today's offenses to under 2 touchdowns is crazy good.

[JawnyBlaze]

While I think it's definitely debatable which year had the best defense, I think our average is going to go up over the second half of the season.  We play better offenses in the second half than we played in the first (NO x2 and NE are in a whole different class than anyone we've played yet, and I only say NE because they've got Gronk back and I expect he and Brady to start playing Madden on the field again sooner rather than later).

[RelaxImaPro]

We got the short end of the stick going up against the Pats this year.  The Saints, Falcons, and Bucs faced 'em without Gronk or Amendola... both of them are playing against us (barring anything happening).

 

Oh well, guess it'd make the win even more impressive.

 

 

But yeah--that average is gonna go up after we go against NO x2, NE, SF, and hell... even Atlanta probably.  Still impressive though.

[!stUp]

That 1996 Panthers defense had 4 Pro Bowlers: Sam Mills, Kevin Greene, Lamar Lathon, and Eric Davis. They went 12-4 and lost to the Packers in the NFC Championship Game for you youngsters that don't remember. They finished 2nd in the league that year in points allowed with 13.6 points given up per game, while the 2013 Panthers are allowing 13.7 which is also currently 2nd in the league. Most people recognize the '96 Panthers as having the best defense in franchise history with that sick group of linebackers.

 

Do you think the 2013 Panthers could end up being recognized as having a better defense by the time it's all said and done?

 

Remember it well.....and will always wonder what "if" one of our big DE Shawn King had not been suspended for that game (NFC CG).

[CarolinaNCSU]

Some of the remaining teams on the schedule are going to put up some points on us to further that spread, but this defense has been beyond impressive IMO.

 

IF we retain Hardy, while adding a piece or two, next year could be special.

[ed bell]

We got the short end of the stick going up against the Pats this year. The Saints, Falcons, and Bucs faced 'em without Gronk or Amendola... both of them are playing against us (barring anything happening).

Oh well, guess it'd make the win even more impressive.

But yeah--that average is gonna go up after we go against NO x2, NE, SF, and hell... even Atlanta probably. Still impressive though.

I can agree that some of the upcoming games could very well inflate that average, but I'm also excited to see how our defense responds. Who knows, they might surprise us.

[rayzor]

i'm looking forward to the challenge coming from the"meat" of their schedule, mainly because we'll see what this team, esp.  defense, really has. i think they'll be rising to the challenge and could very well finish up as the best defense we ever had.

 

the thing to keep in mind is back in '96, it was tougher to score across the board. the passing game has a lot of protections surrounding it thanks to rule changes and uber-awareness from the refs. 

 

people point out quite often how much more impressive WRs and QBs performances were back then because they didn't have the protections afforded them like today's players have. the opposite of that coin is defenses who are capable of shutting down offenses in today's nfl are more impressive than defenses from the past because of having been handicapped by the rule changes and flag happy refs.

[PhillyB]

let's see how we look after facing the 49ers, pats, and saints