Proud of our Panthers....the rest is icing on the cake

[Jmac]

I remember sitting here in August and looking at the schedule when it came

Out.It was killer and I was hoping for six wins at best.We where relying on two rookies to anchor our dline and lower tier FA's and UFA's to fill our secondary.We had a patch work oline with backups starting and a WR corps that left much to be desired. I wasn't very optimistic to say the least.Somehow this team beat the odds and have reached a ten win season with two games left and are on the verge of a playoff run.Merry Christmas to all and thank you Panthers for a memorable season.

[RoaringRiot]

Man....I'm with you, but let's thank them after the season. There's still football to play.

[DaveThePanther2008]

I was more optimistic about our defensive line.  I felt before the season we were going to be top 5 in defense.  Mostly because Rivera said Star was good as advertised and more. Mitchell and Mikell really gave me hope.  

 

I was and still am a bit puzzled how we went from a top 10 offense to middle of the pack.  Though that is partially obscured because we are #1 at ball control.   Slow marches down the field take away the stat line.

 

I predicted 10-6 (including wins against SF and NE)   Win one of the next two and were in.   Then we show how bad we really are.

[Happy Panther]

We need to get into the playoffs still. But this is way funner than previous years

[panthers55]

I was more optimistic about our defensive line.  I felt before the season we were going to be top 5 in defense.  Mostly because Rivera said Star was good as advertised and more. Mitchell and Mikell really gave me hope.  

 

I was and still am a bit puzzled how we went from a top 10 offense to middle of the pack.  Though that is partially obscured because we are #1 at ball control.   Slow marches down the field take away the stat line.

 

I predicted 10-6 (including wins against SF and NE)   Win one of the next two and were in.   Then we show how bad we really are.

People look at offensive rankings based on total yards.  Most of the teams are bunched together.  We are currently ranked 25th at 326 yards a game.  The 10th ranked team is at 362.  The difference between the last 2 years is average yards per play which is 5.1 good for 25th place again.  Top teams average roughly 6 yards per play.

[unicar15]

Only the fat ugly kid thinks that getting a wink from the pretty girl is "icing on the cake." Playoffs are the cake...runs in the playoffs are icing.

[Cary Kollins]

I was browsing the ESPN Panthers page last night and I have to say this brought a smile to my face:

 

L

 

L

 

W

 

L

 

W

 

W

 

W

 

W

 

W

 

W

 

W

 

W

 

L

 

W

 

[KBlizz]

At my work fantasy draft, i picked up the Carolina D in the second to last round and everyone looked at me funny. i said "they'll be a top 5 d. just watch." I originally predicted we would go 10-6. Although i had pretty much given up on the team at 1-3. I'll admit, i wanted Ron's head haha

[neverlosethefeeling]

I told any and everyone who would listen before the season that this team could be special. They laughed at me then, but who's laughing now, bitches?!

 

Even my good buddy (Iggles fan) texted me yesterday and said if they make it to the playoffs he hopes they don't have to play us. He lives in Charlotte and has never come anywhere close to giving the Panthers love. So that was a big deal.

[LinvilleGorge]

I said prior to the season that 10 wins would make me happy and let the cards fall as they may in terms of the playoffs.  Given the holes on the roster (OL, WR, and secondary) I thought expecting anything more than 10 wins was simply expecting too much.  I guess I can't go back on that now.  If you'd told me the injuries we'd have along the OL this season, I would've told you 8-8 was probably the best case scenario.  If you'd told me the OL injuries we'd have AND that father time would catch Smitty this year, I would've told you it would be ugly.

 

With that said, I'd be badly disappointed at this point if we don't end the season at 11-5 at least.  12-4 is fully doable.  If we pull off 12-4, Rivera is the coach of the year IMO.

[TrueBlackandBlue]

I love watching every season whether is 12-4 or 4-12. It always fun. If the Panthers field a team I am satisfied.

Now that the fantasies of playoffs and championships are realistic, I don't even know what to do with myself.

[Jackofalltrades]

Agree completely. I thought we were capable of going 10-6 at best and if we had a winning season and saw improvement across the board I'd be tickled shitless. We've already hit the 10 win mark, the D was tops in the league and is still amongst the best. The O lacks the big plays of the last couple of seasons but that includes the negative big plays as well,.

[Udogg]

12-4

 

We lost 6 games last year by less than 7 points.  Two years ago we lost 5 more games  by less than 7 points.  If we maintain status quo and not get any better on offense, our defense is much improved (hopefully).   We played a lot of cover 3 because we had to bring the safety in the box because of our bad run defense.   Now we will be able to play more straight cover 2 along with hybrid defenses that will give the ability to hopefully cover the tight ends (ie tony gonzalez, graham) who have been killing us.  Also look at how much longer plays were extended by Brees and Ryan just by being able to step up in the pocket.  We will win at least 12 games.

 

 

Yes....

 

[Highlandfire]

I was more optimistic about our defensive line.  I felt before the season we were going to be top 5 in defense.  Mostly because Rivera said Star was good as advertised and more. Mitchell and Mikell really gave me hope.  

 

I was and still am a bit puzzled how we went from a top 10 offense to middle of the pack.  Though that is partially obscured because we are #1 at ball control.   Slow marches down the field take away the stat line.

 

I predicted 10-6 (including wins against SF and NE)   Win one of the next two and were in.   Then we show how bad we really are.

Smitty is on the downside of his career. We need TWO really good WR's. The OL had some injuries. We shore up WR, DB and get our OL healthy this offseason and this is definately a team that you have to contend with superbowl wise on the NFC side