The Carolina Panthers found themselves in the playoffs last year with a record of 7-8. It was clear the NFC South was a dumpster fire and the Panthers recorded tie game vaulted them into the playoffs. They beat a Cardinals team in the first round, but faultered in the 2nd Rd. Can the Panthers make another run at the playoffs in 2015?
Offense:
Cam Newton is one of the better QB's in the league..The talent he has been given over his stay in Carolina has been rather dull. Newton is now entering his 5th NFL season. One can easlity see that the production of Newton has slipped every year since he came into the league..Injuries have hurt him as the years have gone by..Last year he passed for the least amount of yards in his career. Only throwing for 3,127 yards. He was almost 1,000 over that total in his rookie season. Still, Newton is very good and if the fantasy guys are dumping the stock in Newton, this may be the year to take a look at picking him back up. i don't believe Newton playing a full 16 games can have the type of numbers he posted in 2014. His numbers should improve.
Kelvin Benjamin is beast on the outside. His talent level is tops in the league without a doubt..Last year he grabbed a total of 73 passes in 1 full season of 16 games. He was targeted 146 times last year and had 9 TD's to his credit. he is a big guy a 6'5 and is a pro bowl type of reciever. He is only in his 2nd year and his upside is scary for years to come. One of my favorites in the league right now. I see no reason Benjamin's numbers slip this year. This very well may be his biggest year in his career. Teams will try to slow him down as the year progresses and that can be an issue for the Panthers. Until then, Kelvin should be on every fantasy list.
Jonathan Stewart will be the primary this year for sure. With the depature of DeAngelo Williams, Stewart will ge the bulk of the carries this year. My issue with Stewart is his health..Even with split reps over the last few years, Stewart has missed a total of nearly 25 games in 5 seasons..He has been unable to complete a full season in his last 3 years. I still think he is a lower level type of back in the NFL. I can see Stewart getting a ton of touches this year though..This should be the prime years of his career, but i just don't see it right now. The Panthers backfield has major issues and i still believe this will be a tough spot for the Panthers to improve on in 2015.
The Rest :
Olson is a quality guy and a great security blanket for Newton. He has remained a solid player over his last 4 years with Carolina...He had a total of 84 catches last year and gained over a 1,000 yards. You can't complain one bit about Olson. The addition of Devin Funchess will improve this Carolina passing attack now..Funchess is fresh VIA the NFL draft and will make an immediate impact to this Panthers offense. Another big target for Newton and this guy had 733 yards last year in a Michigan offense that was rather bad. 62 catches in his last year with the Wolverines netted him a total of 733 yards, 4TD's.
Offensive Outlook :
It's rather tough to really put a quality opinion here on this group..The O-line should be a little better this year first off. I think we will see limited Newton runs this year as well..That will improve the chance of Newton getting banged up..With 3 targets now that are big bodies, i really like the chances for Newton passing this year. These are guys that are geared for the way Newton tends to throw the ball. I still think they are short a quality slot guy, but these guys will do just fine numbers wise. The running game i'm not sold on and being one dimensional in the NFL is a bad thing. If the Panthers can't find a running game it will be more of the same from this bunch. If they can find that Stewart is serviceable, maybe they can make a run at the playoffs. Jury is still out on this bunch entering a new year.
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Defense :
Not sold on this defense at all. They had a nice run at the end of the season to close out 4 wins in a row, but overall i still think this defense can get torched. They gave up 30+ points in 4 games last year in a row. Not to mention they allowed 45 points the Eagles. They played some rather bad offensive teams and that really helped out the numbers. If Kuechly (pictured) can be the man in the middle again i can see this unit improving, but i don;t think it will be much. Kuechly led the league in tackles at 153 and that needs to change. The guy can't keep up that kind of pace right now without some type of help. They are a mid grade bunch at best and with the schedule they have i can see some issues here. I'm not sold on the backend for this group one bit. i like the pickup of Shaq Thompson and that should improve the the middle for sure.
The Schedule :
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1 SEP 13 1:00PMEDT ) AT
JAGUARS
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2 SEP 20 1:00PMEDT *
TEXANS
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3 SEP 27 1:00PMEDT )
SAINTS
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4 OCT 4 1:00PMEDT ) AT
BUCCANEERS
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6 OCT 18 4:05PMEDT ) AT
SEAHAWKS
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7 OCT 25 8:30PMEDT '
EAGLES
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8 NOV 2 8:30PMEST +
COLTS
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9 NOV 8 1:00PMEST )
PACKERS
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10 NOV 15 1:00PMEST ) AT
TITANS
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11 NOV 22 1:00PMEST )
REDSKINS
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12 NOV 26 4:30PMEST * AT
COWBOYS
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13 DEC 6 1:00PMEST ) AT
SAINTS
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14 DEC 13 1:00PMEST )
FALCONS
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15 DEC 20 1:00PMEST ) AT
GIANTS
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16 DEC 27 1:00PMEST ) AT
FALCONS
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17 JAN 3 1:00PMEST )
BUCCANEERS
This is a problem spot for the Panthers. I think this schedule works against them in many ways. They start out the year on the road overlooking a Jaguars team who will be much improved. Then back to back home games Vs two teams looking to rebound from bad years in the Saints and Texans. They take on a new life in Tampa before the bye on the road and come out of the bye on the road in Seattle..Not a very good spot here for the Panthers early in the season..Coming out of the bye and heading on the road to face the Seahawks is just bad. After the Seahawks they will face the Eagles, Indy, Packers...They get all three games at home, but the home schedule is no picnic at all. This very well might be the toughest home schedule of any team..When looking at a team total to back an over this is the worst possible thing you can go against. They will finish the year after Green Bay with 5 road games in the final 8. They also have 4 division games in that stretch as well. I see very few teams that can be worse than last year on this schedule..This is one tough schedule IMO...I can find only a few ins for this team. I don't see any guaranteed games for this team and that's scary.
Overall Predication :
The Panthers haven't made enough changes to this team. It will be more of the same and the schedule will not be to inviting. Sure the Panthers can rip off a 3-0 start, but after the bye week it gets really intense..I'm not a fan of the Head Coach and the backend of the defense is an issue..The home schedule is brutal this year for the Panthers. I like the Passing game all around and that will be a bright spot. If injuries come into play this year on the offensive end the Panthers can be in big trouble. They only won 7 games last year and they didn't make any offseason splashes. One can only think that this division will improve with the Saints, Falcons, Bucs. So the 7-8 record to make the playoffs won't happen again..They can win this division, but at best i can see them winning it with 8 wins. They will need a ton of things to go right to hit 8 wins this year. I can find almost 9 losses for this team, so no way can i find a total of 9 wins. I just don't see it.
Prediction:
Under 8.5 (-140)