Are the Panthers on the RADAR now?

[ctmason]

What a big win today for my Panthers over the jawboning, personal-fouling, under-.500 Super Bowl Champions.

I predict 15 minutes of Sapp highlights, then a quick, "OhbythewayPantherswin."

We didn't have too many believers in preseason, and gratned the team hasn't really played all that consistently, but the W's are the most important number.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find the nearest person with a Sapp or K. Johnson jersey and beat them up.

[Chief Rum]

Actually, most of the people I heard from and publications I read and my own personal beliefs had the Panthers as a solid team with very good upside for this year from the very beginning of preseason. Maybe your local media is talking your guys down too much?

The whole NFC South division looked very good actually in the preseason. It's simple logic that someone had to lose the inter-conference games. And what we're discovering is that the Buccs aren't as good as they think they are, the Saints have injury and consistency issues and the Falcons don't ahve Vick or a defense.

Really, the opening for the Panthers was wide open, and I think the only thing people thought were holding them back was the lack of a good quarterback. IMO, you guys still lack a good QB, but Delhomme has done well enough to not screw it up for the rest of the team.

Congrats on the win, which I think you should have won anyway (admittedly, without Davis was a bit surprising).

CR

[ctmason]

I agree Chief, Delhomme hasn't really been as consistent as I think most Panthers fans hoped, and honestly for the amount of effort and hype he received in the offseason. He's made poor decisions and VERY poor throws, I can think of two today.

And as far as the attention in the preseason...I'm possibly being overly dramatic. I was a bit excited.

I'm biased of course, but it seemed like Tampa Bay was doing an awful lot of talking on the field. They have NOT backed it up, for the most part, which makes this win personally satisfying.

To be fair, Peppers is pretty stupid when it comes to learning how to keep his mouth shut on the field.

[Schmidty]

I just can't root for a team in teal. Sorry.

[Chief Rum]

Heh...I wouldn't say you were being overdramatic. Just passionate for your team. :)

You're not entirely offbase with respect to the preseason. While I disagree that the Panthers was ignored or excused as a potential good team, I do think they were generally picked last in the division. But I really think that was more because of the quarterback (and anemic offense) thing and the opinions people had of the other teams. I mean, one team was the Super Bowl champ, another team was a playoff team with the league's most exciting player, and the third team just missed the playoffs and had the most explosive offense (which people always key on before defense).

I think the lack of mention of the Panthers was really a reflection of the strong division and not meant to be a slight of the Panthers either.

The Buccs talk when they win. The Buccs talk when they lose. It's kinda what they do. :) You probably have learned to ingore it. The fact is, the Buccs are very good at some things, but their offense still lacks that explosive ability to put teams away, and the defense is getting older and lacks a little size. Combine that with supreme (and dumb) overconfidence, and you get the team we're seeing this year.

Meanwhile the Panthers find a QB who doesn't completely blow it for them, and Davis is the surprise back of the year (although I think we all felt he would still do the workhorse thing, I don't think any of us really felt it would key a turnaround for the Panthers). What surprises me the most is that with your best linebacker out for the season and Morgan being so inconsistent and your secondary nothing spectacular, I am really surprised at what the defense has overcome to maintain the good quality it showed last year.

I don't see the dynamics in this division changing in the near future either. This will be a hard-to-predict division for a good while yet (meaning maybe years).

CR

[Abe Sargent]

Well, they're certainly on the GAYDAR, being as they wear those tight spandex silver pants.

-Anxiety

[Abe Sargent]

Originally posted by Schmidty
I just can't root for a team in teal. Sorry.


Jaguars wear teal, not panthers. You're mixing up your expansion teams.


-Anxiety

[nilodor]

This year the panthers were my preseason superbowl pick but no one believed me that they could do it. At least they are doing a hell of alot better than my other pick, the bills.

[Lucky Jim]

They're doing great, congrats man. But Delhomme is not the answer. That throw he made on the game winning drive as he was being hit, basically just lofting the ball up into the middle of the field was not a good idea. Worked out, but he needs to eat that one in that situation. Was a great game too, unfortunately Fox cut to the studio for the last minute of the game because of some kind of 'league regulations' about showing games from other regions. I was really confused. Apparently you can only show so much of a game that you're cutting to after another game ends (in my case after Wash-Sea). Anybody know anything about this?

[JPhillips]

I know here in the Washington market they have mentioned that they can't broadcast after 4:15 if it's another game. Stupid rule if you ask me.

[Lucky Jim]

I guess that was it, thanks, weird.

[tucker342]

That was a great game

[ISiddiqui]

I'm biased of course, but it seemed like Tampa Bay was doing an awful lot of talking on the field.

Tampa ALWAYS does a lot of talking. So that is not dissing the Panthers... who all I've heard of so far is '2000 Baltimore Ravens'.

[Radii]

I thought at the beginning of the year that Carolina was doing a great job in building for its future, that they would hopefully compete for a playoff spot and #2 in the NFC South behind Tampa Bay(espicially once Vick went down hurt), but that I would not be upset if they didn't make the playoffs... I basically felt this team was a year away from seriously making waves.

I have been pleasantly suprised so far :) I still do not think they are super bowl contenders, and I still see too many holes, and too many close calls to think that they can really win in the NFL playoffs... but the NFC looks damn weak this year, espicially now with Minnesota faltering. The Panthers have as good a chance as anyone else at this point to go and lose to the Chiefs or Titans in the super bowl.

[Wolfpack]

The NFC is about as wide open as you can hope for if you are a fan of one of the division leaders right now. Just about anyone who gets into the playoffs on the NFC side has a chance to win two or three in a row and make it to Houston.

As a Panther fan, I'm rather surprised they have done what they've done. They are fortunate that the NFC South has fallen back this year with the poor play of the Bucs and Saints and Vick's injury ruining the Falcons. They were 1-5 last year and 5-0 this year. They're finally getting decent on offense. However, as evidenced by their loss to the Texans, I think they may rely too much on Stephen Davis and not enough on other players to get it done on offense. And Delhomme just doesn't seem like NFL starting QB material to me. When he threw up that prayer while getting blitzed, 9 times out of 10 in the NFL, that's an easy pick. That was absurd luck that it somehow found Muhammed. I don't think he had any earthly idea who or where it was going to when he threw it. Perhaps, over time, Delhomme will become a solid NFL QB, but I haven't been convinced yet.