Carolina Panthers: History of success not on their side
The Carolina Panthers do not have the best record when finding success year after year. 2018 seems like a year when they can break the trend, but there’s a lot of work to be done.
Each new season comes with new expectations. The Carolina Panthers are coming off of an 11-5 season in which they lost their NFC Wild Card Game against the Atlanta Falcons. If the previous season is any indication to how well the Panthers will do in the following year, fans should be concerned. But looking forward to 2018, there’s an understandable optimism around how well Carolina will perform in the coming months.
This week, ESPN released an intriguing column about teams that are most likely to slip from the playoffs and which teams they could be replaced by when we reach that point of the year. The top team most likely to miss the playoffs after reaching the postseason in 2017 was the Carolina Panthers. This shouldn’t be shocking as history clearly outlines that the Panthers struggle in times when they are expected to be a strong team. Thus, their unwelcome nickname of the “Cardiac Cats.”
Look back across the Panthers history, and something glaring stands out. This team was started back in 1995 and 23 years later the Panthers have never had two consecutive years in which they’ve posted a winning record. The closest that they’ve come to that accolade was during the 2008 to 2009 seasons when they finished 12-4 in 2008 and 8-8 in 2009. This should immediately cause alarm for the Panthers as they finished with a strong record of 11-5 at the end of last year.
The problem is that it’s not just about what Carolina does or does not do to directly impact their performance. They play in a seriously tough division with the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Carolina has made moves this offseason to strengthen both sides of the ball, but the question becomes whether or not these moves as strong enough to compete with the moves that have occurred in other teams within their division. Every team continues to takes steps to improve; the question is whether or not those improvements translate to performance on the field.
One of the major concerns and indicators as to how well this team will perform is Cam Newton’s development. Newton is clearly the organization’s franchise player, but there’s still room for improvement as he heads into his eighth season.
With veterans like Greg Olsen, Torrey Smith, developing players like Devin Funchess and young athletes like Christian McCaffrey and D.J. Moore, he has the talent around him to return to form that saw him win an MVP award. But just like the organization as a whole; Newton tends to go through ebbs and flows instead of remaining on a consistent trend of improvement.
Next: Carolina Panthers: Backup quarterback needs to be addressed
Carolina Panthers fans do not know the feeling of consistent success that other sports fans may have. In fact, they know the exact opposite. Hopefully, the 2018 season is a historical one for the Panthers and the first in which the team has back-to-back years with records above 500. If not, things may get bleak for head coach Ron Rivera and other members in the front office.