Division Title Not a Guarantee for Carolina Panthers
The NFL season is only weeks away and the Carolina Panthers are bound to face more of a challenge than in recent years for the NFC South Divisional title.
The Panthers have two easier-said-than-done goals as they head into the new campaign: return to the Super Bowl and defend their NFC South title for a fourth consecutive year.
The former promises to be a long and grueling process, with a second 15-1 regular season record unlikely to help ease the pressure on Carolina in the playoffs and the guarantee of home court advantage that comes with such a record. Trips to Seattle, Oakland and Washington are tricky fixtures that should cause some problems along the way for a Panthers side still reeling from last year’s disappointment but they would still expect to find themselves among the conference’s best by the time the season draws to a close.
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The second of these aims, retaining the NFC South, looks to be a simple one to accomplish on paper.
In the last three years the Panthers have a combined record of 34-13-1, which looks all the more impressive when compared to the Falcons 18-30, the Saints 25-23 and the Bucs 12-36. Most, if not all, of the league’s pundits have picked Carolina to lift the franchise’s sixth NFC South Divisional title due to their dominance over their rivals in recent years. However, the Panthers would be foolish to take the other three teams lightly for the year ahead.
The Atlanta Falcons are arguably the biggest challenge, with their addition of three time Pro Bowl center Alex Mack headlining a successful off-season for a team that finished 8-8 last year. The Panthers will be raring to go for both matchups with the Falcons, as they were the only team to hand Carolina a loss during the regular season last year. Despite struggling at times during 2015, quarterback Matt Ryan is still a solid player as wide receiver Julio Jones and running back Devonta Freeman form a fearsome offensive trio for Atlanta.
The New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers may prove easier to deal with but both sides have the ability to become a surprise playoff contender. The Bucs harshly rid themselves of head coach Lovie Smith in order to ensure his replacement Dirk Koetter didn’t leave for greener pastures. After finishing the season with four straight losses, the Bucs felt that a change was needed though their record stood at 6-6 at one stage during the year. It’s unlikely that this year will be the one in which Tampa break their eight year absence from the postseason with young quarterback Jameis Winston still in need of further development.
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One of the hardest teams to figure out this year is the Saints. This off-season looked as if it may be the start of a long rebuild for one of the worst cap-managed teams in the NFL, but head coach Sean Payton decided to stick around as defensive coordinator Rob Ryan suffered for overlooking the worst defense in the league in terms of points given up. Drew Brees is also keen on sticking around a couple more years and New Orleans may be able to receive enough production from their free agent signings of tight end Coby Fleener and defensive tackle Nick Fairley as well as the 12th pick in the first round of the draft, defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, to help challenge the Panthers for the NFC South title. It’s unlikely, especially when considering the Saints have failed to finish with a better record than the previous year since 2013, a sign of a team on a downward spiral.
The Panthers definitely have enough about them to ensure they don’t lose their NFC South title, but if they think about taking their rivals lightly, they should do so at their own peril.