Carolina Panthers fans have reasons to both be excited and nervous about the upcoming playoffs…
Finally, Week 17 is here and after a very close victory last week against Tampa Bay, the Carolina Panthers will be playing playoff football this season. Based on this week’s results, the Panthers could be playing a home playoff game as a division winner or traveling somewhere as a wildcard.
The most likely situation could be a visit to Los Angeles facing the Rams, since coach Sean McVay announced that he will not be playing many of his starters having already secured their division. If the Rams fall to San Francisco, Carolina will likely be headed west. If the Rams prevail a third showdown with divisional rival New Orleans could be scheduled.
Following are three reasons to both love the Panthers and be weary entering the playoffs.
Experience
If going to Los Angeles, the Rams are a very young team with little playoff experience. On the other hand, Carolina has a good amount of playoff experience, especially after their 2015 Super Bowl campaign. How will second year quarterback Jared Goff play against a top defense with experience, led by former Defensive Player of the Year, Luke Kuechly.
That sounds like a pretty good match-up for the Panthers. Obviously the Rams have a possible MVP running back in their backfield, but in the playoffs Carolina hasn’t historically allowed many rushing yards.
Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks would put an emphasis on stopping Todd Gurley, meaning it would come down to Goff leading the Rams past Carolina.
Resurgence of Cam Newton
Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has played excellent ever since a horrendous performance against the New York Jets five weeks ago. He’s been on point with his throws and he’s played safe football, minimizing potential turnovers.
However, he has maintained his typical aggressive play, whipping fastballs to receivers the way only he can. Newton hasn’t had a bad playoff game in his career and potentially against an inexperienced Rams defense, look for him to have an impressive day.
Excelling through the air and on the ground, Newton can make even the most dominant defenses look average with his playmaking capabilities.
Line Play
Both the offensive and defensive line have been on fire recently. Obviously, everybody knows that the Panthers have one of the best defensive front four in the league, but nobody gives the offensive line much credit.
Right tackle Daryl Williams has played at a Pro Bowl level the entire season and nobody ever talks about him. Ever since center Ryan Kalil returned, you can see a completely different offense on the field. Both guards Trai Turner and Andrew Norwell have played solid this year, but would have their hands full with the Rams Aaron Donald and potentially Fletcher Cox in the divisional round.
The weakest link on offense, Matt Kalil, hasn’t been that bad recently and is capable of playing well enough for the Panthers to win playoff games. He will receive help from running backs and tight ends, so don’t be too afraid of the younger Kalil ruining the offense.
All positive, but three worrisome factors also exist.
Wide Receivers
The Panthers probably have the worst receiver group of any team in the playoffs and possibly the entire league. Russell Shepard has been extremely inconsistent this year, after catching an impressive touchdown catch in Week 1 against San Francisco but he hasn’t really done anything since.
Last week, Brenton Bersin had a decent game but made a major mistake by allowing a safety to knock the ball out of his hands on a very catchable pass from Newton. These are the kinds of mistakes that won’t pass in the playoffs.
Kaelin Clay is probably the receiver that most Panthers fans trust as a possible weapon. He has potential to stretch the field while playing a Ted Ginn type role, but also like Ginn, his hands are very questionable.
Mose Frazier is a complete question mark and don’t expect him to see much of the field, unless another receiver gets injured.
Secondary
Although improved, the secondary hasn’t played too well this year. James Bradberry and Daryl Worley had back-to-back weeks with one interception each, but besides that stretch they haven’t performed to the level expected for corners on a top defense.
Also, neither of them has ever played playoff football, so it will be interesting to see how they handle the extra pressure. Veteran safety Mike Adams has been great this year in terms of creating turnovers in big situations and has loads of experience, but he’s been somewhat of a liability in coverage.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees ripped apart the defensive secondary just a few weeks ago and a lot of plays involved Adams getting beat. Kurt Coleman has had a quiet year, not creating any turnovers but playing solid at times.
However, getting shown up by the Buccaneers Adam Humpries is one of the more embarrassing things that can happen to a player and somehow Coleman allowed it to occur to himself. These are the kinds of plays that can’t happen to a team looking for success in January.
Defensive Inconsistencies
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Even when the Panthers were ranked first in total defense, the unit still didn’t feel like an elite bunch. Obviously the game against the Bears boosted their numbers up extremely because of the lack of yards from rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky and running back JordanHoward.
This defense would need to play their very best in order to beat a top offense like the Rams or Saints. Starting from the top, Luke Kuechly must lead by example. He hasn’t played his best over the last couple of weeks, but he must play like he did in the 2015 playoffs if the Panthers want a chance of going to the promise land.
Despite the up and down performance of the Panthers this season they have won an impressive amount of games. Twelve, if they defeat Atlanta, would the be most by any team to enter the wild card from the NFC South ever.
Next: NFL Power Rankings - Week 17
A tough out for any opponent, Carolina can beat anyone when playing at a high level but they have failed to prove capable of providing that sustained level over multiple weeks – a nice run to end the year could put them in Minnesota for another Super Bowl.