Carolina Panthers 2007 Preview
Background: Jerry Richardson deserves credit as one of the quietest, but best owners in the NFL. The Panthers were immediately competitive from their expansion year forward. The team hit a rough spot during the George Seifert days, but Richardson pulled the plug on that fossil and found himself a diamond in the rough with John Fox.
Carolina came within inches of winning a Super Bowl a couple years back and are considered one of the tougher teams to face year in and year out.
Team Indentity: Fox not only turned the Panthers back onto the winning road, he established an identity. His Panthers are good in the trenches, strong on defense, and feature a better than average passing attack that stretches the field. Southern football fans appreciate all three.
Let’s be honest – who really likes to watch the WCO? Three yard dink passes run over and over again start to wear on you. The Panthers play like a great Southern college team. They smash you in the mouth from both sides of the ball, and they have a Cajun-flavored QB that chucks it down the field with reckless (sometimes too reckless) abandon.
The Panthers are just the kind of team a Southern football fan likes to watch. For a region better known as basketball country, the Panthers have made football matter again in the Carolinas.
2007 Storyline: The Panthers are always high on everyone’s playoff list because they do it the right way. They have good coaches, and they draft well. The problem in the past few years has been injuries (ie depth).
The Panthers tried to address that this off season. Jake Delhomme has a credible backup now with David Carr. The defense doesn’t rely on the brittle Dan Morgan and Kris Jenkins like it used to do.
The question is whether Fox has raised the expectations too high? Should the Panthers always be used in the same breath as other modern perennials like the Colts, the Patriots, the Broncos, or the Seahawks?
Expectation meter: The NFC South reminds us of the SEC. There are too many teams whose fans all expect to win a championship. That means someone will be left disappointed every year. Atlanta gets a pass this year because of Vick, but Tampa, New Orleans, and Carolina fans expect their teams to win this year.
Fox is safe for now (and should be safe for the long haul), but if the Panthers spend another season outside of the playoffs, the Fox’s seat will be a hot one come 2008.
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