2018 Hangover

[Mr. Scot]

I'm not generally a guy who gets my hopes up anyway. I always try to be measured and not set my expectations too high too early.

Granted, sometimes that's not easy.

Last year was one of those years. I was pretty happy with the early season results. Admittedly, there was this nagging little thought in the back of my head that maybe we were a house of cards, but I kinda hoped I was just being paranoid.

Then came the week that reality (or was it the Steelers) walked up and slapped us in the face.

You know the rest.

Fast forward to this year. As usual I'm trying to be cautious, but there are also a lot of things to like about how the team is looking right now. Rationally speaking, I know we're still in the easy part of our schedule and that it gets tougher from here.

And that's where the memory of last year creeps in.

To be clear, it's not a particular factor or a certain area of the team that I worry about. Honestly, it's probably not even a rational thing. It's just the memory of how quickly last year went from the penthouse to the outhouse and sincerely not wanting to see that happen again.

So I'm curious now as to whether anybody else is thinking about it. Are you fully hyped up again, all systems go on your optimism, ready to take on the world and come out victorious?

Or is there that nagging doubt that we could get smacked in the face and fall back to Earth again?

[Dex]

SF game will say a lot but the Saints are balling this year and I'm not confident we win the division. 

[Moo Daeng]

Its sports. I just see what happens. That's the fun of it for me.

[WarHeel]

People are saying we haven’t played anyone but if you look at SF they haven’t had a strong schedule either. I think we have a great chance to put on a show and make things competitive. Maybe even pull the W.

[t96]

6 minutes ago, Dex said:

SF game will say a lot but the Saints are balling this year and I'm not confident we win the division. 

I don’t care how the Aints look at all, I won’t be concerned about the division until we actually play them and if they do look better than us and beat us.

[Bartin]

2018 definitely didn’t feel sustainable because of the defense and the dink and dunk offense with no downfield passing threat but then we went and blew out the Ravens. I was drinking the koolaid at that point then the Steelers game happened 4 days later.

2019 feels the same way but for different reasons. Can the defense actually be this good? Can Allen keep this up and improve? When Cam comes back will he actually be fully healthy both running and throwing deep? Back half of the schedule is pretty damn tough too.

[Waldo]

Yes I have doubts, more than a few, but I still think we have a very good D and a freak on Offense in CMC. We should be and have been competitive but I don't see contenders yet, but it's still early. 

[Dex]

8 minutes ago, t96 said:

I don’t care how the Aints look at all, I won’t be concerned about the division until we actually play them and if they do look better than us and beat us.

Not concerned about the division. Okay.

[t96]

I think we’d have done enough to make the playoffs if after the Steelers game we had a healthy Kyle Allen QBing us and Rivera calling the D. That’s why I’m confident this year we’ll be able to avoid that second half repeating itself

[GoPanthers123]

Even year bad luck, odd year a little better. It’s been the story of the team.  If we stick with Allen until end of season we will make the playoffs, and own the Saints on the way there.

[LinvilleGorge]

Honestly, I was more hopeful at this time last year. We were finding ways to win games despite the fact that we really weren't playing all that well. I was hoping things would click and we'd really take off when things started clicking. Instead, the Steelers game happened and TJ Watt knocked Cam's shoulder off ensuring our doom.

This year, things really couldn't be going any better over the last 4 games. Forcing 14 turnovers. +9 turnover differential. Leading the NFL in sacks. 2nd in the NFL in INTs. Throwing 0 INTs over the last 9 games. CMC leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage and 20 yards per game ahead of 2nd place. Rookie 6th rounder playing like an All-Pro LT.

It just seems too good to be true. It's not sustainable. I just hope that we can sustain the winning when some of those things start hedging back toward the median.

[RumHam]

24 minutes ago, WarHeel said:

People are saying we haven’t played anyone but if you look at SF they haven’t had a strong schedule either. I think we have a great chance to put on a show and make things competitive. Maybe even pull the W.

Well we've played better opponents than the cowboys, niners and patriots. Houston game was key for our defense. Don't forget, we are like three plays from being undefeated. 

[KillaCamNewton]

my kool aid went out the door after the Super Bowl. i remember as bad as that game was going as long as we had the ball at the end down by 7 or less we were still going to win because Cam was just going to find a way like he did all year. after that game i stopped expecting wins and just worried about enjoying the game. it sounds weak, but when you get rid of expectations and just watch because youre a fan its alot more enjoyable

[Mr. Scot]

15 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Honestly, I was more hopeful at this time last year. We were finding ways to win games despite the fact that we really weren't playing all that well. I was hoping things would click and we'd really take off when things started clicking. Instead, the Steelers game happened and TJ Watt knocked Cam's shoulder off ensuring our doom.

This year, things really couldn't be going any better over the last 4 games. Forcing 14 turnovers. +9 turnover differential. Leading the NFL in sacks. 2nd in the NFL in INTs. Throwing 0 INTs over the last 9 games. CMC leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage and 20 yards per game ahead of 2nd place. Rookie 6th rounder playing like an All-Pro LT.

It just seems too good to be true. It's not sustainable. I just hope that we can sustain the winning when some of those things start hedging back toward the median.

In my time, I have seen a lot of teams fall off after hot starts, not just the Panthers.

You always have to remember that an NFL season is a marathon, not a sprint.