Bleacher report not buying Panthers’ hype

[raleigh-panther]

Well, everyone is a critic.  not much meat on the bone here in analysis but if the team needs motivation … lol
 

I have also heard a lot of talking head or two say that ‘Young is not in the same class as most of these teams and that in 12 of the 17 games he is the lesser QB
 

BR write up below 

2025 record: 8-9

Last season, the Carolina Panthers made the playoffs for the first time since 2017. They won the division. Bryce Young made strides, throwing for 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a 63.6 percent completion rate. Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan won the 2025 Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

In free agency, the Panthers signed edge-rusher Jaelan Phillips and linebacker Devin Lloyd to bolster their middling defense. Carolina can win with complementary football if the offense continues to trend in the right direction.

In 2026, Carolina will play the AFC North and NFC North on a first-place schedule, which includes matchups against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, and the Seattle Seahawks. The club will have a much tougher 17-game slate than it had last year, which may lead to regression.

The Panthers aren't on the same level as the league's top teams. We'll see the gap between them and division-winning clubs from the previous season.

2026 projection: 6-11

 

[LinvilleGorge]

I was pretty shocked to see us get three primetime games. 6-11 honestly feels like a pretty rational prediction with us playing a decision winner strength of schedule.

[Dave Gettleman's Shorts]

panthers sweep the NFC south and win the division off a 4-way tie at 6-11

Edited 1 hour ago by Dave Gettleman's Shorts

[HardcoreHokie]

Bryce gonna out-QB:

Burrow

Rodgers

Lamar

Baker (x2)

Darnold

Watson

Love

Caleb

Nix

Hurts

Goff

LFG!

[OldhamA]

44 minutes ago, raleigh-panther said:

Well, everyone is a critic.  not much meat on the bone here in analysis but if the team needs motivation … lol
 

I have also heard a lot of talking head or two say that ‘Young is not in the same class as most of these teams and that in 12 of the 17 games he is the lesser QB
 

BR write up below 

2025 record: 8-9

Last season, the Carolina Panthers made the playoffs for the first time since 2017. They won the division. Bryce Young made strides, throwing for 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a 63.6 percent completion rate. Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan won the 2025 Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

In free agency, the Panthers signed edge-rusher Jaelan Phillips and linebacker Devin Lloyd to bolster their middling defense. Carolina can win with complementary football if the offense continues to trend in the right direction.

In 2026, Carolina will play the AFC North and NFC North on a first-place schedule, which includes matchups against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, and the Seattle Seahawks. The club will have a much tougher 17-game slate than it had last year, which may lead to regression.

The Panthers aren't on the same level as the league's top teams. We'll see the gap between them and division-winning clubs from the previous season.

2026 projection: 6-11

 

How many of those teams are better than the Rams and the Packers?

I think we're more talented this year than we were last year. 

I'm not saying we're going to sweep all that comes before us, but I think a 6-11 projection underestimates the roster rebuild job that's going on here. 

[strato]

Well I guess Bryce is moving up. It wasn’t that long ago he was the lesser QB in 17 of 17. 
I admit, I didn’t think he could do it.  
 

We are going to have to run all over people and out defense some offenses to do anything.  I don’t know how many we can win but I think 6 is low.   

[LinvilleGorge]

8 minutes ago, HardcoreHokie said:

Bryce gonna out-QB:

Burrow

Rodgers

Lamar

Baker (x2)

Darnold

Watson

Love

Caleb

Nix

Hurts

Goff

LFG!

Damn, that'll be a historic year for QB's on IR across the league.

[poorboysrev]

17 minutes ago, OldhamA said:

How many of those teams are better than the Rams and the Packers?

I think we're more talented this year than we were last year. 

I'm not saying we're going to sweep all that comes before us, but I think a 6-11 projection underestimates the roster rebuild job that's going on here. 

Our best games last year were vs the Rams. If Bryce can play closer to like he did in the playoff game and defense improves like it looks on paper consistently we will be a hard out for anyone 

[RJK]

The most important player on the field is the biggest weakness on the roster. 

[LinvilleGorge]

20 minutes ago, poorboysrev said:

Our best games last year were vs the Rams. If Bryce can play closer to like he did in the playoff game and defense improves like it looks on paper consistently we will be a hard out for anyone 

The problem is that you have a very small handful of legit good games to cling to vs. all the rest of Bryce's career. He has to be at his absolute best. Even "good" on the "Bryce curve" is below average for NFL starting QB standards and "average" on the "Bryce curve" is "we need a new fuging QB" for NFL starting QB standards. 

[PleaseCutStewart]

I keep reading about how everyone thinks our schedule this year is way harder than last year and don't get it. Not saying our schedule this year is a cakewalk, but having to play the 49ers, rams, seahawks, bills, patriots, Packers, and jaguars is about as tough as it gets for an outside of division schedule... Not to mention that we had to play the Cardinals when they were full strength (before injuries) and not looking that bad.

[UnluckyforSome]

"Carolina can win with complementary football if the offense continues to trend in the right direction."

Absolutely true. Neither side of the ball will be standout and we will need both to meet some expectations if we want it to be a successful season. This shouldn't be a controversial take.

The unfortunate part is there are always unknowns and variables that can stack up to derail games and entire seasons. I think a lot of media, outside of Rich Eisen so far, have been giving those chances of unknowns and variables a better than fair shot of being a negative factor to the Panthers. 

As an fyi, Eisen continues to promote the Panthers chances this season, but he also didn't abandon the Bengals last year when Burrow went down. So there's that.