On The Prowl (ESPN article) on Panthers/Newton

[TruCatzFan]

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- In July, every team is undefeated. Every team is optimistic. Every team is bullish on the upcoming season, on draft picks panning out, on players progressing from Year 1 to Year 2 and beyond, on schemes and schedules and game plans.

In July, dreams haven't been dashed by the realities of an arduous season. Injuries. Losses. Mistakes. Blown opportunities.

It is part of the beauty of the game, this July exuberance. Sometimes it is real. Sometimes it is manufactured. In the case of the Carolina Panthers, there is no pretense. Their optimism is real, unfiltered and for which no one will apologize. The team went 6-10 last season and hasn't sniffed the playoffs since it last won the NFC South in 2008, and yet to a man everyone affiliates with the team contends this team can make the postseason.

The reason is simple: Cam Newton.

One man can't lead a franchise on his own, but one man can infuse a team with hope, swagger and belief that finally, after 2-14 and 6-10, with a coaching change in between, this thing is heading in the right direction. A break here, a made play there, and 6-10 can turn into 10-6, and if the New York Giants can make the playoffs with a 9-7 record and do what they did last season, why can't the Newton-led Panthers?

During Carolina's second practice of training camp on Sunday night at Wofford College, Kuechly batted down a Newton pass intended for tight end Greg Olsen, and a day later said his hand still hurt.

"He can sling it," Kuechly said.

"He drills it, man," added fifth-year safety Charles Godfrey. "He drills it. I haven't seen nobody throw it like him in a while. He can let it go."

Newton did just that during one 11-on-11 session, hitting wide receiver Steve Smith in stride with a pass Rivera estimated traveled 65 yards in the air

While he would not divulge how much the advertisement cost him -- "It was expensive," he said -- Kalil didn't back down from the statement, and his teammates, and even Rivera, loved it. There is a buzz around the Panthers that hasn't been there, maybe ever, a confidence and a swagger.

ESPN front page...in July none the less??? The Cam effect!

http://espn.go.com/n...nthers-optimism

[Frizzy350]

I actually really liked Cowherd's little video. He makes a lot of good points, except our division being weak. There are a lot of question marks about the Saints* Bucs and Falcons, despite 2 of them being extremely good, no one knows how the Saints* are going to react to bountygate, no one knows how (if at all) the bucs improved and what their coach brings to the table, and no one knows if matt ryan can take his game to the next level or how their defense will be.

I bump into people all the time that think the Panthers were horrible last season... 6-10 is middle of the pack... we were a handful of plays from being 10-6 or better. If Newton even moderately progresses we can easily sport the most potent offense in the NFL. ANY team that makes the playoffs has a shot at the superbowl and it's been proven quite often lately. It's amazing how many people think we have no shot at a superbowl. We are nothing like what the lions were pre-jim schwartz or the raiders or browns. We are not a consistently losing franchise.

[nctarheel0619]

Yeah, I liked Cowherds video. Made lots of sense. I'm gonna keep it in retrospect and say we make the playoffs. But, that's as far as it goes.

[TruCatzFan]

The Cowherd video is over a week old... I posted it in another thread. Any comments on the actual article?

[nctarheel0619]

The article was well written. But its all stuff we already knew.

[TruCatzFan]

True, although the two comments that kind of caught me off guard were...

Cam's 65 yards in air hitting Smitty in stride

And Rivera sayin "Cam isn't even close to reaching his ceiling"

[rayzor]

another dig at foxy?

"When the bar was so low for so many years, looking at the potential, you can't get nothing but excited," said Smith, who has been with the Panthers since they drafted him in the third round in 2001. "You have to feel it. It's always exciting on every team, all 32 teams believe they have a chance, and that's what training camp is, giving people an opportunity to see what every team has to offer. You never know once the season starts how it's going to look or where it's going to go, and that's the great part of it."

[Cary Kollins]

Yeah it's nice an article like this is on the Mothership's NFL homepage, but it's not anything we as Panther fans don't already know.

[rayzor]

"He drills it, man," fifth-year safety Charles Godfrey added. "He drills it. I haven't seen nobody throw it like him in a while. He can let it go."

Newton did just that during one 11-on-11 session, hitting wide receiver Steve Smith in stride with a pass Rivera estimated traveled 65 yards in the air. Later, Newton overthrew Brandon LaFell on a deep go route. Running full speed, LaFell could not catch up to the pass, and had to scale the snow fencing behind the end zone.

"He has a tight-spiraled ball," Rivera said, "and when he throws that ball perfect, he reminds me of the way Brett Favre used to throw those tight spirals. He just steps into it and flicks it. He's got a real strong, accurate deep throw."

stuff like this just gets me excited about the future with cam.

[Argus Plexus]

I'm glad we're finally getting positive coverage but I really don't want too much coverage. I don't want this to be a media circus team all because of Cam.

[Cape Fear Cat]

One of the comments says that the Panthers and Cam won't do anything as long as Brees is in the conference with the Saints**. Maybe it's me, but saying the words "can't" and "won't" in a sentence where you're talking about what a Cam-led team can do seems a little foolish. If past performance is the best predictor of future performance, then I sure as heck wouldn't bet against him!