Predict the 2012-2013 Panthers Regular Season Record

[YourManInAmsterdam]

So, I haven't seen a topic that actually had a poll attached.

Let's see what everyone thinks as we head towards our first Preseason game. Then we'll do another after Preseason to see how much it's changed.

And of course, if I don't forget, we'll compare what actually happened at the end of the season.

[JawnyBlaze]

I'm going with 14-6 (including a Wildcard win).

[God]

10-6 seems pretty realistic

[goodoleboy]

I hate to write it but I am not sold on the Defenses ability to stop the run or cover the pass. Add in a sophmore slump for Cam due to defenses game planning him specifically and we wind up better but not there yet at 7-9.

[Jackofalltrades]

I'd rather wait to see how the D plays, but at this point I think 9-10 wins possible, since decent ST's would have gotten us to 8-8 last season.

[Dex]

Bucs - Win

Saints**(home) - Win

Giants(home) - Win

Falcons - Loss

Seahawks(home) - Win

Cowboys(home) - Loss

Bears - Loss

Redskins - Win

Broncos(home) - Win

Bucs(home) - Win

Eagles - Loss

Chiefs - Loss

Falcons(home) - Win

Chargers - Win

Raiders(home) - Win

Saints** - Loss

10-6

7-1 at home.

[rayzor]

I hate to write it but I am not sold on the Defenses ability to stop the run or cover the pass. Add in a sophmore slump for Cam due to defenses game planning him specifically and we wind up better but not there yet at 7-9.

i pretty much agree with nothing you said there.

re: defense- it's healthy now and they have all their key components back as well as the addition of kuechly (shutting down TEs and tightening down things in the middle of the field). also they have a year in the system so they know what they are doing more. they have a better DB coach. just the defense being healthy and having a consistent presence on the field week to week will improve things. we have improved competition in the secondary to boot. i just can't for the life of me figure why people would look at how things are different this year from last year and still expect a sucky defense. it may not be top 10, but it will still be good enough to not lose games.

re: cam getting game planned....they will be game planning for last year's version which, although pretty dynamic, was still rather unprepared. people will comment all the time about how cam was successful because defenses weren't prepared to handle him. it works the other way as well and it's not like they didn't get a clue how to handle him and prepare for him specifically as the year went on. its not like every week defenses were walking in as blind as the cards were. each week teams had more game tape on him and you better believe they were studying it every week trying to prepare. to act like they didn't know what they were doing each week and came into each game unprepared is a bit naive. sure, they'll have a better idea of what is needed, but so will cam and he'll still be ahead of defenses.

also, the thing that causes sophomore slumps is a lack of work and a complacency that happens with the position. either the player doesn't work to improve or the coaching staff spends less time developing...or they just weren't that talented to begin with. none of that is the case with cam.

you also aren't taking into consideration an improved special teams, and i'm not just talking about the kickers. coverage units will be solid as will returners. we brought in this offseason several special team aces who are proven commodities. this is also an area where being healthy and having a consistent roster to work with will cause improvements. if the defense is healthy, rivera and mcdermmot won't be raiding the STs roster for starters. if they can have a consistent roster to work with things will improve from week to week.

i think people who look at this team and say that they haven't done enough to warrant adding at least a couple more wins aren't looking at anything other than the W/L columns from last year. it was a clusterf*ck of a year where they had a new coaching staff, new systems on offense and defense, no offseason to speak of aside from TC (which just wasn't enough to help players learn their new roles in their particular schemes) and they also aren't taking into account the effect of so many injuries on defense. they had all that stacked against them and they still got 6 wins and there were several more games that they just barely lost. most of the games they played could have been won if the defense and STs weren't in such bad shape which they aren't heading into this season.

sure, there are a couple positions that aren't as strong as most of us would like, but overall the defense is in better shape than it was.

sorry about that wall of text, but i'm just getting tired of seeing that kind of stuff. do you have to see it the way i do? nope. you don't have to be farting rainbows. i just don't see it being very realistic to expect no to very little improvement in what this team does this year.

[rayzor]

vs. NFCS: 4-2

vs.NFCE: 2-2

vs.AFCW: 3-1

vs.seahawks: 1-0

vs.bears : 0-1

10-6

[thefuzz]

I'm feeling 9-7.

We play in one of the deepest divisions in the NFL.

[Kurb]

9-7 / Wildcard seems fair

[rayzor]

if we played in the AFC we'd have a 12 win season easy.

[rayzor]

I'm feeling 9-7.

We play in one of the deepest divisions in the NFL.

just out of curiosity, how do you see us finishing in the NFCS?

[thefuzz]

just out of curiosity, how do you see us finishing in the NFCS?

Second or Third depending on how much of a tumble the Saints* have.

Atlanta could be a 11 or 12 win team, as could the Saints* if Payton was on the sideline.

We have not proven to be able to rush the passer, or defend the pass well enough to hold our own in this division. We need upgrades on D, bad.

We will score points, but with a pretty young WR corps and a fairly young QB we will also make mistakes.

[HeatCheck]

I predicted 6-10 last year and thought that was a realistic expectation for our team.

This year I am stuck between 9-7 and 10-6. My head is saying 9-7 but my I really am hoping for a 10-6 season.