Pat Yas has the Panthers finishing 7-9

[Seltzer]

 

I bet the Falcons surprise everyone ... by having a bad season. TB will be the darkhorse in our division. 

 

 

Second that.

[CarolinaNCSU]

I see ATL missing the playoffs personally

[Kyle82]

I had the Cats at 8-8 earlier but after watching that amazing defense against Baltimore last Thursday night I think the D will win at least 2 games by themselves

10-6 is very reasonable :)

[stirs]

As much as we don't like it, with what we have seen in the preseason, Pat's prediction looks about right.

[UNCrules2187]

yeah, i wasn't that impressed with them either. there's no doubting the power of that passing game, but really, that's all they have.

 

they were the luckiest team in the league last year. that's not just homer hate...that part you quoted is a very accurate description.

 

we should have swept them. we shouldn't have been swept by the bucs, either, but the falcons...that was pretty inexcusable. they weren't that good and i do expect some regression from them.

 

overall, i'm not really that impressed with anyone in the NFCS at the moment.

 

ATL's OL is worse than ours and their defense is crap. all they have is that passing game.

 

the saints picking up rob ryan won't help much. that D will still suck, but i think they end up winning the division or at least having the better record of all the teams.

 

the bucs are being run by an average college coach. i don't respect them at all and the fact that we got swept by them is embarrassing. if it were up to me, rivera would be fired the next day if the bucs swept us again or if they beat us in charlotte. we can't have that.

 

of course we have OL problems and are one lost smitty or cam away from disaster. we have a coach who has a history of bad game management who chose as his OC a coach who has a history of bad game management.

 

if any team in the NFCS wins 10 or more, i will have no problem (at this point) in calling it luck.

 

Agreed, I can see 9 wins winning the division. If I put my homer glasses on for a minute, I can easily see the NFC South ending up something like this:

 

Carolina 9-7

Atlanta 8-8

New Orleans 7-9

Tampa Bay 5-11

 

Atlanta for reasons mentioned above.

 

New Orleans - I don't think getting Sean Payton back is going to magically make that defense 3+ games better.  Also, Rob Ryan has been an NFL DC in 9 different seasons and has never made the playoffs, so we got that karma going for us as well.

 

I don't get the hype around Tampa - their defense will be improved, but they will always be held back by their QB situation. Honestly, while their secondary will be much improved, the rest of their defense doesn't scare me. I'd rather have our front 7 and secondary than their front 7 and secondary. A great pass rush can mitigate a mediocre secondary, whereas if you give a QB enough time, he can find a hole in a great secondary.

[Mother Grabber]

I like Pat Y just fine, and I don't think 7-9 is a huge slight and could very well be accurate.  I personally think the Bucs are a lot better than what some people think, and the Saints can potentially win 9 games with Brees, even given how hideous their defense will be.  I vehemently disagree about the Falcons being a SB winner or even contender though. 

 

But predictions are just that...

 

Just for shiggles (and perspective on the fact no one really knows), here are some of the vaunted predictions for the 2003 Panthers.

 

Football Outsiders

NFC South: Tampa Bay 11-5, Atlanta 9-7, New Orleans 8-8, Carolina 6-10

 

Sports Illustrated, on what it would take for the Panthers to make the playoffs

"They leave the NFC South and accept John Swofford's invitation to become the ACC's 12th team, citing academic reasons and a promise for basketball tournament tickets. They hold off Miami in the ACC Championship Game and advance to the Orange Bowl."

 

 

4)      Carolina (6-10) - John Fox’s squad over-achieved last year. This year they settle back to normality.

 

 

The season is long and unpredictable.  Pretty much every publication had the  Panthers between 6-10 & 8-8.

 

FWIW, Pat lives in Tampa, and has been sucking NO & ATL off at every juncture he can, so there is that too to consider

 

Clearly someone who's up to date with the latest in Carolina.  Very trustworthy review.

 

[UNCrules2187]

Clearly someone who's up to date with the latest in Carolina.  Very trustworthy review.

 

 

Clearly you did not read the entire post.

[Mother Grabber]

Clearly you did not read the entire post.

 

ahh...missed the 2003 part.

[CCS]

If the offense would get their poo together and the defense stays the same then we'd be the best team in the league.

[Seltzer]

Pat Y got so much crap from the other fans from the NFC South in 2008 when he became the ESPN Blog guy b/c the Panthers were good that year, and his job was to write more about them because of that.

 

The other teams' fans gave him so much crap about being a Panthers homer that he went full tilt against us 2009- present to emphasize the fact he had no connection to the team.

 

He only recently has started being more objective about the Panthers.

 

I personally think he won't criticize Greg Schiano b/c he has to go to One Buc Place for any news conference, etc. since he already lives there and is afraid of him... :)

[BigBoss]

With this O-line, I smell 7-9 season. A stout D can only do so much.

[rayzor]

With this O-line, I smell 7-9 season. A stout D can only do so much.

 

you have to be able to score. you can't do that frequently without a good OL.

 

[Riverboat Ron]

Falcons 3-13

Panthers 3-13

Saints 3-13

Bucs 3-13

[FattyFatFat]

I'd like to add that if heaven forbid Steve Smith gets hurt, we won't win 5 games.

Shut yo mouth!