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Carolina Panthers: It May be too Early to Despair

By John Woodcock

Jan 17, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Shaq Green-Thompson (54, right) hugs Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (24, left) after the game in a NFC Divisional round playoff game at Bank of America Stadium. Carolina won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 17, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Shaq Green-Thompson (54, right) hugs Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (24, left) after the game in a NFC Divisional round playoff game at Bank of America Stadium. Carolina won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Carolina Panthers should not lose heart as recent history says you can climb out of holes like these.

No one is particularly pleased with the Carolina Panthers and their 1-4 start. The team had several opportunities to beat the Bucs Monday night and did not deliver. Derek Anderson had a wild game by throwing interceptions and fumbling the ball. Greg Olsen’s receiving performance got overshadowed by the final result.

However there is something of a model for how to get out of this. There was a team who started 2-4 on the season based off a normally stingy defense and mobile quarterback. This team dealt with issues at running back and offensive line. This team was even the Super Bowl loser the year before. Yet they finished the year 10-6 and got as far as the divisional playoffs.

That team was the 2015 Seattle Seahawks. Yes, they were a win better than the Panthers at this stage, but after next week the Panthers might get to two wins and then also be at 2-4. Marshawn Lynch missed part of the early season and the team missed center Max Unger, who had been traded for tight end Jimmy Graham.

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Consider the first four losses of the Seahawks last year:

  1. Rams – close loss to a divisional opponent that they probably should not have lost to (overtime game)
  2. Packers – close loss to a playoff contender
  3. Bengals – close loss to a division champion
  4. Panthers – close loss to an underrated division champion

Now compare the Panthers’ four losses:

  1. Broncos – close loss to Super Bowl champion
  2. Vikings – loss to underrated division champion
  3. Falcons – loss to playoff contender
  4. Buccaneers – close loss to divisional opponent that they probably should not have lost to

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The story is almost the same. The Atlanta game could have been closer. The Seahawks were almost written off by week 7 of last season too. The one advantage that they had over the Panthers at this point was more sustained success. The Seahawks had been to the last two Super Bowls. It was not so much a question of personnel as execution.

Yet the example does stick in that the Panthers have not played to their potential yet this season, and that potential is something better than 1-4. Therefore they will begin to correct things according to the law of averages.

If you are concerned that the schedule does not get any easier, the Seahawks were in that boat last year. They still had to play the Cardinals twice, Vikings once, and Steelers once. They split with the Cardinals and suffered a second loss to the Rams late in the year. So don’t give up hope, a similar story played out just last year.

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