After a long offseason break the Carolina Panthers are back to defend their NFC south title and make a run in the playoffs. Coming into the new season the talk of the town was what to do with star quarterback Cam Newton. He is on his final year of his rookie contract and has turned into one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the league. Front office had a big decision to make on his upcoming contract with his agent wanting over $140 million over the next 7 years. As camp and preseason rolled around Cam was not looking like himself and seemed to be out of shape. In his week 1 game against the Minnesota Vikings the speculations seemed to come true with a dismal 5-11 for 103 yds and 3 picks. The front office was in serious talks with multiple teams about trading the young star after that game. Cam insisted he would turn the short season around. In his next 2 games he recorded his best outings of his career posting 2 perfect passer ratings in a row and going 20-22 for 455 yards with 6 TD’s and no picks. The front office rewarded him with a 6 year extension worth $135 million.
The new challenge for the front office is to build a team around Cam that could still compete. The first big move came after the week 1 loss to the Vikings. The blockbuster deal sent young star WR Alshon Jeffrey and their 1st round pick to New England for a much needed upgrade at LB bringing in OLB Jerod Mayo, and a young star LT in Nate Solder. Look for the Panthers to make a couple more moves before the deadline.
We are 3 weeks into the season and the Panthers sit at a 2-1 record with those 2 wins coming within the division. So far second year RB Kenjon Barner is leading the offense with 578 yards and 6 TD’s. On the defensive 2 guys have had a very nice start to the season. 9th overall pick OLB Marquise Shipley has 13 tackles and 4 sacks, while DE Greg Hardy is leading the league with 7 sacks and 14 tackles.
The early expectations in Carolina are very high for the season. 2014 Should be a great test for this team with a division winners schedule and a matchup with the AFC East this year. We will check back later in the season to see how the division is going and a possible preview of the playoffs.