Well the season is over, and it's another disappointing ending. The Panthers missed the playoffs again. They finished 9-7. They were in good position for a playoff spot but dropped 4 games in the final 7. This team was middle of the road in just about every team category, and that is why they will be watching the playoffs from home.
Cam Newton played pretty well this season. He finished with 4,194 yards with 26 TDS and 17 INTS. He completed 66% of his passes and had a QB rating of 104.1. But the line let him down once again as he was sacked 47 times. His favorite target was free agent signee Jermaine Kearse. He finished with 50 catches for 844 yards and 5 TDS. Devin Funchess and Rookie Christian Kirk led the team with 7 TDS a piece. Greg Olsen likely finished his final season with the Panthers with 523 yards and 2 TDS. All indications point to him not being resigned by the team this offseason.
The running game was once again led by Leonard Fournette even though he missed 5 games with an injury. He finished the year with 708 yards and 13 TDS on 179 carries. His backups, Stingly and Artis-Payne combined for 501 yards and 7 TDS on 158 carries. The bad line play hampered the run game just as bad as giving up the 47 sacks on Newton. I expect the team will let veteran Sebastian Vollmer go and look for a premier LT. That way they can move Bisnowaty back to his natural RT spot.
Defensively this team was definitely better this year. Instead of being the worst run-d in the league they were in the top half of the league this season. But they didn't turn opponents over like last year which hurt the team defensively. Luke Kuechly once again led the team with 120 tackles and 16 TFLs. A nice pickup from free agency was Jacquies Smith. He led the team in sacks with 14. Tre Boston led with 5 INTS. OLB, AJ Klein finally made the fulltime starter, after the departure of Thomas Davis, had a very nice year. He had career highs in tackles(98), TFLs(11), sacks(4), and INTS(4). He has secured his starting OLB spot for the foreseeable future for the Panthers.
Looking forward, to the offseason, the Panthers have already resigned RT Daryl Williams and RG Reese Dismukes. They have ongoing negotiations with OLB Shaq Thompson and WR Devin Funchess. With the apparent departures of Greg Olsen and a few other veteran players, they seem to be in decent condition with regards to cap space. I expect Carolina to look for a top LT and possibly another interior lineman. But beyond that I believe they will more likely look at talent over position. But we will soon see how this team plans on moving forward. But another year without a playoff appearance and the Carolina fans will want some heads to roll. The front office knows this and will look for the right pieces to keep that from happening. Stay tuned for more Panthers news in the coming weeks.
Cam Newton played pretty well this season. He finished with 4,194 yards with 26 TDS and 17 INTS. He completed 66% of his passes and had a QB rating of 104.1. But the line let him down once again as he was sacked 47 times. His favorite target was free agent signee Jermaine Kearse. He finished with 50 catches for 844 yards and 5 TDS. Devin Funchess and Rookie Christian Kirk led the team with 7 TDS a piece. Greg Olsen likely finished his final season with the Panthers with 523 yards and 2 TDS. All indications point to him not being resigned by the team this offseason.
The running game was once again led by Leonard Fournette even though he missed 5 games with an injury. He finished the year with 708 yards and 13 TDS on 179 carries. His backups, Stingly and Artis-Payne combined for 501 yards and 7 TDS on 158 carries. The bad line play hampered the run game just as bad as giving up the 47 sacks on Newton. I expect the team will let veteran Sebastian Vollmer go and look for a premier LT. That way they can move Bisnowaty back to his natural RT spot.
Defensively this team was definitely better this year. Instead of being the worst run-d in the league they were in the top half of the league this season. But they didn't turn opponents over like last year which hurt the team defensively. Luke Kuechly once again led the team with 120 tackles and 16 TFLs. A nice pickup from free agency was Jacquies Smith. He led the team in sacks with 14. Tre Boston led with 5 INTS. OLB, AJ Klein finally made the fulltime starter, after the departure of Thomas Davis, had a very nice year. He had career highs in tackles(98), TFLs(11), sacks(4), and INTS(4). He has secured his starting OLB spot for the foreseeable future for the Panthers.
Looking forward, to the offseason, the Panthers have already resigned RT Daryl Williams and RG Reese Dismukes. They have ongoing negotiations with OLB Shaq Thompson and WR Devin Funchess. With the apparent departures of Greg Olsen and a few other veteran players, they seem to be in decent condition with regards to cap space. I expect Carolina to look for a top LT and possibly another interior lineman. But beyond that I believe they will more likely look at talent over position. But we will soon see how this team plans on moving forward. But another year without a playoff appearance and the Carolina fans will want some heads to roll. The front office knows this and will look for the right pieces to keep that from happening. Stay tuned for more Panthers news in the coming weeks.