Regular season grades for every NFL team
1st NFC South. Carolina Panthers. A+. player. 87. . 15-1
Last year’s version of the Carolina Panthers was immediately lambasted for being one of the worst playoff teams in history as they backed into the postseason with a sub .500 record of 7-8-1. With changes on the offensive line, most notably unloading the atrocious Byron Bell (sorry, Titans fans), and growth for the young players on both sides of the ball, the Panthers looked to show improvement this season.
However, there were doubts about this team in the preseason after second-year wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin suffered a season-ending injury. The Benjamin injury seemingly left Carolina without any weapons to speak of around Cam Newton in the passing game. As we all know now, that didn’t matter in the slightest as the Panthers finished the year 15-1 and Newton is likely going to win MVP for this season.
On both sides of the ball, the Panthers were simply remarkable. Even when they struggled in a facet of the game, the leaders around the team in Luke Kuechly and Newton would put the team on their back and carry them to victory. While they may have the one blemish on their record, the Panthers were decidedly the best team in the league for the entire season and deserve every bit of credit and recognition that they get because of that. They earn an A+ and there’s no debating that.
Next: Chicago Bears