Predator or Prey: Will the Carolina Panthers prove they’re for real?

It’s time for the Carolina Panthers to prove their Super Bowl contenders or get out of the way.

Rock stars or punks? Contenders or pretenders? How do we describe Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers as they enter yet another season where they’re being underestimated against all odds?

The Panthers are defending NFC Champions and fell just short of taking home the franchise’s first Super Bowl last February. They were 15-1, steamrolled their way to the biggest game of the season before realizing they were in over their heads.

But were they?

If this were any other team in the league, we’d have a different response. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers fell short in the 2014 NFC Championship Game. Still they were a hot pick to reach the Super Bowl the following year. Ditto for the Denver Broncos that year, who lost in the Divisional Round but were treated like kings. The Indianapolis Colts were a dumpster fire last year, didn’t improve, and are still Super Bowl contenders to some pundits.

Why is there a lack of respect for the Panthers? Do they deserve the doubt or are we in right for questioning their legitimacy?

That’s the biggest question of this upcoming season. Carolina has gone 34-13-1 in the last three years; one of the best overall records in all of football. Only the Broncos (37-11), Patriots (36-12) and Seahawks (35-13) are legitimate Super Bowl contenders with better records over the last three years than Carolina.

Beyond the record, the Panthers have two viable MVP candidates in Newton and middle linebacker Luke Kuechly. They haven’t missed the playoffs since 2012. If a few things shook the other way, we start this season with the Panthers as Super Bowl champions.

Yet for the past three years a stigma about the Panthers and their legitimacy as title contenders has lived on. Even last year, when the team was on a tear and lost only once in the regular season, few gave them credit. We were all waiting for the train to come off the rails, the other shoe to drop.

Nothing was supposed to go right for the Panthers in 2015. They had bungled the free agency of Steve Smith, creating a vacuum in space where wide receivers usually line up. Prized second-year receiver Kelvin Benjamin tore his ACL in the preseason, signaling a icy death rattle to anyone who was half-listening to the Panthers. No one was supposed to hear Newton scream as he and the Panthers plummeted to the bottom of the NFC.

But rather than get sucked into the abyss, the Panthers howled from the vacuum with impressive wins on the road in Seattle and at home against Green Bay. But the void must have sucked it back in, as no one was alarmed.

There was a moment last season where Carolina was 120 minutes away from going 16-0 — yet not at any point during their first 14 games did many give them a real chance to reach the Super Bowl. Once they failed, we didn’t mourn. Instead the sentiment was one of ‘told you they couldn’t do it‘ rather than the ‘aw shucks’ attitude given to failed Colts, Patriots and Packers almost-prefect campaigns.

The Falcons, who were 6-1 before falling off the proverbial cliff, were given more credit than the Panthers early on. That lack of credibility has carried over to this season.

The defending conference champs are being given little hope to make it back to the Big Game. Everyone is picking Green Bay, Seattle or Arizona to make it to Houston and represent the NFC. Even Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys are being called sleepers to emerge from the conference.

The consensus once again seems to be that the wheels will fall off in Carolina for reasons unknown.

The lack of respect comes in how we view the Panthers. Carolina embodies punk rock football in a league that is decidedly button down. The NBA can have their Draymond Greens and the MLB can have their Bryce Harpers. The NFL wants Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning — the soft-spoken superstars who shake hands after a touchdown.

Newton plays by his own rules. He’s in-your-face, cocky as hell, and enjoys every second of it. He’s an MVP who has done exactly what Brady and Rodgers have done. We can troll Cam for having Greg Olsen as his top target; Brady’s top target is a tight end too. Sure, Cam has Devin Funchess and Jericho Cotchery on the outside, but nobody cared about Jordy Nelson or Randall Cobb before Rodgers started forcing them the ball. Ask the Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and New York Giants how well James Jones worked out for them without Rodgers.

We reject the Panthers because they shouldn’t work. They have no star receivers. They have no superstar running back. Their top-tier defense is bunch of guys you couldn’t pick out of a grocery store line. You wouldn’t know potential MVP Luke Kuechly if he was buying Cheez-Its behind you.

It’s hard to take a team seriously when there’s no logical way to explain its success. We can paint the Patriots as title contenders every year because they have a proven track record of success. Green Bay has a generational talent at quarterback.

That’s why the Panthers don’t get the benefit of the doubt, because they haven’t been consistent. That could be this season, though.

If the Panthers come out and win the division again, we can’t ignore them. All of the pieces are in place for Carolina to have a season that forces people to take it seriously. That means the pressure is on more than ever. Benjamin is back, the defense is one of the best units in football and Newton is in put-up or shut-up mode.

This is the year to earn legitimacy and our respect. The Panthers have laid low in the tall grass for long enough now.

It’s time to prove they’re the apex predator we refuse to believe they are.