Forever flying under the radar, the Carolina Panthers are ready to wreck some playoff dreams.
With the playoffs approaching, we are once again reminded that no matter what we think we know, no one knows anything. The Eagles were the darlings of the NFC, but dropped a nationally televised game to the Seahawks who are a team everyone started to count out.
Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers seem to endlessly epitomize the notion of flying under the radar, never earning any credit no matter what happened. On Sunday, everyone thought the Minnesota Vikings would come to Charlotte and continue to roll.
That didn’t happen. As a result, we’re yet again forced to re-think how much credit the Carolina deserves. Say what you will about them, the team controls its own destiny and is capable of destroying some Super Bowl dreams in the process.
Like it or not, the Panthers are a threat and deserve to be taken seriously.
All the Panthers need to do is win out and they’re in the playoffs. Carolina in the postseason is a dangerous prospect, especially with a lack of respect and a chip on its shoulder. Look no further than Sunday as an example of how the Panthers can play when they’re backed into a corner and counted out. Minnesota is the better team, but that didn’t matter.
It was hardly a clean win, but Carolina took on perhaps the best team in the NFC and came away with a huge win. Newton only threw for 137 yards and the team has essentially no consistent big-play receiving threats. Yet, Newton played the role of game manager as Jonathan Stewart led the charge with three touchdowns. The defense, which has been suspect at times this year, was able to hold off a white-hot Vikings offense and stop it dead in its tracks. Somehow, the Panthers found a way to win and that’s a common thread throughout the last handful of years.
Not only does the win keep Carolina’s playoff hopes alive but serves as a big confidence booster moving forward.
This always happens with the Panthers, to varying degrees of success. Ron Rivera and Cam Newton have taken Carolina to the playoffs in years where it seemed inexplicable, including a 15-1 season that ended with a trip to the Super Bowl. They’re an ugly team that almost never wins pretty (see the Week 2 win over the Buffalo Bills or the three-point win against New England). No matter how much someone wants to dog the Panthers for not being as seemingly complete as other contenders, the team is 9-4 and still in a position to host a playoff game as division winners.
Like it or not, the Panthers are a threat and deserve to be taken seriously.
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The narrative heading into Sunday was that one team in Charlotte had a real shot of playing its final game of the season in Minneapolis. After what we saw, it’s unclear which team that prophecy was talking about.