The Carolina Panthers followed up 2015’s Super Bowl campaign with a disappointing backslide to a 6-10 record. This season, they found a way to put that lost season behind them — and take another step closer to their second NFC South title in three years.
How the Panthers bounced back in 2017 to return to the playoffs
A year after a Super Bowl hangover, Cam Newton responded in a big way.
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images
Carolina clinched a playoff stop by virtue of its 22-19 victory over the Buccaneers Sunday afternoon. A victory in Week 17, coupled with a Saints loss, would push the club to the top of the division and ensure the league’s Wild Card round makes a stop in Charlotte.
How did the Panthers execute 2017’s turnaround?
Carolina’s offense wasn’t as brutally devastating as the unit that scored 500 points in the 2015 season, but a bounceback season from Cam Newton was the engine that drove them. The former MVP raised his completion rate by nearly eight whole points (from 52.9 to more than 60 percent) while commanding an offense that asked him to do less through the air and more on the ground — his 46 rushing yards per game are twice what he’d averaged in 2016.
That, combined with contributions from young players like Devin Funchess and Christian McCaffrey has helped steer Carolina back in the right direction.
But while Newton pushed the Panther offense to the middle of the pack in the NFL, Luke Kuechly and a punishing front seven have been even more important to the team’s success. Having the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year back at full strength gave the club a dynamo in the middle of the field, lessening the workload for everyone else on the roster. His 107 tackles, three interceptions, andforced fumble through 13 games marked a return to form for the young veteran.
He wasn’t the only player to enjoy a renaissance year. 37-year-old Julius Peppers had his 10th season with 10 or more sacks while providing valuable rotational help for the league’s third-ranked pass rush. In all, Carolina ranked fifth in the league in yards allowed before Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay.
Do the Panthers have the chops to sustain this turnaround in the playoffs?
While the team isn’t terribly intimidating on paper, Carolina has proven its legitimacy throughout 2017. The team’s first statement win came early in the season when Newton rallied his team to an upset win of the defending champion New England Patriots in Foxborough. Victories over the Falcons and Vikings, albeit at home, have further validated their strength.
A pair of losses to the Saints casts a pall over those wins. New Orleans found a way to drop 31 and 34 points on that improved Panthers defense and take control of the NFC South. A rematch in the playoffs, in Louisiana, could prove disastrous for Newton’s Super Bowl hopes.
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