How Good Do You Think Carolina Is?

So, since Carolina is now 11 - 0, how good do you guys feel that they are?

Their Offense

In my opinion, their offense seems pretty simplistic but is effective. Obviously Cam is a beast and will be the biggest challenge.


How We Could Attack It

Try and contain the sides, keep Cam in the pocket. Double Olsen (with Ryan and McCourty) and make the inexperienced wideouts beat you.


Their Defense

This defense is the best in the NFL. Norman and Keuchly are truly elite and will be very difficult to stop.


How We Could Attack It

Depending on our health, flex Gronk outside and create a mismatch. Lots of Play Action to keep the LBs honest.



I think Carolina would pose a threat but I don't view them as "on our level" if we are clicking.

Not good enough to keep us from repeating.

I don't think they're much better than the 2013 and 2014 Seahawks were

Offense, meh. Defense is really good for about 40 minutes but regularly fades down the stretch.

TBR said:

I don't think they're much better than the 2013 and 2014 Seahawks were

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They are significantly worse than the 2013 'Hawks.

They're better than they were when they beat us last time, but that was in their stadium with the no call on Gronk to end the game.

Your idea about doubling Olsen to allow the no name receivers to beat us wouldn't work, since he's been throwing to the no name receivers all year with tremendous success. I think the two teams would make for an excellent matchup.

Remember the popular thought all summer long?: "The Panthers are going to have the worst season because they have absolutely no receivers. They're so insanely desperate now that Benjamin is done." They seem to be scraping by now at 11-0.

supafly said:

Your idea about doubling Olsen to allow the no name receivers to beat us wouldn't work

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Of course it would. I guarantee you that Bill Belichick would have two men on Olsen on every play.

FWIW, coming into this game Olsen had as many yards receiving as the the #2 and #3 targets combined. They really aren't winning with no name receivers, they are winning with Olsen and defense. Cotchery is having a good day, but that has more to do with Dallas being terrible today than anything else. As the second highest target, he'd averaged less than 50 yards a game.

They're worse than the Cardinals this year

supafly said:

They seem to be scraping by now at 11-0.

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I thought I'd respond to this. Carolina is playing well right now, but they were not that good for the first month and a half. Them not losing during that time had more to do with who they played than how they played. Only in the past few weeks have they been performing like you'd expect from a top seed.

Oswlek said:

Of course it would. I guarantee you that Bill Belichick would have two men on Olsen on every play.

FWIW, coming into this game Olsen had as many yards receiving as the the #2 and #3 targets combined. They really aren't winning no name receivers, they are winning with Olsen and defense. Cotchery is having a good day, but that has more to do with Dallas being terrible today than anything else. As the second highest target, he'd averaged less than 50 yards a game.

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The suggestion was that the "no name receivers" couldn't beat us. That's not true. They spread the ball around and have nice balance.

Of course we'd double Olsen, that goes without question.

supafly said:

The suggestion was that the "no name receivers" couldn't beat us. That's not true.

Of course we'd double Olsen, that goes without question.

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You'd think so, but other teams cover him 1:1 all the time. It is truly dumbfounding.

They're no joke. Neither are we.

Oswlek said:

I thought I'd respond to this. Carolina is playing well right now, but they were not that good for the first month and a half. Them not losing during that time had more to do with who they played than how they played. Only in the past few weeks have they been performing like you'd expect from a top seed.

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The fact that just about everyone here predicted a horrible season because they "had no receivers" obviously isn't true at 11-0.

Whether you want to debate their worth at 11-0 or 10-1 or 9-2 or 8-3 is fine, but the general consensus about them sucking all summer long due to a lack of receiving talent has been proven wrong many times over. Like I said, they seem to be scraping by one way or another.

The defense is good, but I wouldn't say it's the best in the NFL. Denver is better. Cincy may be better as well. 1 CB and 1 LB will not shut the Pats down. I would be more concerned with the entire Bills D-line than I would those two.

The Pats played the Panthers in 2013 in Carolina, and I do not see this version of the Panthers as radically different from the 2013 version. The Pats should have won there, and now have a better defense.

There's just something about Carolina that makes me believe they will not see the title game. Maybe the 4th quarter meltdowns will catch up to them. The Seahawks were much scarier, as they would get a lead and pummel opponents until the whistle blew. These guys seem to come out of the gates fast and then watch the clock hoping the time runs out before opponents score the winning points.

Stop their running game and make Newton beat you from the pocket for 4 quarters with someone other than Olsen

Styles make fights...

The Patriots, when healthy, are a nightmare matchup for the Panthers. The Panthers, when healthy, are less of a matchup problem for the Patriots than the Packers, Giants or Cardinals.

They are a top 3 team in the NFL. But I think the Cardinals are better, along with a potentially hot Giants team in the playoffs.

You have to give them credit. I think they will be tough to beat out of the nfc. Cam has played well. Either them or the cardinals will get to the superbowl. I don't trust the packers.

VectorPrime said:

They are a top 3 team in the NFL. But I think the Cardinals are better, along with a potentially hot Giants team in the playoffs.

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The giants stink. We made them look good because they always give us fits.

Better than Dallas.