How Good Do You Think Carolina Is?

supafly said:

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.

Click to expand...

Sure. It's also fair to say that they are better than the Pats right now. I think Carolina would struggle to get past 20 points, but their LBs would give the Edelman-less Pats fits.

MassPats38 said:

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.

Click to expand...

No way. I would take their defense over cincy.

They are playing better than NE.

I think they're very good.

MassPats38 said:

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.

Click to expand...

I think the question about how good an 11-0 team is should be a bit rhetorical. However they seemed to get there, they're doing a decent job with 5 games left in the regular season.

Are they the 2007 Patriots or the 1985 Bears? No, but they certainly pose a threat to anyone they face. As you mention, it's still quite possible that someone beats them in the postseason, which goes just the same for us. The fact that they'll almost certainly have HFA, or at least a bye, obviously helps their cause. You can only play who's on the schedule, so we've seen teams coast a bit into the conference championship by winning one postseason game at home.

They seem to have some decent offensive balance with the ability to run the ball, use the read option, and throw to no name receivers (with Olsen the obvious main weapon). The defense is very, very good. I can understand the comparisons to the Seahawks, who would tend to use the same kind of recipe, even though their schedule was weak like last season.

Pretty damn good. They look a lot like the Patriots do right now. Wish we didn't suffer so many dang injuries on offense but at least we've been ok defensively

They suck. Moving on....

Good enough to be 11-0. I don't think they will finish worse than 14-2 with that schedule they have remaining.

Oswlek said:

Sure. It's also fair to say that they are better than the Pats right now. I think Carolina would struggle to get past 20 points, but their LBs would give the Edelman-less Pats fits.

Click to expand...

Just for the record, I'm not meaning to suggest that they are better than NE, just that they are a formidable foe and pose just as much of a threat as probably anyone out there.

I agree with you that it would likely be one of those games where both teams are in the early to mid 20s, just like the 2013 matchup.

WhoaDirty said:

Good enough to be 11-0. I don't think they will finish worse than 14-2 with that schedule they have remaining.

Click to expand...

They may lose a game in the regular season, but it's hard to see them losing more than one in my opinion.

@New Orleans
Atlanta
@NYG
@Atlanta
Tampa Bay

I'm real impressed with Carolina being 11-0. I think the last 15 years the Patriots have had the most dominant stretch the NFL has ever seen. The fact that it is in the salary cap era makes it more impressive. During this time, the pats have only started the season 11-0 one time so I'm real impressed with Carolina being 11-0 and I think it shouldn't be dismissed. Parcels said, "you are what your record says you are." Hopefully the pats win Sunday to gain another game toward the bye.

I believe they are third in Offense-PPG and tied for fifth in Defense-PPG. They look like they are hitting their stride at the right time. With Newton, the offense is balanced, slow, and steady. This is a tough team that has beaten Green Bay and Seattle and has been battle-tested by a few others.

That said, if they make it to the Super Bowl, the Pats will find a way to beat them.

I think everyone remembers the 7-8-1 Panthers winning the worst division in football in 2014, then losing all of their WRs. I think they forget pretty much the same team also went 12-4 in 2013, including 9-1 down the stretch until losing in the play-offs. This team is a legit contender.

I don't think they're as good as the Seahawks of 2013 or 2014, but in a one-game scenario, they're more than capable of winning against us or anyone else in the league. They deserve to be treated as a top-tier contender.

supafly said:

They may lose a game in the regular season, but it's hard to see them losing more than one in my opinion.

@New Orleans
Atlanta
@NYG
@Atlanta
Tampa Bay

Click to expand...

I suspect they will have a slip up somewhere (maybe the Giants), and if they lose a second, it would likely be the last divisional game when they have nothing to play for, and sit starters in the second half.

They look excellent to these eyes.

supafly said:

They may lose a game in the regular season, but it's hard to see them losing more than one in my opinion.

@New Orleans
Atlanta
@NYG
@Atlanta
Tampa Bay

Click to expand...

The Giants and buccs should be their biggest challenge. They could go 16-0

Decent enough talent and with a coaching staff that won't let the players down, unlike some more talented teams that suffer high profile coaching failures in crunch time.

Pretty good defense but there is no other team I would like to see the Patriots play in the Super Bowl. Newton is a great athlete but Belichick would make sure they kept him in the pocket and they would take Olsen away. This would be a perfect match for them.

if they are going to lose it will be @ New Orleans.

The advantage Carolina has over NE right now is they are healthy.

The rest of their schedule is poor. They could slip up against the Giants (who are Jekyll and Hyde, so they my play great or like ass) or Atlanta (divisional familiarity and all that). NOs defense is still garbage and Tampa Bay is not winning. They really have a good shot of finishing undefeated with the way they are playing right now.

I have to wonder if they do go 16-0 should we take that banner down? I support it being up now since no other team has done it but if another team does I kind of dont want it up anymore.