2011 Carolina Panthers Team Preview | NFL Predictions
Highlights of the Carolina Panthers’ 2010 season include having the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and that’s just about it. Sadly however, they had to say goodbye to their longtime coach as a result.
2011 Carolina Panthers Team Preview/Predictions
2010 Record: 2-14
ATS Record: 4-12
The Panthers could never find any magic on the road last season, as they finished 0-8 on the road in a season for the first time in franchise history.
Carolina, which could never generate any sustained momentum throughout the course of a gridiron version of a trail of tears, served up a weak finish to an awful season under veteran coach John Fox, finishing with the NFL’s worst record. The league’s worst offense was held without a touchdown until the final minute of the season finale to the Atlanta Falcons.
The Panthers then formally announced Fox, the team’s head man for nine years and the man who brought the franchise to its first (and only) Super Bowl appearance in the 2003 season, would not return in 2011.
Enter the new sheriff in Charlotte, North Carolina: Former San Diego Charger defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and his on-field deputy, first-round draft pick Cameron Newton.
As it stands right now Newton will be competing against second-year players Jimmy Clausen and Tony Pike for the starting quarterback spot on the team. It’s not out of the question for Newton to see meaningful and extended action in his rookie campaign.
Similar to the San Francisco 49ers, the Panthers are one of those teams the lockout’s really hurting with their first-year coaching staff. Moreover, Newton has not been able to get the practice reps he needs to adjust to the speed of the NFL.
The strengths for the Carolina Panthers in 2010 were… well, after thinking about it, you would have to say their defense. That said, any team with John Fox as its head coach is going to have at least a solid defense. After all, this is an attempt to find the strengths for a team that finished with just two wins.
Yes, the Panthers finished sixth-worst in points allowed but it could have been an even bleaker picture for this team in 2010. There were some encouraging numbers in Charlotte last year; the Panthers held opposing running backs to only 3.94 yards per carry, which ranked them in the top 10, and opposing quarterbacks to an 80.96 quarterback rating which was 12th-best.
Also, the Panthers have a decent running attack led by Jonathan Stewart, averaging 4.31 yards per carry, which was 12th among all running backs in the league. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The biggest weakness would be a combination of offensive line play and the quarterback position itself. Carolina signal callers were sacked 50 times which was second worst and threw 21 interceptions, fourth-worst in the NFL. All of this led to an offense that averaged just 12.3 points per game.
This was by leaps and bounds the worst such mark in the NFL. By comparison, the Cleveland Browns, who posed the second worst scoring offense last year, scored 4.6 more points per game.
It is not surprising that standout wide receiver Steve Smith wants to leave this franchise. Ron Rivera has his work cut out for him this season.
2011 Panthers Futures
Super Bowl Odds: +12550
Conference Odds: +6050
NFC South Odds: +405
2011-2012 NFL Regular Season Wins: Under 4.5
2011 Panthers Predictions
Place they’ll finish in NFC South: 4th
Place they’ll finish in NFC Conference: 13th
Over/Under Wins Prediction: Under
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