It’s not easy to win games in the NFL, but the Panthers made it look easy last year, on their way to a 15-win regular season. Behind NFL MVP Cam Newton, they clinched their third straight NFC South title in the first week of December and ran away with the division by seven games a year ago.
It shouldn’t be suspenseful this year, either. With the exception of Josh Norman, Carolina returns every key piece from a 15-1 team that fell to the Broncos in February. And they add receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who’s back from injury. Can the Panther’s replace the NFL’s top corner? Will it matter?
Carolina Panthers Regular Season Win Total Odds at BookMaker.eu
Panthers Over 10.5 Wins -115
Panthers Under 10.5 Wins -105
Can the Panthers possibly be that good again? That’s the overriding question for a team that won 17 games in 2015, flirted with an undefeated regular season, employed the NFL’s Most Valuable Player and won the NFC Championship Game by an astonishing 34 points before falling to Denver in the Super Bowl.
Carolina became the sixth team in NFL history to go 15-1 last year, making a bunch of money along the way. But the Panthers also became the fourth member of that 15-1 club to come up short in the quest for a Super Bowl title, showing a lack of maturity in a 24-10 loss to Denver.
It’s hard to imagine another 15-1 regular season given the Panthers’ schedule, which starts with a Super Bowl rematch at Denver. But Carolina still has the league’s reigning MVP and one of the NFL’s best defensive players in middle linebacker Luke Kuechly, and last year’s flameout could be inspiration for a repeat in 2016.
2016 Carolina Panthers Schedule
Week 1: at Denver Broncos ( -2.5 )
Week 2: vs. San Francisco 49ers ( +11.5 )
Week 3: vs. Minnesota Vikings ( +5.5 )
Week 4: at Atlanta Falcons ( +3.5 )
Week 5: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers ( +10 )
Week 6: at New Orleans Saints ( +4.5 )
Week 7: BYE
Week 8: vs. Arizona Cardinals ( +3.5 )
Week 9: at Los Angeles Rams ( +3.5 )
Week 10: vs. Kansas City Chiefs ( +4.5 )
Week 11: vs. New Orleans Saints ( +10 )
Week 12: at Oakland Raiders ( +3 )
Week 13: at Seattle Seahawks ( -3 )
Week 14: vs. San Diego Chargers ( +10 )
Week 15: at Washington Redskins ( +3 )
Week 16: vs. Atlanta Falcons ( +8.5 )
Week 17: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Panthers have a little history on their side coming off a 15-win season in 2015. Of the previous six teams that won at least 15 games in a season – New England had a perfect 16-0 mark in 2007 – all reached double figures in victories the following year, and four of them had at least 11 victories. The 2016 schedule looks favorable with only trips to Oakland and Seattle in consecutive weeks toward the end of the year offering a bit of a stumbling block.
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Carolina hasn’t changed much from the team that won 15 regular season games and reached the last Super Bowl. As long as Newton and Kuechly stay healthy, it’s hard to imagine that the Panthers won’t make the playoffs. And don’t count on this team winning 15 games again.
But their projected win total of 10.5 is well within reach. How far they go will depend on whether the revamped secondary can hold its own and if Newton can continue to be the best player on the field like he was for most of last season.
The Panthers lost All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman to free agency. However, it still has a stacked roster. The only thing holding them back could be the division they play in. If Carolina clinches a division title in early December, like it did in 2015, coach Ron Rivera might think twice about rolling out his starters, which could have an effect on the win-loss record.
For as dominant as the Panthers were last season, they entered the offseason with a sour taste in their mouths following a dreadful display in Super Bowl 50. Newton would like to redeem himself after for his Super Bowl washout and their meltdown at Levi’s Stadium in February should be motivation to keep this team at the top of its games.
NFL Odds: Carolina Panthers Over 10.5 Wins
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