Look at mahh dab!

15-1. 15 wins and one loss. If you polled Panthers fans before the season started, after Kelvin Benjamin had already torn his ACL, how many of them would have predicted a 15-win season? Five percent might be a high estimate.

Looking at the schedule before the season started, you looked at those first four games against Jacksonville, Houston, New Orleans and Tampa Bay and said, “Alright, we can win at least three of those if not all four going into the bye week.” After the bye week though, you were going on the road to Seattle — the reigning two time NFC Champions — and then three straight home games against the Eagles, Colts and Packers, all of whom were playoff teams last year, and all were expected to make the playoffs again this year. Looking at that stretch was more along the lines of, “Alright, if we split those four games and go 2-2, we’re still in good shape for the playoffs.”

Fast forward five months until three days after Santa made his annual appearance and the Panthers finally lost to the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome. The Panthers then finished the season at home with a beat down of Tampa Bay and cemented a 15-1 record with the number one seed in the NFC for the playoffs. When Cam Newton was asked to look back at the season after the Tampa game and pick one thing that he’d remember, he replied, “We shouldn’t have lost.”

The Panthers won 18 straight regular season games going back to the 2014 season when they ran the table in December to win the NFC South. Cam Newton accounted for 45 touchdowns this season with 35 in the passing game and 10 rushing while leading the number one scoring offense in the NFL. Yes, the same team that trotted out Ted Ginn Jr., Devin Funchess, Corey “Philly” Brown and Jerricho Cotchery at wide receiver led the NFL in scoring. That is not a slight to any of those receivers but let’s be honest that no one was expecting this to be very strong unit without the aforementioned Benjamin this year. It just goes to show how good not only Cam Newton was this year but how good the offensive coaches were at developing schemes and strategies to benefit each receivers skill set and then obviously the receivers as well for making the plays when they were needed.

The Panthers led the NFL in turnover differential with 20 more takeaways than giveaways this year, which was six more than any other team in the NFL. They have in all likelihood, the MVP this year in Cam Newton. They have an emerging – if not, already emerged — shutdown corner in Josh Norman as well as a now dominant defensive tackle in Kawann Short who finished this season with 11 sacks tying for the lead with Geno Atkins (Cincinnati Bengals) and Aaron Donald (St. Louis or should I say, Los Angeles Rams) for the most sacks by a defensive tackle this season. Less we forget that they still have Luke Kuechly, who was graded as the best pass coverage player in the league this year by Pro Football Focus, the ever present leader of the defense and team in Thomas Davis, and another emerging wide receiver in Devin Funchess who has only gotten better as this year has gone. He and Benjamin should be fun to watch in the coming years.

Speaking of Kuechly…just to put in perspective how good Luke Kuechly was this year, the league average of quarterback passer rating against linebackers was 102.5 this year according to PFF. Passer ratings against Kuechly plummeted to 57.8 in his coverage area. Normally when offenses get their wide receivers matched up with a linebacker, it’s an advantage for the offense. Against Kuechly, it’s the complete opposite as it actually turns into an advantage for the defense (cc: Romo, Tony). And Kuechly wasn’t just the number one graded linebacker in coverage this year…he was graded as the number one defensive player in coverage this year. The man is not human, ladies and gentlemen.

Tell me you didn’t laugh though…

So how do you put a season like this in perspective? How do you put into context a season that was a couple plays away from being defined as perfect? First and foremost, the season is not over yet. The regular season dominance is awesome but at the end of the day, it goes for nothing unless you are raising the Lombardi trophy on February 7^th in Santa Clara. Every player and coach in that locker room, I have to assume, would echo the same sentiment. And it all starts this coming Sunday at home against Seattle.

Now this is a familiar place for Carolina. Just two years ago when the Panthers went 12-4 while winning eight straight games at one point, they had a first round bye and then met a different NFC West contender, the San Francisco 49ers, and lost at home 23-10. I still contend that there was some questionable officiating. Shocking right? Questionable officiating? In the NFL? It can’t be! Anyways, this year, yet again we’re coming off a first round bye to play an NFC West opponent at home with hopes of making just the fourth Conference Championship game in team history. Heard this before? Don’t worry, the ending is looking like it’s going to finish differently this time.

The inaccurate reception

Looking back at the most recent meeting with the Seahawks in Week 6, the Panthers had four different 80 yard scoring drives with the last one ending with a wide open Greg Olson catching a perfect strike from Newton in the end zone to lead the Panthers to a 27-23 win. In the fourth quarter, the only way to describe Cam Newton’s performance was phenomenal. He had one those blackouts like Will Ferrell in Old School where he was figuratively unconscious picking the “vaunted” Seahawks secondary apart. Now it is fair to mention that the Seahawks did not have their middle linebacker Bobby Wagner for that game and he is arguably the best defensive player on that team. The “Legion of Boom” was out there though and they couldn’t stop Olson. He finished with seven catches for 131 yards. Olson, along with Ginn, Funchess and Cotchery all had enormous catches throughout the game and then Cam and Jonathan Stewart really took advantage of the read-option plays as they averaged almost double the amount of yards per carry that they did when they ran just a straight run play with Stewart.

Another interesting note about this game is that Seattle will be without Jimmy Graham who seems to always show up on the Panthers schedule no matter what team he is playing for. Jimmy Graham had eight catches in that last meeting for 140 yards and was just un-guardable at points taking advantage of his size in certain situations. Graham is out for the season with a right leg injury so that should bode well for the Panthers matchups on defense, especially with an even more depleted secondary than before with Charles Tillman and Bene Benwikere both falling victim to season ending injuries.  We still have Josh Norman though and from what I remember of the previous matchup, I’m not sure Russell Wilson ever even attempted to throw at Norman, which is a decision I can’t argue against as he’s been outstanding this year in pass coverage shutting down number one receivers week in and week out.

Looking back at that game though, the Panthers had two turnovers while the Seahawks didn’t have any and one of the Seahawks two touchdowns came on a trick play where they handed off to Marshawn Lynch who carried the ball for a couple yards, turned and threw the ball back to Wilson, who then threw a bomb to Ricardo Lockette. Lockette somehow managed to outjump an extended Kurt Coleman and was able to bring the ball in right over Coleman’s head. It was an incredible play by Lockette, but a play that I’m sure Coleman would like to have back.

It’s time to be confident in the Panthers though. They know the Seahawks very well and matchup with them as well as anybody else in the NFL. They are both very similar teams. But Jonathan Stewart is going to have fresh legs for this one having pretty much sat out the month of December, Ted Ginn Jr., according to all reports, has his knee in good shape and is ready to go and the Panthers have had an extra week to get ready for this game and rest while Seattle has flown to Minnesota, played an entire game in conditions you can only describe as “Like the South Pole”, flew back to Seattle and now has to fly back across the country to play a 1 p.m. EST game, basically mid-morning in Seattle. People will still be eating breakfast at kickoff on the west coast. The Panthers need to play the same game they played back in Week 6 minus the two turnovers, they have to convert on third down, receivers cannot let the ball hit the ground when it’s thrown to them and the defense needs to get Russell Wilson on the ground or keep him in the pocket.

To try and answer my previous question of how we should put this season in perspective though, for the regular season, I think it could be the only time we’ll ever see 15-1. It’s just that difficult to win in the NFL but hopefully I’m wrong. Cam Newton is absolutely deserving of the MVP this year for proving just how valuable he is to this teams success. There is not another quarterback on this planet that could have done what Cam Newton did this season with the level of talent he had around him.

Then you have Ron Rivera who without a doubt deserves Coach of the Year. You can tell that he is beyond respected in that organization from top to bottom and has earned every bit of praise that he has received. To think of how the loud rumblings were at points that he was close to losing his job gets more amusing each day. Ron Rivera, Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly are here to stay through, in all likelihood, at least the next decade. They have already won three straight NFC South titles after there had never been a repeat winner in the previous 12 years since the division’s inception. The future is bright in the Carolinas and a win this weekend will catapult the legend of this season to unforeseen heights.

To all Panthers fans that will be in attendance on Sunday afternoon, I hope that you bring the noise and the passion that you’ve become known for. I wish I could be there as it will only be the third home playoff game that I have missed in the Panthers existence. I will be rooting from St. Petersburg by screaming at my TV and nervously pacing around my apartment while my girlfriend watches me in awe of how insane I look. Get that stadium rocking though and in the words of Thomas Davis, “DEFEND OUR DIRT!”

GO PANTHERS!!!!

As the greatest weekend in sports is upon us, it’s time for me to reveal the secret on how to fix college basketball. And when I say fix, I mean help these teams score more than 50 points in a game. Georgia State and Georgia Southern had a conference championship a week ago that ended at 38-32. After 40 minutes of basketball. Klay Thompson, of the Golden State Warriors, scored 37 points in a quarter of an NBA game that only lasts 12 minutes. Just let that marinate for a second. Don’t get me wrong, it’s as competitive as it’s ever been but the quality and skill of college basketball is severely lacking.

It’s ok though for I have come up with a solution. It didn’t take me very long to come up with this and it’s actually pretty simple. Are you ready? It’s going to blow your mind that you didn’t come up with it sooner. One of those moments where you sit back, take a deep breath and go “Wow…that’s genius!”

Alright, maybe you don’t go as far as the last scenario but here we go:

PAY THE ATHLETES!

So right now you’re either shaking your head trying to figure out why you’re reading this in the first place or you’re still trying to pick your jaw up off the floor. Hopefully it’s the ladder. But I am dead serious. Just pay the athletes already. Who are we kidding? What is wrong with a college athlete earning an income and earning money off of their namesake? Just pay them already. It’s that simple.

Don’t give me the whole, “They get a free education!” argument. How many schools have recently gotten sanctioned by the NCAA for allowing their “student athletes” to slide through classes so that they can stay eligible and continue winning games on the football field or basketball court? And outside of the schools that have gotten caught, you can guarantee every other school in the country is trying the same tactics. It’s an education that’s meaningless. It’s not preparing these kids for life after their professional career runs it course. It’s gotten to the point where we had Andrew Wiggins — last year’s number one pick in the NBA draft — literally say out loud in an interview that he was just trying to enjoy school while he was there. He was already pegged as the number one pick and school wasn’t even on the radar while he was at Kansas last year.

This has not only made college basketball almost unwatchable but it’s also diluting the NBA game to a certain degree. Imagine if the NCAA mandated the same rule for the NFL about having to wait to be three years removed from high school before you can declare to become a professional athlete. Think about what that would do to the college game. First of all, the talent pool would start to spread out instead of heading straight for the Kentucky’s and Carolina’s and Duke’s of the game. These kids that come out of high school want to be playing immediately, mostly because they think they can compete and because they want that exposure to start as soon as possible for when they try to turn professional. If Kentucky and Duke and Carolina are already loaded and running lineups that go eight or nine deep down the bench then players are going to look elsewhere when they decide what school to attend. If they want to play immediately, they may decide to go to some of the smaller, but still elite programs like a Purdue or NC State or St. Johns. Those teams that can field competitive teams but never have those standout superstars that always end up at the same schools year after year like they do now.

Now imagine what some of those elite teams today look like if players were required to stay in school for at least three years. If Anthony Davis stayed at Kentucky through his senior year, that would be this year! That Kentucky team would be unbelievable. Not to mention Nerlins Noel would still be required to be there. You literally would not be able to get into the paint on that team. Duke would still have Jabari Parker, Arizona would have Aaron Gordon, Kansas would have Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid. The level of skill in college basketball, the continuity on these teams, and the competitiveness would be off the charts. It would actually be enjoyable to watch as opposed to Virginia (who lost three games this year) struggle to score 45 points in 40 minutes of basketball. As I’m typing this, Dayton and Boise State are in a barn burner with seven and a half minutes left to play and neither team has reached 50 points yet. One of the teams hadn’t cracked 30 by the time we were halfway through the second half. For those that aren’t counting, that’s 30 minutes of basketball having been played already.

Anyways, in order for these players to have the motivation to stick around and play college basketball in the U.S. for three years rather than just hop across the Atlantic Ocean and go play in Europe is that they have to be getting paid. So many basketball players come from backgrounds where wealth is not common, that their sole motivation for playing the game is getting those paychecks. The players that are ready to play NBA basketball by the time they are 18 years old don’t want to be in college wasting their time or offering themselves an opportunity to get hurt because there are millions of dollars waiting on them in the NBA, whether it’s through their NBA contract or through endorsements. How to determine how much these guys actually get paid is a different discussion and one that I’m not qualified to write about because I’m not an economist or financial planner and I don’t pretend to be one. But there has to be a way to fairly compensate these players.

But college basketball has to do something about the current state of the game. It is just so difficult to sit down and watch college basketball games these days when teams can’t play offense. There isn’t any continuity on these teams and the gameplay reflects it. Meanwhile, the NCAA is determined to never allow college athletes to make money during their career and they are just using these “student athletes” as unpaid interns. Get as much work and value out of them without having to forfeit any of the profit that they make off these interns work before they head for greener pastures aka the NBA. It took the face of the National Champion UConn Huskies last year, Shabazz Napier, to make a public statement about how he used to go sleep at night hungry after not being able to afford a meal before the NCAA allowed scholarship athletes to eat for free. Meanwhile the NCAA has a multi-billion dollar TV contract with CBS for the rights to broadcast the NCAA tournament. Yes, multi-BILLION.

Obviously, starting to pay the players isn’t going to solve all of college basketball’s problems. It would be a start though. To be honest, as I’m typing this I feel like I’m just using this as an excuse to petition for college athletes to get paid. I’ve felt strongly about this stance for a while now. If you think about it, college athletics is the only billion dollar industry in the world where the employees (the athletes) are not compensated for their work. College athletes work for free. They spend their entire day, every day, around whatever sport they play. 5 a.m. workouts, classes, afternoon practices, study halls, you name it. Their entire day revolves around their sport. And they receive no compensation for it. The majority of them live below the poverty line. Well, most university students do that but they also have the time and energy to get a part time job to have expendable income.

So, yea maybe I’m just writing this to vent some more about how much of an injustice it is that college athletes don’t get paid, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m wrong. Let the college athletes get paid and it’s bound to improve the college game as athletes won’t be fleeing for the pro’s as soon as they can. They can also work on that, you know, college degree that will also really help them in the long run. Pay the athletes NCAA. The time has come.