With their victory over the Indianapolis Colts Monday night, the Carolina Panthers advanced to a 7-0 record for the first time in their 21-year history.
Although their performance ranged from dominant (they led by 17 halfway through the fourth quarter), to helpless (allowing nearly 200 of the Colts’ 359 offensive yards in the final 10 minutes of regulation), the Cardiac Cats managed to pull out the win in overtime and are currently the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Head coach Ron Rivera, who had to be restless after the team started 3-8-1 in 2014, is now as far off the hot seat as any coach in the league following 11-straight regular season victories. Unsurprisingly, the mere thought of losing is becoming a foreign concept to his players.
When asked if he ever had any doubt that his team would pull off the win, including when it was down 23-26 in overtime, quarterback Cam Newton responded, “Never a doubt. Never a doubt. As long as we have Captain America, Luke August Kuechly, on our team, I like our odds.”
While it would be a shock to hear the charismatic 26-year-old answer with any less confidence, the Panthers’ performance in close games corroborates Newton’s comments: In all but one game this season, the Panthers’ opponents have been within one score or leading in the fourth quarter but none so far have managed to finish the job.
“The one thing [this win] speaks to is our resilience,” Rivera said. “The opportunities we’ve had to win games at the end, we’ve taken advantage of this year. In the past, I don’t know if we quite knew how to win games.”
This is a marked change in demeanor and late-game performance from the time before general manager Dave Gettleman arrived in 2013, in which the Panthers often found themselves on the wrong side of closely contested games—13 of their 19 losses from 2011 to 2012 came by one score or less.
Gettleman entered with the task of fixing a budget riddled with ludicrous contracts and establishing a clear image for the franchise; it’s safe to say now that he has accomplished both of those objectives through a systematic, emotionally removed manner.
During the past three years, the franchise has cut ties with long-time fan favorites like Steve Smith, DeAngelo Williams and Captain Munnerlyn in the name of spending smartly and ensuring Newton had control over the locker room, whereas previous management would have been apt to overpay these players out of misguided loyalty. Blue-chip, free agent Greg Hardy was also allowed to walk after his domestic violence case cast a negative image on the organization—it’s feasible that Gettleman feared the outspoken defensive end posed a threat to the leadership of defensive captain Kuechly.
The result is that the Panthers’ current players are united behind their leaders and are motivated to perform because they know they will be rewarded for it, with Newton’s $118 million and Kuechly’s $62 million as evidence. Cornerback Josh Norman and defensive tackle Kawann Short, who were the NFC’s defensive player of the month in September and October respectively, are shining examples of the positive effect that such strong leadership and financial incentive can have on young, talented players.
Coming up next on the schedule for the Panthers is the current No. 2 seed in the NFC, the Green Bay Packers.
“They’re a good football team with a potential Hall of Fame quarterback and some playmakers with an aggressive style and an attacking defense,” Rivera said. “We had trouble last year, but we are a different team; we’re a different team that played Philadelphia, a different team that played Seattle, and now a different team that’s going to play Green Bay. So we’ll see.”
The Panthers fell to the Packers 38-17 last season at Lambeau Field, but now welcome their primary competition for the NFC crown to Charlotte. If they are able to pull off the victory, they will have a far more comfortable two-game lead on the No. 1 seed and have completed the first half of the regular season perfectly.
