Five Things You Need to Know about the Carolina Panthers this Season

It was a Sunday night, and I had just cracked a cold one. My Fourth, to be exact. I was watching College Football, and while more entertaining the Candian football which I watched last week, the college game still makes me jones for Pro Football. I'm also probably one of the biggest Panthers fan you will meet, so when I talk pro football, the Panthers are the Sun around which all other teams orbit. You follow? So want to follow the team? Want to impress your friends with five well-informed thought points? Sure you do, and here are the five most important things to know about the Panthers going into the 2012 football season.

1. Cam Newton is an absolute superstar. Say, hypotetheically, you don't watch football (shame on you). Even the untrained eye can appreciate the biggest guy on the field also being the fastest and most elusive guy on the field. In a league full of some of the most superior athletes on the planet, Cam can make them look like they are standing still. Over 4,000 yards passing and 700 yards rushing plus 35 overall touchdowns are Madden-like stats that actually happened. As a rookie Newton was arguably top 10 at his position, year two promises to be even better.

Go on and try to stop that man.

2. Ryan Kalil, the teams center, took out a full page ad in the Charlotte Observer last month proclaiming the Panthers would win the Superbowl. Safe to say optimism is high. The Panthers performed reasonably well last season under rookie head coach Ron Rivera to finish with a 6-10 record. Going from missing the playoffs to superbowl would not be completely unprecidented, but certainly not very likely. Even still, win or lose, the Panthers will be reminded of this statement all year. So confidence is high, but so are expectations. How will a young team fare with that weight?

3. A couple exciting rookies are in the mix. Rookie middle linebacker Luke Keuchly seems unspectacular at first glance, until you hear his name called on a tackle on ALMOST EVERY PLAY. Carolina made the two-time national leader in tackles the #9 overall pick in the NFL draft, and if he stays healthy he will start for the Panthers for a decade. He will be an interesting player to watch because where he is truly gifted is in football instinct.

Now 3a, if you will. Joe Adams, return man out of Arkansas. As much as I would like to describe his skills in detail, I'll save it. If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a video worth? I think about things like this. Anyway watch, and you will understand why he will be fun to watch.

4. The defense has a shot to be better than last year, but could still be terrible. Carolina gets a few starters back, including DT Ron Edwards, and LBs Jon Beason and Thomas Davis. Beason, when healthy, is an All-pro. Davis also has the skills, but who know how much he has left after a third consecutive ACL tear on the same knee (ouch). Last year teams could run, pass, or score off special teams against the Panthers. For Kalil's superbowl prediction to have any legs, they can't give up as many points.

***As a note, I find shouting at your television is most helpful on defense.

5. Offensive Coordinator Rob Chudzinski is a play-calling savant. OK, so you can't actually watch Chudzinski (Though with all the camera angles from NFL network, presumably a 'coaches bathroom cam' is on the way), but his plays are inventive, and more importantly utilize the best weapons on the team. Johnathan Stewart and Deangelo Williams on the field at the same time for the first time, EVER. Last year we saw some read option, traditional pro style pocket passing, end arounds, direct snaps, and all sorts of X's and O's junk that is only supposed to work in a video game. Or Little Giants.

Enjoy it, Panthers fans, because if the team executes like they did last season, he's getting a head coaching job, and soon.

So there you have it, five tips for your Carolina Panthers, but don't take my word for it and watch every minute of every game they play, and obsess over the details during the week like I do. Like normal people do...

-Joel