Sweet Caroline

Cam and the Panthers Never Seemed So Good

(Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) 

"Where it began, I can't begin to knowin'. But then I know its growin' strong. Was in the spring, and the spring became the summer. Who'd have believed you'd come along."

How prophetic Neil Diamond's lyrics seem this year in Carolina, where Cam Newton suddenly has the Panthers poised to make the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Expectations for the Panthers were low this year. After Cam's "sophomore slump" in 2012, Carolina opened the season ranked 23rd in ESPN's Power Rankings. But after starting 1-3, they have won 4 straight games, all in convincing, double-digit fashion, and find themselves within one game of first place in the NFC South.

If the season ended today, they would be in as a wildcard. But with two upcoming games against the first-place Saints, the Panthers have their eyes on an additional prize: the divisional championship. 

This week the they pummeled a lowly Falcons team 34-10, and improved on some already impressive statistics.

(Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

The Carolina defense has emerged as one of the top units in the league. They are currently ranked 10th against the pass, allowing only 202 yards through the air, and are ranked 8th against the rush at under 80 yards-per-game. They have recorded twelve pics and seven recovered fumbles, all while holding opponents to 10.5 points-per game! They also have not allowed an opposing receiver to score a touchdown since Week 2.

On Sunday, they picked Matty Ice three times and even returned one of them back for a score. They also forced a fumble and held RB Steven Jackson to 57 rushing yards.

The Falcons managed only 10 points.

(AP Photo/Bob Leverone)

On offense, Cam Newton is quietly having his best season as a pro. (In his defense, there is nothing louder than breaking the rookie passing record in your first NFL season.) He may not reach his marks in yardage alone, but his completion percentage (64.4) is the highest of his career, and his 13 TD passes puts him on pace to break his previous high (21) by 5. He leads a ground-game ranked 8th in the league at 130 yards-per-game, and enjoys the benefit of a turnover ratio of +8.

Against Atlanta he threw for 249 yards and a score, was sacked only once, and true to form, led his team to 131 yards on the ground, adding twenty-two and a touchdown himself.

At 5-3, Cam Newton is one win from equalling his record-breaking rookie season. But Superman is far from finished, and the Panthers are Red Hot. Their average margin of victory this year is twenty-four points, and they have scored 30 or more in each of those efforts.

They lost the first two games of the season by a total of six points. On opening day they kept Russell Wilson from the endzone for three quarters before surrendering the dagger to lose 12-7. And the following week they lost to Buffalo by one point when EJ Manuel found Stevie Johnson in the endzone with two seconds to-go.

If fortune had favored them in those games, they might be sitting pretty at 7-1, looking down on Drew Brees and the Saints at 6-2. But the will to win comes from within, and the Panthers must find a way to continue their success in order to make their dreams of the postseason come to life.

Their remaining schedule, however, is far from fortunate, and pits them against 5 teams that are currently in the playoffs. Carolina will travel to San Francisco next week and come home to host Tom Brady and the Patriots on Monday Night Football the week after. They finish the season with two of the last four games against New Orleans, and the prospective implications of those match-ups grow more dramatic each week.

If they manage to win some of those games, especially those against the Saints, then the Carolina Panthers make a strong bid to host a playoff game for the first time in a long time (the last quarterback they hosted in the playoffs was Kurt Warner).

But if they lose those games, their accomplishments thus far will be reduced to nothing more than the result of a beneficial early schedule.

If that is the case, we will look back on this moment as the peak of their season, and the Carolina fans, like Neil Diamond, will be left with nothing to sing but nostalgic songs of the past.

"Don't worry, Cam. Playoff wins are overrated anyway."
(Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

This week Carolina travels to face the 49ers in San Francisco.

Will Cam keep the Mojo going? Or will the 49ers derail the Panthers bandwagon? You tell me!