Can the Panthers have a winning record in 2022?
By: Jake Rajala
The Carolina Panthers might have failed in the bachelor QB room this off-season, but they will still anticipate modest talent from Sam Darnold or their rookie QB Matt Corral. The 2022 QB1 will witness a resurrection from Christian McCaffrey, a superb WR (D.J. Moore, Robby Anderson) duo at his disposal, and an OL unit that should improve after the arrival of Austin Corbett and Bradley Bozeman.
I expect the Panthers young, hungry defense to continue to be another dangerous defense in the NFC South. The CAR defense lost Haason Reddick (11 sacks in 2021), but they will expect Yetur Gross-Matos to ascend opposite Brian Burns (Pro Bowler last season).
With that enunciated, the ultimate question is: what is the ceiling of the 2022 Panthers team? The Panthers won 5 games last season and it’s clear that it won’t be easy for the Panthers to be a playoff squad in a division with the loaded Tampa Bay Buccaneers and shiny New Orleans Saints.
Outside of the NFC South, the Panthers will face more brutal opponents. In fact, the Panthers will have the 12th most difficult schedule in 2022. The Panthers will face the following fierce opponents (excluding TB and NO): Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Arizona, Baltimore, and Denver. The Panthers will also face scrappy teams like Pittsburgh and San Francisco.
It will definitely be a challenge for the CMAC-featured Panthers to be a surprise NFC team with their upcoming schedule. I believe the Panthers will have a hard time going blow for blow with the Saints and Buccaneers in those four show-downs. With McCaffrey, the Panthers could hope to play spoilers against talented teams with less well-rounded defenses, such as Arizona, Baltimore, and even the Steelers. I feel that the Panthers ceiling is an 8-9 record, which is the same record as the 2021 Browns and 2021 Ravens. It won’t be easy for the Panthers to be a wild-card team next season, but they could be “competitive and see exciting growth from their rook QB or the highly motivated Darnold”.
