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Week 1 GDT: Panthers @ 49ers


Zithers2

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Kick off time, y'all! Only one week to go.

Spread: Panthers -5.5
Over/Under: 48

The 49ers seem pretty devoid of talent but have won their last six season openers. Kyle Shanahan knows his way around our defense though we may have some new wrinkles with Steve Wilks replacing Sean McDermott. I figure if Bradberry can shut down Pierre Garcon, their aerial game will be done. Besides him their only receivers are... Marquise Goodwin, Aldrick Robinson, and some randoms. Brian Hoyer isn't particularly intimidating in the first place. Their OLine isn't in great shape. Our front seven should be able to handle them and Carlos Hyde.

49ers are using the uneven defense that the Seahawks popularized. Arik Armstead, DeForest Buckner, and Solomon Thomas certainly have imposing potential. NaVorro Bowman and Reuben Foster could be a nasty duo. No clue who their corners or pass rushers are.

I really don't think we should have a hard time with this one. And if we do, I am gonna go ahead and declare the season over. This should be at least a ten point victory. I hope we just run the ball to keep Cam safe from any harm and that the defense can get a few sacks and turnovers to start off right. Really excited to see Christian McCaffrey out there!!!

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Bill Barnwell has us in the top tier of potential Super Bowl winners. We're grouped with the Giants, Seahawks, Steelers, Packers, and Patriots...

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20591865/bill-barnwell-2017-nfl-preview-case-all-32-teams-play-super-bowl-lii

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The numbers suggested that Carolina was likely to decline last season, but nobody saw them falling from 15-1 to 6-10 after winning the NFC Championship in 2015. The Panthers went from 6-1 in one-score games in 2015 to 2-6 last season, so while they declined significantly, it wasn't quite as big of a drop-off as their raw win total might indicate. They also lost their two best players for stretches of time when Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly went down with injuries. Ideally, the Panthers won't need to give Derek Anderson two starts.

Since-fired general manager Dave Gettleman built his offseason around protecting Newton, and while I might take issue with the decision to give new left tackle Matt Kalil a five-year contract with $31 million guaranteed, it's at least a new body with some (distant) track record of success. New receiving backs Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel should provide useful intermediate targets, with McCaffrey also helping to shoulder some of the running load that had been thrust upon Newton and Jonathan Stewart. If James Bradberry continues to improve and develops into a No. 1 corner, the Panthers could look more like their 2015 selves.

 

 

 

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I think we could definitely be a top-tier team this season. One of the biggest factors would be the offensive line. That's probably the spot with the biggest difference in play between the past two seasons.

The biggest hurdle is our division. The Falcons probably won't be as dominant, but should still be a really good team. The Saints and Buccs both have really strong teams too. We could be the ~10th best team in the league but miss the playoffs.

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30 minutes ago, fretgod99 said:

NFC South is pretty stacked this year.

I think the parity the division has traditionally seen has really paid off. Seems like each team gets at least one top 10 pick and another top 15 pick every 5 years, recently those top picks have been booming.

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2 hours ago, james.mcmurry13 said:

I think we could definitely be a top-tier team this season. One of the biggest factors would be the offensive line. That's probably the spot with the biggest difference in play between the past two seasons.

The biggest hurdle is our division. The Falcons probably won't be as dominant, but should still be a really good team. The Saints and Buccs both have really strong teams too. We could be the ~10th best team in the league but miss the playoffs.

If we can avoid "position disasters" like we dealt with last season between the OL and secondary, along with Cam not screwing up his shoulder, then we should be okay. We also need to not completely suck on special teams for once.

I think the Falcons will regress to the mean like the 2016 Panthers did. Saints still don't have a defense until proven otherwise. Bucs I am so-so on. I think each team will be between 6 and 10 wins though. We do get to beat up on the AFC East. Bucs and Saints should have some fun in the air game even if their defenses aren't great to win them some games.

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2 minutes ago, Zithers2 said:

I think each team will be between 6 and 10 wins

I'm not too far from you on this. Barring bad injury luck I think we all get to 7 wins, and I don't see anyone completely pulling away to the point of winning 13+. But I could see a 12-4 division winner, then another at 10-6 and the last two at 8-8, or something like that.

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1 hour ago, james.mcmurry13 said:

I'm not too far from you on this. Barring bad injury luck I think we all get to 7 wins, and I don't see anyone completely pulling away to the point of winning 13+. But I could see a 12-4 division winner, then another at 10-6 and the last two at 8-8, or something like that.

Well, I mean the Panthers are going 16-0. But other than that, spot on.

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