Carolina Panthers

Predator or Prey: Will the Carolina Panthers prove they're for real?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

It’s time for the Carolina Panthers to prove their Super Bowl contenders or get out of the way.

Rock stars or punks? Contenders or pretenders? How do we describe Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers as they enter yet another season where they’re being underestimated against all odds?

The Panthers are defending NFC Champions and fell just short of taking home the franchise’s first Super Bowl last February. They were 15-1, steamrolled their way to the biggest game of the season before realizing they were in over their heads.

But were they?

If this were any other team in the league, we’d have a different response. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers fell short in the 2014 NFC Championship Game. Still they were a hot pick to reach the Super Bowl the following year. Ditto for the Denver Broncos that year, who lost in the Divisional Round but were treated like kings. The Indianapolis Colts were a dumpster fire last year, didn’t improve, and are still Super Bowl contenders to some pundits.

Why is there a lack of respect for the Panthers? Do they deserve the doubt or are we in right for questioning their legitimacy?

That’s the biggest question of this upcoming season. Carolina has gone 34-13-1 in the last three years; one of the best overall records in all of football. Only the Broncos (37-11), Patriots (36-12) and Seahawks (35-13) are legitimate Super Bowl contenders with better records over the last three years than Carolina.

Beyond the record, the Panthers have two viable MVP candidates in Newton and middle linebacker Luke Kuechly. They haven’t missed the playoffs since 2012. If a few things shook the other way, we start this season with the Panthers as Super Bowl champions.

Yet for the past three years a stigma about the Panthers and their legitimacy as title contenders has lived on. Even last year, when the team was on a tear and lost only once in the regular season, few gave them credit. We were all waiting for the train to come off the rails, the other shoe to drop.