Panthers Can Still Contend

The Carolina Panthers are above .500 after beating Tampa Bay last Monday night, but is this preseason Super Bowl favorite a contender for the postseason or just a slightly above average team that will struggle over the remainder of the season? How's that for a $64,000 question? John Fox has led the Panthers from a 1-15 team and a franchise that looked lost to one Super Bowl already and a point at which the Panthers are in the mix of favorites every season. But, the NFL is a league in which the window is only open for so long. This season has seen some really bad decisions(the week two disaster in Minnesota) and some awful production from the offense(Carolina has the worst 3rd down conversion rate in the league). The Panthers desperately want to silence the critics, but that will take better play from a patchwork offensive line and some gains from DeShaun Foster and DeAngelo Williams. The Panthers don't have a running back in the Stephen Davis mold that can pound away at an opposing team's defensive line, so it's up to John Fox and his coaching staff to find a way to use the running game that they do have to move the football. If you have a couple of square pegs but only round holes to put them in, then you have to trim the square pegs until their round or cut some square holes. If Carolina can find success against the Rams, then the moribund Redskins are next and that could be the makings of a real roll for the Panthers.