Peter King puts Panthers #8 overall in his power rankings

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/peter_king/05/16/ranking/1.html#ixzz0oEPELzo1

8. Carolina. Dangerous team. Very deceiving 8-8 record last year. While everyone tiptoed around it because everyone in the Carolinas loves Jake Delhomme, something awful happened to him in the last year and a half, and he just couldn't play quarterback for this team anymore. Check out what Matt Moore did in his last three starts: three wins, 66-percent accuracy, seven touchdowns, zero picks, and the Panthers outscored three foes 90-26. (Asterisk on the third, New Orleans, because the Saints played the JV that day.) This will be John Fox's last year with the Panthers -- the owner, Jerry Richardson, doesn't want to be in the business of laying off employees and paying a former coach $6 million a year in this economy -- and I think he'll say full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes, forget next year, I'm doing everything I can to win right now. And he'll win enough to make the Wild Card.

 

30. Tampa Bay. What I like about the Bucs: that the top five draft picks will get a chance to play right away, and a lot. What I don't like about the Bucs: that the top five draft picks will get a chance to play right away, and a lot.

 

Peter King clueless

 

well informed

 

Chip has it right.

Here's last years list, he really nailed the saints and Bengals
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/05/10/may11/index.html

 

i think espn has us at 19. more reasonable, as far as these things go. the miami herald had us in the 20s, with the comment that no team has had a worse offseason, so there's that for balance i guess.

we've done nothing as an organization this offseason that conveys damn the torpedos we are winning now. perhaps he is thinking of something else.

 

And he called himself out on that this morning on Sirius. He said, "I ranked the Saints at #24 last year, which Sean Payton reminded me of all year. That's how seriously you should take these things. It's just a bunch of educated guesses."

 

This team is harder to predict than any we have had in a long time. If Matt Moore plays as well the whole year as he did the last few games of last season we could be in the playoffs. He should have more weapons in the passing game with Lafell and Edwards in the mix. The defense is more of a worry for me and not so much because of Peppers leaving but because of our question marks at DT. I think our DEs will be OK and provide adequate pass rush but we may not be able to stop the run.

If Moore is solid we will have to improve over last year's debacle. We won 8 last year so 10 is not out of the question.

 

Rookie WRs are usually poor bets to produce.

 

I suspect the competition alone will render the QB position at a B+ overall, regardless of who eventually fills the position. With that score at QB, I bet we make the playoffs.