Week 1: Panthers vs Broncos 9/8 8:30PM EST

[bleu]

Carolina next 5 games:

-Niners
-Vikings (maybe Bradford's first game)
-1 game apiece vs entire NFC South

Maybe if the competition was tougher it would be different, but 2-4 vs that schedule is very unlikely. Three of those five will be in Carolina including the two most difficult games on paper (Vikings/Bucs). They're a different team in Charlotte, 10-0 last year including completely dismantling Arizona in what everyone expected to be a contest of relative equals. It would be major cause for concern if the Panthers don't come out of this early stretch with a winning record. I expect 4-2, but 5-1 would really put an early stranglehold on the division and it's not impossible with that slate.

Don't even bother, you're talking to a guy who (still) thinks the Vikings will win the Super Bowl, and that the Saints and Falcons are the 4th and 7th best teams in the league.

I never said win. I said- get there. I dont know that Saints ,Falcons will be 4,7,specifically..but top 12 somewhere.
And what team just lost game one..the Panthers. everyone/the majority thought they were a definite winner.
so you are talking to a guy that was already correct from the get go.

Look at the top of this thread, there's a poll that shows that "everyone" clearly did not think Carolina would win the game. They were playing the super bowl champs on the road, that was certainly not a gimme game for the Panthers in anyone's eyes. Not sure who "everyone" is.

Now the Falcons and Saints being top 12? You can go ahead and say that everyone thinks that's a load of BS.

[ErnieDiGregorio]

Don't even bother, you're talking to a guy who (still) thinks the Vikings will win the Super Bowl, and that the Saints and Falcons are the 4th and 7th best teams in the league.

I never said win. I said- get there. I dont know that Saints ,Falcons will be 4,7,specifically..but top 12 somewhere.
And what team just lost game one..the Panthers. everyone/the majority thought they were a definite winner.
so you are talking to a guy that was already correct from the get go.

Look at the top of this thread, there's a poll that shows that "everyone" clearly did not think Carolina would win the game. They were playing the super bowl champs on the road, that was certainly not a gimme game for the Panthers in anyone's eyes. Not sure who "everyone" is.

Now the Falcons and Saints being top 12? You can go ahead and say that everyone thinks that's a load of BS.

Im just saying generally that the majority of sports sites I go to and the pickems i'm in was majority pro Panthers.
there were a couple where I was the only guy to pick broncos. Every pregame show that night kept saying Panthers ,Panthers this and that. Here is a little more liberal

[Hornet Mania]

The NBC broadcast seemed generally slightly pro-Broncos (mainly because of mandatory gushing for the champs, plus Siemian being a great story) although Harrison/Dungy were 50/50 when the picks were chosen.

I don't remember the SB coverage honestly, I don't get ESPN (except .com) over here so I can't see it. I will say that I would very much enjoy some widespread pro-Panther converage after being mostly ignored or written off the past 20 years.

As far as predictions go I don't see a problem with outside the box opinions. NFL is very unpredictable, it's the one sport where teams go worst to first consistently. We'll just see how it all pans out.