The Carolina Panthers had a stellar finish to the season after getting off to a horrible start in 2012 and now the team is hoping that Cam Newton and company can carry that over into this season and so far the jury is still out as the team prepares to the play the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in the second week of the preseason.
The Panthers are expecting more development from Cam Newton after two years in the league and while he has put up very good numbers since coming onto the scene as a rookie, the Panthers feel he is ready to be a true leader and should be able to finish with a winning record. Newton is dynamic and a strong runner like RG3 and if he can get his passing game a bit more consistent, he will be a true threat in the league and he already is one of the hardest players to cover in the NFL.
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Head coach Ron Rivera said to reporters that he isn't worried about losing his job and that the team has plenty of areas where they can improve despite winning against the Rams in Week 1 of the preseason. Rivera saw his former boss Lovie Smith get fired after not making the playoffs with 10-wins and he knows that he could be on the chopping block if his record of 13-19 does not improve. The team went on a nice run to end the season and it remains to be seen if it will continue into 2013. Owner Jerry Richardson said that the team did not give the playoffs as an ultimatum to Rivera and now they will get the chance to see what the squad can do in Week 2 against Michael Vick and the Eagles.
The Eagles have a new head coach in Chip Kelly and he is still working on deciding whether to have Vick or Nick Foles come in as the starting quarterback. Kelly is bringing his new offense from Oregon into the NFL and the first game saw the team lose to the New England Patriots and the results were uneven. The Panthers went 1-6 to start the season before finishing out at 6-3 and things looked disastrous before bringing it around and now Rivera wants that consistency to come through from the start of the season. The team lost close games to Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle and Tampa Bay and Rivera wants the team to do better when it matters the most at the end of games.
Newton threw an interception in the first quarter of the 24-17 win over the Bears and he was understandable mad at himself afterwards and Rivera said that Newton needs to make better decisions. Panthers rookie running back Kenjon Barner might end up being one of the steals of the draft after coming from Kelly's offense at Oregon and his speed could be a big asset for the team on offense. Newton has some new players in the fold and this might be the year the team breaks through for the playoffs.
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