At 6-10, Panthers keep hope alive

NEW ORLEANS What the Carolina Panthers lacked in wins during the first year of the Cam Newton era, they made up for in hope.

The Panthers finished what was officially their 2011 season on the first day of 2012 on Sunday, getting blasted 45-17 by New Orleans to finish 6-10. For the third straight season, the Panthers didn’t make the playoffs. They looked thoroughly overmatched Sunday against a Saints team that might win another Super Bowl.

And yet there’s a far different vibe surrounding the Panthers than there was exactly a year ago. Then, the Panthers finished 2-14. Their coach was leaving. Their quarterback was overwhelmed. Their offense was literally the worst in the NFL.

It’s much different now. The Panthers tripled their wins from 2010 to 2011 and will have a realistic shot at the playoffs in 2012, assuming they upgrade a defense that was mediocre at best and terrible too often (including Sunday.

Yet Carolina has succeeded in one key area essential to any successful sports team: They have given their fans a reason to hope again. Panther games once again became fun to go to this season for those who can and turned back into appointment television for those who can’t, in contrast to the «Do-I-really-have-to-watch-this» shambles of a team the Panthers fielded for fans in 2010.

When Newton arrived with the No. 1 pick in April, the Panthers suddenly became exciting on offense again, finishing in the NFL’s top five in numerous categories. With a quarterback who Sunday became the first NFL player ever to pass for at least 4,000 yards and run for at least 500 in the same season, the Panthers found a triggerman they hope will be in Charlotte for the next decade.

Newton, 22, provided other gifts, too. He gave the sports world a «Superman-ripping-off-his-shirt» touchdown pose – first devised to entertain his younger brother – that has been imitated by the NBA’s Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, among many others.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera will have his final meeting of the season with the Carolina team today and will stress the future.

«The message was that everything we do from here on out is all about next year,» Rivera said after the Panthers’ loss. «It’s about that first NFL Sunday in September.»

As for the message the coach will give Newton?

«I don’t think that I necessarily need to give him a message,» Rivera said.

«I think that he understands exactly what he needs to do. He’s special. The truth of the matter is that there are certain instances and certain areas that we have to catch up (to Newton’s skill level. «

The Panthers should have won at least 11 games in 2011, according to wide receiver Steve Smith. Smith, whose career was rejuvenated this season, believes in what is happening at Bank of America Stadium enough that he guaranteed a 2012 playoff berth after the Saints game in an interview with the Observer.

For that to happen, the Panthers will indeed have to catch up to Cam. Carolina’s defense gave up the most points and yards it ever has in 2011.

And Newton will have to improve as well. He still throws some ill-timed interceptions – he had one Sunday in the end zone after misreading a route Smith was running. His body language can be poor when things are going badly. His leadership skills are getting better but remain a work in progress.

Still, as the new year begins, the Panthers have hope again, mostly due to Newton.

And given where they were a year ago, hope feels like a treasure.

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