The Cam Newton Era is over with the Carolina Panthers as they will move ahead with Teddy Bridgewater as their new quarterback under first-year NFL head coach Matt Rhule. What to expect from the 2020 Panthers? Here’s an overview of the Carolina Panthers and their NFL Odds as it stands.
Carolina Panthers Odds After Free Agency Week 1
2019 recap
Carolina’s season started off horribly with back-to-back home losses to the Rams and Bucs. Cam Newton was not very good in either and that Bucs game would prove to be his last under center for the Panthers due to a foot injury. Kyle Allen replaced him and won his first four and five of six, but then Allen’s play tailed off in a big way.
Following a 29-21 home loss to the awful Washington Redskins in Week 13, the Panthers fired long-time coach Ron Rivera – ironically, he’s now the coach of the Redskins. That embarrassing defeat came just a week and a half after owner David Tepper said publicly he’s not interested in long-term mediocrity and was the final straw for Tepper.
Tepper inherited Rivera as his team’s head coach when he purchased the Panthers in 2018, which enough coincided with the beginning of Rivera’s downward slide. Since Tepper bought the team in May of that year, Rivera’s team won just 12 of 28 games.
Carolina would finish the season on an eight-game losing streak and with a 5-11 record.
Carolina Panthers offseason moves
The biggest move was the Panthers luring highly sought-after Baylor head coach Matt Rhule to the NFL – the New York Giants also were after him. Rhule got a contract for seven years that could be worth $70 million, so there’s no question he’s in charge now. Rhule rose to prominence by taking over an embattled Baylor program and turning it into a contender in a short amount of time, going from 1-11 in 2017 to 11-3 in 2019. Rhule has proven he can turn around programs quickly as he took Temple from 2-10 in 2013 to 10-4 in 2015 and 10-3 in 2016 before leaving to Baylor.
Rhule’s biggest hire was LSU passing game coordinator Joe Brady, credited with making Joe Burrow a Heisman Trophy winner, as his offensive coordinator. LSU finished second in passing offense with 401.6 passing yards per game while Burrow, who completed 76.3 percent of his passes to lead the nation, set a new FBS single-season record with 60 passing touchdowns. Brady won the Broyles award, given annually to the top assistant coach in college football. Now he’s the youngest active offensive coordinator in the NFL.
The Panthers have undergone major change at quarterback, signing free agent Teddy Bridgewater to starter, signing XFL star PJ Walker to be his backup, releasing former NFL MVP Cam Newton and trading Kyle Allen to the Redskins.
In 2019, Bridgewater went 5-0 as a starter while filling in for injured quarterback Drew Brees with the Saints. Bridgewater finished with 1,384 passing yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions for a passer rating of 99.1. Among quarterbacks with at least five starts, Bridgewater ranked sixth with a completion percentage of 67.9. Bridgewater has played in 44 career games and has a record of 22-12 as a starter. Walker would have been the XFL MVP as he led that league in passing yards and touchdowns for the Houston Roughnecks before the XFL shut down due to the coronavirus.
Carolina also added a weapon for Bridgewater in former Jets receiver Robby Anderson. Anderson’s final 2019 numbers weren’t anything to write home about with 52 catches for 777 yards and five touchdowns, though he flashed down the stretch with touchdowns in four of his final seven games. A field stretcher who can also do work underneath, Anderson should be an upgrade on Curtis Samuel opposite D.J. Moore.
Defensively, the Panthers lost their leader with the retirement of linebacker and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year Luke Kuechly. The best linebacker for multiple seasons in the 2010s, Kuechly finished his eight-year career with at least 100 combined tackles in every single season and the third-most tackles before turning 29 in NFL history. He went to seven Pro Bowls, earned five All-Pro nods, and Defensive Rookie of the Year (2012) and Defensive Player of the Year (2013) honors
2020 opponents
- Home: Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Raiders.
- Away: Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins.
Carolina Panthers odds to win Super Bowl 55
Carolina has been two a pair of Super Bowls but yet to win one. The Panthers are +8000 to do so next February in Tampa.
