2020 has already been a brutal year for Carolina Panthers fans. No NFL team experienced more turnover this offseason and no fanbase lost more long-time franchise stars. With Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, Greg Olsen, Mario Addison and a host of others no longer on the roster, things look grim going into the new season.
How bad are they? According to a new projection by Aaron Schatz at Football Outsiders (via ESPN), the Panthers have the worst odds of any team to make the playoffs this year at only 14%. Their chances of winning the NFC South are awful too, coming in at 3.9%.
Schatz says their schedule is especially daunting.
“Then there’s the schedule. The other three teams in the NFC South all rank in the top dozen of our DVOA projections, with New Orleans at No. 1. The AFC West and NFC North aren’t the strongest divisions in the league, but none of the teams is really a pushover. Of the other teams near the bottom of our projections, the only one on Carolina’s schedule is Washington in Week 16.”
It gets better. That Washington team has beaten the Panthers each of the last two seasons despite having significantly less talent on its roster. That may no longer be the case, plus they’re now being led by Ron Rivera – who has more inside info on this team than any coach in the league.
If the Panthers lose that particular matchup again in December this rebuild just might take a little bit longer than expected.
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