2. Carolina Panthers
They are the Panthers' version of Grumpy Old Men, and you
can often find them near the trainer's room at
Ericsson Stadium, where they like to soak in the
therapeutic tubs while cracking jokes about baldness and
walking canes. Carolina has so many
defensive regulars age 30 and
older—seven, to be exact—that "if someone inside the locker room
hollers, 'Hey, old man,' half the defense turns
around," says nosetackle Greg Kragen, 35, who
almost retired
two years
ago.
During training camp 33-year-old end Gerald Williams
announced that this would be his final season; end Ray
Seals, 32, worked his injured rotator cuff back into shape;
and inside linebacker Sam Mills celebrated the two-year, $4
million deal he signed in
March that will keep him in a Panthers uniform until he's
almost 40. "Winning keeps all of us young," says
Kragen. "Besides, whenever us older guys need
inspiration, we just look at
Sam."
When the Panthers constructed their expansion team two
years ago, they built their offense through the draft and
their defense with veteran free agents. Now the disparity
in age between the two units is almost comical. Quarterback
Kerry Collins, who
will miss the first five to six weeks of the season with a
broken jaw he suffered during an Aug. 9 exhibition game
against the Broncos, was 10 when Mills started his
professional career. Running back Tshimanga Biakabutuka,
who is back at full speed after
blowing out his knee in Week 4 last year, was 11 when Kragen
began his
career.
Carolina, which lost 30-13 to the Packers in the 1996 NFC
Championship Game, is counting on its aging defense to hold
things together for another Super Bowl run. "Raw
talent is not always the most important part of the
equation when evaluating players,"
says coach Dom Capers. "Execution, knowledge,
reliability. There is something to be said for a guy who
has made the journey
before—even if he's made it several
times."
Last year the Panthers' defense repeatedly defied Father
Time, getting better as the games, and the season, wore on.
Carolina was on an eight-game winning streak before losing
to the Packers. Linebackers Kevin Greene, 34, and Lamar
Lathon, 29, led the
league in sacks, with
14 1/2 and
13 1/2, respectively. Along with Mills, they earned starts in the
Pro Bowl. The Panthers held opponents to 13.6 points per
game while giving up an NFL-record-low 56 points after
halftime, including only three in the fourth quarter of
their eight home
games.
Nevertheless, upgrading the defense was a Carolina priority
during the
off-season. The club signed former Oilers linebacker
Micheal Barrow to a five-year, $18.5 million contract, making him
the highest-paid Panther. Barrow, 27, is a smart and gritty
player who has enough speed to move from sideline to
sideline—a perfect fit for Capers's 3-4 zone blitz. Greene
was a camp holdout,
but rather than give in to his demands, the club released him
on Sunday and signed
31-year-old defensive end Renaldo Turnbull, a salary-cap casualty
of the Saints' just two days earlier.
"I'm like a sponge around these older guys," says
Barrow. "The inner joy they still have for the game is
just contagious. One reason I chose the Panthers was that
they weren't asking me to come in and carry the team. The
leadership has already been
established here. If we go to the Super Bowl, it's these
veterans who'll take us.—David Fleming
SCHEDULE
SKINNY
Are the Panthers the team to beat in the
NFC West? We'll have a good idea after they host the 49ers in a
Monday-nighter on Sept. 29. Will the Panthers be a serious
playoff threat again? We'll know after Weeks 11 and 12,
when Carolina travels to Denver
(Nov. 9) and
San Francisco on successive Sundays. Do the Panthers have a
shot at the Super Bowl? A seven-day span in December will
tell: Carolina travels to Dallas for a Monday-night game
(Dec. 8) and then plays host to Green
Bay.
STRENGTH OF
SCHEDULE
NFL rank: 16 (tie)
Opponents' 1996 winning
percentage: .492
Games against playoff
teams: 6
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