Cam Newton might command the headlines, but he almost is beside the point if you want to know how the Panthers are relevant again.
Defense — violent, relentless, disruptive defense — is the biggest reason why Carolina is set to play a meaningful game this late in a season for what seems like forever.
Newton has been sensational the past four weeks, but the Panthers wouldn’t be 5-3 and headed to San Francisco for an NFC showdown with the 49ers on Sunday if it weren’t for the likes of Thomas Davis, Luke Kuechly, Star Lotulelei and Charles Johnson — among others.
While those might not be household names, they’ve been painfully familiar far too often for Carolina’s foes since a 38-0 demolition of the Giants in Week 3 started a turnaround that has seen the Panthers go 5-1 after a 0-2 start.
Carolina enters Sunday’s game ranked second in the NFL in scoring defense and third in total defense, to the tune of just 13.2 points and 299 yards per contest.
The Panthers also have allowed just seven passing touchdowns in seven games (fewest in the league), are a such a mistake-forcing machine that they take a plus-eight turnover margin into this matchup with the equally hot 49ers at Candlestick Park.
The Carolina defense also has gone a long way toward saving embattled coach Ron Rivera’s job.
Rivera looked to be a goner when the Panthers opened with consecutive losses to the Seahawks and Bills, but his defense blanking the Giants at home in such overwhelming fashion on Sept. 22 (they sacked Eli Manning seven times) seemingly awakened the entire team.
Except for the strange hiccup of a 22-6 loss the following week at Arizona, Carolina has played like a truly elite team since the pounding the Giants.
With Newton leading the way throwing the ball and running it, they have scored at least 30 points in each of their four straight wins. More impressively, the defense has allowed just 48 points in that span while forcing 10 turnovers.
An every-down inside linebacker with sideline-to-sideline playmaking skills, Kuechly has been at the heart of the Panthers’ defensive surge. New Panthers GM Dave Gettleman (a former Giants executive) also hit a home run with his first draft in Lotulelei, an unstoppable force at defensive tackle who has made everyone forget about the heart issues that caused him to drop in the first round.
Rivera still isn’t out of the woods yet, though, even with the Panthers riding high. The reason: Gettleman didn’t hire him, and new GMs almost always want to bring in their own head coach.
Even so, Carolina is just happy to be part of the NFL conversation this far into a season again. That’s an unusual feeling for a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2008 and one that reached the postseason just four times total (with one memorable Super Bowl loss to the Patriots in 2003) in its first 18 years in existence.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, the 49ers come into Sunday’s game even hotter, winning five in a row and looking like a major threat to repeat at NFC champs.
Look for San Francisco to put an end to Carolina’s streak but not an end to the Panthers’ confidence.
PICK: 49ers, 23-16.