Four Quarters: A Look at the Carolina Panthers' 2009 Schedule, Pt. 3

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

A look at the Bucs' schedule tells the story. After the first Panthers game, they're probably looking at a 2-4 record at best. They they get to host New England and Green Bay before heading to the Dolphins. They get a strong New Orleans team before going to the Falcons, and then they head into this contest.

If the Bucs have more than three wins at this point, Morris should be getting consideration for coach of the year honors.

But then again, that's exactly what people thought about Atlanta last year.

This bears repeating. The Bucs have a young and aggressive defense. They lost a lot of personnel, but at this point in the year they'll know who their leaders are, and while other teams are getting tired they'll be in a position to take advantage of their youth and depth.

And on offense, the Josh Freeman show will be in full swing. The rookie will have a feel for the NFL by then, and his coordinator will know what he can and can't do.

Don't look for a conventional offense here, they'll probably be relying on some gimmicks to move the ball. But moving the ball is moving the ball, regardless of how it's done.

And this is team has a lot of the same players that looked like Super Bowl candidates last year at this time.

This is still probably a Panther win, but any given Sunday and all that...

Carolina leads the series 10-7

Conclusion

This is by far the easiest stretch of games for the Panthers this season. After hitting the NFC East hard in the first quarter and dealing with some high powered offenses in the second, the third quarter is largely marked by games against teams that will be thinking about defense first.

Given that the Panthers are set on offense and questionable on defense, the mediocre offenses they face here may be just what the doctor ordered to give the club some confidence heading into the brutal home stretch.

In 2008, the Panthers really started to come together as a dominant running team later in the year. The same thing will happen this year, although in 2009 no one will be taken by surprise.

The Panthers should put together a 3-1 effort here, and don't be surprised at 4-0 either. This year the Bad November story gets a new chapter.

So unless there have been a ton of injuries, the Panthers should be in the 7-5 or 8-4 range after this quarter. That's going to look good, but although they'll appear in the drivers seat for the division, December will be a killer.

The Panthers will probably be playing four teams in the top of their division, and the last game against New Orleans will be for the division title.

But that's a subject for another article. Tune in next week, when we finish out the 2009 season.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?