The Carolina Panthers have struggled to find an identity in 2018.

Their defense Youth Trai Turner Jersey , once the calling card of the franchise, has been porous. Their run game, while statistically productive, hasn’t been able to sustain drives. Christian McCaffrey saw 11 touches yesterday — a far cry from the 25-30 that coaches wanted for him at the start of the season. Instead, their only consistent source of success in the moments where they absolutely needed it has been Cam Newton running a hurry-up offense.They didn’t start the game against the Eagles with Cam completely unleashed, but they put the ball in his hands more in the first half than I remember seeing in a long time. They might just be learning how this team can win games. That display of trust paid dividends in the second half when the offense started to click, coincidentally, when they put the Eagles’ defense on their heels and kept pressing.Obviously, the trust in Newton didn’t translate into points immediately. I think the blame for his drive-killing completion percentage in the first half falls neatly between him, his receivers, and the weird weather on the day. It wasn’t good, but the team didn’t run away from Cam and that ended up being everything for them.The second half drives showed the Panthers what this team can look like once the team gets rolling. This offense has the skill to become every bit as potent as the vaunted 2015 team if the coaching staff continues to trust Cam Newton early in games. Cam and Ryan Kalil all but asked for another chance in their post game press conferences.This team has come out misfiring on all cylinders in 2018 and has still put together a respectable record. They already knew how to put themselves in a hole. Now they know they don’t have to. Week 7 might seem a bit late in the season to be nailing those lessons down Youth Cam Newton Jersey , but at 4-2 the Panthers can afford to be slow learners.They are not a team that can thrive by playing a slow, deliberate, ball-control offense. They can’t err on the side of punting in close-call situations. They are a team that wins when Cam Newton is winning. They are team that has the speed to both bend and break defenses. That is great, because their defense is prone to both bending and breaking themselves. Getting that on track is the subject of a different, and much less optimistic, column.That disparity between offense and defense is why the Panthers can win any game just as well as they can lose them. They don’t operate with a huge margin of error, yet they always seem to find a way to keep a game close. That talent is the key to their greatest hopes for this season.They have the players to compete. I don’t know if they are in the same league as the Patriots, the Chiefs, the Rams, or the Saints, but they can stand with anybody else in the league. Whether or not they will depends entirely on them learning the right lessons from these last three weeks.As it stands, the Panthers put together another terrifying win. They did it against the reigning Super Bowl Champions. They did against one of the best young quarterbacks in the league. Carson Wentz can’t seem to drop the ball on third down without it turning into a conversion for the Eagles. In the face of this new football royalty http://www.panthersfootballauthentic.com/mike-adams-jersey-authentic , the Panthers defense held when it counted, their offense stood up when they had to, and now everybody in the Carolinas can celebrate good king Wentz’s loss before the holiday season even begins.Panthers 2018 season opener countdown: 58 days to go We are 58 days away from the beginning of the Carolina Panthers 2018 season. That means today we take a closer look at linebacker Thomas Davis.Thomas Davis, LinebackerBioHeight: 6’1”Weight: 235 lbsAge: 35College: GeorgiaNFL Experience: 14 yearsThomas Davis has been with the Panthers since they drafted him with the No. 14 pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. Since entering the league, he has been a three-time Pro Bowler (2015-2017), First-Team All Pro (2015), Second-Team All Pro (2013), and the Walter Payton Man of the Year (2014).Needless to say, Davis is one of the best linebackers in the NFL. This is especially true when you consider that he’s the only player in the history of the league to recover from three ACL injuries and not only continue his career, but get better. He is the physical embodiment of the ‘Keep Pounding’ slogan that was coined by former Panthers linebacker Sam Mills, and is widely considered as one of the best representatives of the Panthers on and off the field.Davis made waves back in January when he stated that 2018 would be his last season, but later said he was ‘very open to playing beyond 2018’ after he announced that he was suspended for the first four games of the 2018 season for violating the league’s PED policy.The one benefit for the Panthers regarding Davis’ suspension is that they have a more than capable replacement in Shaq Thompson Womens Torrey Smith Jersey , and they’ll also have a less worn down Thomas Davis when he’s eligible to return to action in Week 6*. It’s unclear if Thompson will continue to be the starter when Davis returns, but at the very least the Panthers will have a solid rotation between the two players.While 2018 may not be the last year for Davis in the NFL, it could be the last year for him in Carolina, provided the Panthers don’t give him a contract extension. If this is indeed his last ride with the Panthers, hopefully they can send him out on top with a Super Bowl victory, as he’s certainly someone who deserves it.*- Davis is suspended for four games, not four weeks. Since the Panthers have a bye in Week 4, they won’t play their fourth game until Week 5.Information from Wikipedia contributed to this story