Well, the bad news is, the Carolina Panthers are bringing back virtually the same team they had a year ago, only with perhaps more Opening Day questions under center and a coaching staff that, thanks to the lockout, has spent about as much time with its players as you’ve spent reading this opening sentence. But the good news is Carolina only has to win three games to claim a “fifty percent increase” on victories from a year ago. It’s actually not all gloomy. Ron Rivera, the longtime defensive assistant who gets his much-deserved first coaching job after years of unsuccessful interviews, is inheriting a team that’s not nearly as bad as most defending cellar-dwellers . Last season’s 2-14 faceplant was an anomaly brought on by the lame duck status of head [...] Continue reading → | Cam Newton 2011, Cam Newton Panthers, Carolina Panthers 2011, Carolina Panthers predictions, Carolina Panthers preview, Panthers preview 2011