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While Cam Newton identifies with Superman Will Grier Carolina Panthers Jersey , it’s Spider-Man who’s currently winning at the box office. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse teaches us that multiple universes exist where things turn out slightly different from our current reality. (On a personal note, I strongly identified with the middle-aged Spider-Man with salt-and-pepper hair and a bit of a gut, but I digress.)In the spirit of exploring alternate universes, in another dimension the Carolina Panthers finished the 2018 season with an 11-5 record and are prepping for the playoffs right now. Here’s how:Week 11 - Panthers 19, Detroit Lions 20Our Reality: The Panthers scored a touchdown with 1:14 remaining to trim Detroit’s lead to 20-19. Carolina went for a go-ahead two-point conversion. Jarius Wright got open in the end zone but Cam Newton overthrew him on the failed attempt. Panthers-Verse: Cam connects with Wright to give the Panthers a 21-20 lead. Luke Kuechly seals the game with an interception and the the Panthers go to 7-3 on the season. Week 12 - Panthers 27, Seattle Seahawks 30Our Reality: The Panthers led 27-20 with 3:33 remaining. The Seahawks faced a 4th-and-3 at the Carolina 35. David Moore beat Corn Elder (who was filling in for an injured Donte Jackson) for a touchdown to tie the game, and Seattle went on to win. Panthers-Verse: Donte Jackson never gets injured and knocks away the deep pass to David Moore. The Panthers get the ball back with a 27-20 lead with 3:33 left, punt with 1:07 remaining, then knock down a Russell Wilson Hail Mary on the last play of the game. Carolina goes to 8-3. Week 14 - Panthers 20 Color Rush Will Grier Jersey , Cleveland Browns 26Our Reality: In Week 13 the Panthers lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in every universe (due to Cam’s four interceptions) then faced the Browns in Week 14. With 2:35 remaining, Cam overthrew Jarius Wright on 4th-and-Goal from the three yard line on a play that would’ve put the Panthers up 27-26 late in the game. Panthers-Verse: Cam hits Wright with a perfect pass and the Panthers go up 27-26 with 2:35 left. The Browns drive down for a game-winning 52-yard field goal attempt but miss it wide left as the Panthers go to 9-4.Week 15 - Panthers 9, New Orleans Saints 12Our Reality: The Panthers led 7-6 and had the ball at the New Orleans 13 with just 18 seconds left in the second quarter. Cam threw a devastating interception which took at least a field goal off the board. Then, late in the third quarter with the Panthers still leading 7-6, D.J. Moore lost a fumble at the New Orleans 28. Panthers-Verse: Cam doesn’t throw the interception and Carolina kicks a field goal to go up 10-6 at the half. D.J. Later, D.J. Moore doesn’t fumble late in the third and his run sets up a Christian McCaffrey touchdown to put the Panthers up 17-6. Carolina wins and improves to 10-4. In the Panthers-Verse, Carolina still splits with the Falcons and Saints to finish the season, but in reverse order. Week 16 turns into a home win against the Falcons with a dinged-up but hungry Cam Newton playing (instead of Taylor Heinicke) to go to 11-4, then Week 17 at New Orleans turns into a loss as the Saints now have to play for the No. 1 seed due to their Week 15 loss to the Panthers. In the Panthers-Verse Christian McCaffrey Jersey Discount , Carolina is 11-5 and headed to the playoffs right now. All it took was five plays going our way:Cam connects with Jarius Wright on a two-point conversion to beat the Lions. Carolina’s defense doesn’t surrender a touchdown to Seattle on 4th-and-3. Cam doesn’t overthrow Jarius Wright from the three yard line against the Bucs. Against the Saints, Cam doesn’t throw the pick to end the half and D.J. Moore doesn’t fumble. Football really is a game of inches. So many games swing on just one or two big plays. With that in mind there is another Panthers-Verse where the 2018 Panthers go 4-12 because two incredible plays don’t go their way and the Saints don’t tank in Week 17.Week 5 - Panthers 33, New York Giants 31: Graham Gano misses the game-winning 63-yard field goal. Week 7 - Panthers 21, Philadelphia Eagles 17: Cam doesn’t make an incredible play to connect with Torrey Smith on 4th-and-10 with 2:06 remaining while trailing 17-14, setting up the game-winning score. Week 17 - Panthers 33, New Orleans Saints 14: The Saints don’t have the No. 1 seed wrapped up and actually play Drew Brees and the starters, beating Carolina 142-6 (or thereabouts). Instead of 7-9 in our current universe, the Panthers just finished 4-12 in this terrible Panthers-Verse. The 2018 Panthers are who their record says they are, a disappointing 7-9 squad that choked away the second half of the season with questionable coaching and sloppy execution on both sides of the ball. For the optimists Christian McCaffrey Jersey Super Bowl , we could’ve gone 11-5 by just making a couple of big plays. For the pessimists, we were just a couple of lucky breaks away from a putrid 4-12 season.Unfortunately for us as Carolina fans, our Panthers-Verse is a 7-9 record and a team in flux. Here’s to hoping the universe allows a few more things to break our way in 2019. The Panthers defense wasn’t as strong in 2018 as it has been in years past."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Keep Sounding PodcastPanthers 2019 NFL DraftCSR Film RoomPanthers 2018 season review: The Panthers defenseNew,7commentsThe Panthers defense wasn’t as strong in 2018 as it has been in years past. ESTShareTweetShareSharePanthers 2018 season review: The Panthers defenseThe Panthers’ defense struggled in 2018. There are several reasons this was the case, and it’s hard to single out one thing to place the most blame on—whether it be injuries, lack of a pass rush, inconsistency in coaching, or just failed execution—the overall story of the 2018 Panthers defense is a sad one. Let’s dive into the details a bit and look back at what happened to the Panthers’ defense last season.Injuries in the secondaryThe Panthers signed cornerback Ross Cockrell and safety Da’Norris Searcy to shore up their secondary with veteran leadership, but unfortunately Cockrell broke his leg during training camp and Searcy sustained two concussions before the end of Week 2. Carolina also lost backup defensive back Kevon Seymour Christian McCaffrey Jersey For Sale , who injured his shoulder during the preseason. All three players were placed in injured reserve and left the Panthers with a lack of depth on their roster in 2018. Due to so many injuries, the Panthers had to rely on the tandem of James Bradberry and rookie Donte Jackson at cornerback, and brought in safety Eric Reid in free agency to fill the void left by Searcy’s absence. The secondary wasn’t the biggest failure of the defense in 2018, but if the Panthers would have been a bit luckier with the injury bug, things could have ended a lot differently in 2018 for Carolina’s defense.No pass rushNot only did the Panthers suffer from key injuries in the secondary, the front seven couldn’t generate pressure on the quarterback in 2018. This resulted in the defense giving up a lot of big plays by their opponents. The Panthers finished 2018 with 35 sacks, down from 2017’s total of 50. This lack of pressure put even more strain on an injury-riddled secondary, and the Panthers defense suffered because of it. Perhaps the most depressing part of the Panthers’ lack of sacks in 2018 was the fact that future Hall of Famer and Panthers GOAT Julius Peppers finished the season one half-sack shy of moving into third place all-time in sacks. (Peppers ended his career with 159.5 sacks, good enough for fourth all-time in NFL history.) It’s truly a shame that we didn’t get to witness a bit of history with Peppers getting one more sack Christian McCaffrey Jersey On Sale , but on the other hand we should consider ourselves fortunate to have the privilege of watching him play for so long.Coaching carousel Ron Rivera fired two defensive coaches and stripped Eric Washington of his play-calling duties during the midst of the team’s losing streak in the second half of the season. Once Rivera took over as the de-facto defensive coordinator the team played much better, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to turn the season around. It turns out the defense wasn’t the only reason the Panthers ended 2018 with a losing record. While 2018 didn’t end the way we wanted, there’s a chance the future will be brighter for Carolina with Rivera planning to call the plays on defense again in 2019.What’s next?There’s a lot more to the 2018 Panthers defense than I’ve covered today. So much that it will take more than one column to dive into all the details. Here at CSR we’re going to spend this week taking a closer look at the Panthers’ defense in 2018, and we’re going to provide some intricate details on each position group during the next few days. If that’s something that interests you, stay tuned!