Ron Borges

The Panthers spent the offseason seeking their kind of players and now that they have them, they and many prognosticators feel they're in position to kick around most of their opponents the old fashioned way — by running over them on offense and stuffing them at the line of scrimmage on defense.

Those are the two things coach John Fox believes in most. The way Fox sees pro football, you need to be able to run the ball with power and consistency and stop your opponent from doing the same. Because of injuries, they did neither as well as usual last season yet still came within a game of returning to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years, a sign of their overall strength.

After losing the NFC title game to the Seahawks, Fox realized his team had gotten away from its basic philosophy, and he took steps in the offseason to rectify the problems by adding two massive defensive tackles to shore up the run defense, a run-blocking center to become the foundation of an interior running game that seemed to have disappeared and added something old and something new in the backfield to give Carolina the kind of one-two punch they had the last time they ran to the Super Bowl powered by the legs of Stephen Davis and DeShaun Foster.

Davis is gone, his best years behind him (3.1 yards-per-carry last season), but Carolina re-signed Foster despite the fact he's been hamstrung by injuries three of the past four seasons. He averaged 4.3 yards a carry last year and rushed for a club-high 879 yards, but he'll be asked to carry much more of the load this season with Davis gone. If his body falters, Fox will give the ball to No. 1 pick DeAngelo Williams, a 5-foot-9 speed back who can get to the outside better than Foster. If things work the way Fox would like, Williams will complement Foster, and together they will tear teams apart running behind a line that was already sound but has been improved by the signing of center Justin Hartwig to replace Jeff Mitchell, thereby putting less pressure on quarterback Jake Delhomme and what should be an improved passing game.

The signing of free agent Keyshawn Johnson will take some of the double teams away from 2005's most explosive NFL receiver, Steve Smith.

Smith led the NFL in receiving yards (1,563) and tied for the lead in catches (103) and touchdowns (12) while having essentially no one to take any of the pressure off him. That is witnessed by the fact Foster, a running back, was next on the club in receptions with 34. Johnson gives Delhomme a large possession receiver to look for when Smith is occupied by two and even three defenders, a point they made on their first pass in preseason, an 18-yard completion to Johnson.

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Defensively, Carolina is not merely relying on the hope that Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kris Jenkins has recovered from two major injuries that have sidelined him the past two seasons, a loss that seriously wounded Carolina's run defense. They tried that a year ago and it didn't work, so this time they signed 350-pound Maake Kemoeatu and 301-pound Damione Lewis, two veteran interior run stuffers. Kemoeatu won the starting job and Jenkins has held up so far. If that continues, there will be little running room in the interior of the Panthers defense this season, which is just the way Fox likes it.

Hot seat
DeShaun Foster. The offense is counting on him to stay on the field because when he's there, he's given them the kind of running game they base the offense around. But being in uniform has been more difficult than it might appear for Foster, who has missed 31 of the 64 regular-season games during his four-year career. That included the NFC Championship game last January when he was sidelined with a broken leg.

Despite having started only 10 games in his career, Foster was handed a three-year, $14.5 million contract because Carolina is counting on him.

Overheard
The signing of Johnson was a gamble by general manager Marty Hurney. Not because of any fear that he lacks skills but rather over the question of whether he and Smith can co-exist. Both have big egos that must be fed, but Smith is the more explosive deep threat and hence the bigger star. Can Johnson accept a lesser role without sulking or throwing a sideline tantrum? That remains to be seen, but so far so good.

Outlook
While the defensive line has been shored up, the linebacking corps is in flux. How well that situation develops will come down to how quickly former safety Thomas Davis adjusts to weakside linebacker. This is the glaring area of weakness in the Panthers' postseason hopes so the defensive coaches will work hard to find replacements for departed linebackers Brandon Short and Will Witherspoon, Carolina's best linebacker a year ago. Davis must fill one of those spots and do it well enough not to be a liability. Davis has the speed to be special but does he have the instincts?

Prediction
First

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