It was not long ago when the winner of the NFC South this season looked like a foregone conclusion: The Saints, recent powers in the division, were marching toward yet another title with seemingly little competition standing in their way.
Then the Carolina Panthers woke up from an early-season slumber that included losing their first two games and a 1-3 start.
Eight consecutive wins later and the Panthers are 9-3 and tied for the division lead with the Saints, whom they play Sunday night in New Orleans in what has turned out to be a division showdown few expected would unfold just two months ago.
Are the Panthers, who have not made the playoffs since 2008, when they went 12-4 and lost in the divisional round, for real this season?
That should be determined in the next three weeks with two games against the Saints — the two play again Dec. 21 in Carolina.
The Saints are coming off a Monday night battle in Seattle that was billed as a clash for home-field advantage in the playoffs. Now, after a 34-7 shellacking at the hands of the Seahawks, it looks as if any NFC team headed to the Super Bowl is going to have to go through Seattle. The Saints are now fighting simply to get one home playoff game by staving off the Panthers for the division title. Wild-card teams generally do not get to play at home in the postseason.
Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, in his third season in Carolina, was perceived to be on the hot seat at 1-3. Now he is looking like a Coach of the Year candidate.
The Panthers have consecutive signature wins in San Francisco and at home over the Patriots during their winning streak, so they are to be taken seriously.
Third-year quarterback Cam Newton is having his best season yet, completing 61.7 percent of his passes with 19 TDs, 11 INTs and an 88.1 rating. Newton also has 447 rushing yards and six rushing TDs.
Newton has 13 TD passes and five rushing TDs while completing 66 percent of his passes during the NFL-best eight-game winning streak.
More significant than Newton’s numbers has been his maturity. Once known as a “me’’ player — who came into the NFL as the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, concerned as much about his “brand’’ as he was about leading his teammates — Newton has become known to those who are around him regularly as a consummate team player and leader.
Asked last week by a Charlotte Observer writer about his role in the eight-game winning streak, Newton said: “We all wanted this. … I don’t want to take the credit for things that I’m not doing. It’s just not No. 1 [his uniform number] out there on the field.’’
Newton, who used to unleash a me-first “Superman’’ TD celebration that he now has toned down, insisted his team-first attitude “is not a facade.”
“This is not fake. This is not something that somebody’s prepping me to say — to deflect all the credit off yourself. It’s true,” he said “If I wasn’t being honest with you guys, I wouldn’t have the integrity to go back in that locker room and look those guys in their eyes.”
Newton is ably complemented by a rushing attack that is averaging 129.3 yards per game, paced by DeAngelo Williams and short-yardage back Mike Tolbert. Plus, Jonathan Stewart recently returned from offseason ankle surgery.
Defensively, the Panthers are ranked No. 1 overall in the NFL. They’re ranked second in the league against the run, allowing 80.2 yards rushing per game, and are second in sacks with 39.
There is depth in the front seven with linebackers Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis, and defensive linemen Greg Hardy, Charles Johnson and Colin Cole, along with rookie defensive linemen Star Lotulelei and Kwann Short contributing.
Their secondary, nicknamed “The Legion of Whom’’ because it does not include household names, is as productive as any in the league, led by cornerbacks Captain Munnerlyn, Josh Thomas and Drayton Florence and safeties Robert Lester, Mike Mitchell and Quintin Mikell. They are allowing just 209.6 passing yards per game and have yielded just nine TDs while making 16 INTs.
“We feel like we are headed toward a serious playoff defense,’’ Hardy told the Charlotte Observer.
On special teams, the Panthers are strong in the kicking game, with kicker Graham Gano, having converted 18 of 20 field goals — including 6-for-6 from 50 or more yards. He also leads the NFL in touchbacks on kickoffs at a rate better than 75 percent. Punter Brad Nortman is averaging 47.5 yards per kick and 40.7 net yards, and he booted a career-long 72-yarder two weeks ago in Miami.
So what looked like a flawed team that seemed to be headed for a fifth consecutive non-winning season in Carolina has become a revelation — a complete team that is threatening to shift the balance of power not only in the NFC South but in the entire NFC.
When the Panthers won their third consecutive game of this eight-game streak, it made them 4-3. That was the first time they’d been over .500 since 2008 — it was a baby step. Now, the goals have become much bolder, and will become even more aggressive with a win over the Saints, which would give them sole possession of first place in the NFC South.