Halfway through their 2008 campaign the Carolina Panthers are 6-2, sitting atop the NFC south.  Though the team has struggled at times, head Coach John Fox has to be pretty happy where his team is at.  The Panthers have come from behind three times in the second half to win, two of which were by as much as 17 points, and sport and undefeated record at home.

The Panthers have started off the season very well.  Offensively DeAngelo Williams, who is on pace to become the Panther’s first 1,000 yard rusher since Stephen Davis, has really begun to shine.  Jake Delhomme is back and better than ever, showing how much this team really depends on not only his presence on the field, but his leadership off it as well.  The Panthers were able to get past an early bump in the road with Steve Smith’s suspension, going 2-0 without him, which proved pivotal.  The resigning of Moose in the offseason has also done wonders to help improve a previously inconsistent offense.

On the other side of the ball, you can’t ask for much more.  Jon Beason is playing like a Pro Bowler, Julius Peppers seems back to form, and rookie Charles Godfrey has solidified the safety position.  Statistically they may not look great, but they have been playing extremely well as a unit, coming up with important stops, timely takeaways, and doing a pretty good job of keeping opponents out of the endzone.

Special teams has been solid too. The ageless John Kasay has been a perfect 16-16 on all of his field goal attempts, while Rhys Lloyd has proved invaluable on kickoffs, greatly effecting field position during the game.

All of that said there still are some areas that need improving

Apply more pressure: So far this season the Panthers have a total of 13 sacks, tied for 25th in the NFL.  We’ve seen flashes of the Julius Peppers of old, but the fact is that he has no one on the other side of the line to help draw some double teams off of him.  Charles Johnson had a big game last week against Arizona, with two sacks and a forced fumble, but he is going to have to keep up that kind of play if the Panthers expect to get consistent pressure with their front four.  As well as the secondary has been playing, Kurt Warner showed last week how opposing quarterbacks can dissect a defense if given enough time in the pocket.

Improve on the Road: Besides the incredible victory out in San Diego on opening day, the Panthers have not played very well on the road, getting blown out 47-13 against Tampa Bay and Minnesota combined.  It will be imperative that the Panthers come out and play well against Oakland next week, as it will be the last road game they play against an opponent with a losing record.  Again we go back to dividing the season, and if the Panthers can win the rest of their home games (vs Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Denver) and split their final four road games, they are looking at a 12-4 record and possibly a first round bye.

Open up the Offense: So far this season the Panthers offense has been pretty good, but Jeff Davidson needs to start opening up the play book a little more, something he was unable to do last year with Delhomme out.   With Jeff Otah and Ryan Kalil expected back next week, Davidson has a chance to start pulling out some of the stops and fully implementing his offense.  This means get the tight ends more involved, using the “wildcat” formation, and of course getting the ball to Smitty as much as possible.

As Jake Delhomme wisely put it, the only thing that being 6-2 assures you is that you are going to be at least 6-10 at the end of the season.  That type of one-game-at-a-time mentality is fundamental in maintaning your momentum and finishing the season strong.  With the Panthers facing Oakland and Detroit the next two weeks they have to focus on thier opponents one at a time and not get cocky.  If they can win these next two games, they have a great shot at getting to the playoffs and winning, just like they did the last two times they were 6-2 at the half, both years ending up in the Conference Championship game, and in 2003, the Super Bowl.

Tags: deangelo williams, Jake Delhomme, midseason