Welcome to SB Nation FanPulse

Welcome to SB Nation FanPulse Carolina Panthers Hoodie , a survey of fans across the NFL powered by SurveyMonkey. Each week, we send 32 polls to 100+ plugged in fans from each team. Panthers fans, sign up HERE to join FanPulse.Panthers fans are a little more confident in their team this week following that amazing 4th quarter comeback to defeat the Eagles 21-17 on the road. According to our FanPulse survey, fans’ confidence jumped from 35% to 48% after just one win. I guess it’s true what they say—winning does cure all.The second question in this week’s survey was also interesting: Will the Panthers make the playoffs? A surprising 90% of our survey takers answered this question with a resounding yes. I figured it would be a little lower than that, considering our confidence level is only at 48%. Perhaps a good portion of people think we’ll make the playoffs and then flame out in the Wild Card Round? I don’t know. (If you answered ‘not confident’ and ‘yes’ on those two questions... please feel free to provide your thoughts on what led you to those choices.)To compare how confident Panthers fans are in our playoff chances, let’s compare our results to the rest of the NFC South.Will your team make the playoffs? (NFC South)TeamYes (%)No (%)TeamYes (%)No (%)Looks about right to me. The top two teams in the division are more confident than the bottom two teams. Big surprise, there.What about you, Panthers fans? Do you think the Panthers will make the playoffs? How confident are you? Share your thoughts with us!It’s time to take the bubble wrap off Taylor Moton Ready or not Customized Carolina Panthers Jerseys , but Taylor Moton will likely be starting at right tackle for the injured Daryl Williams when the Panthers kick off the 2018 regular season against the Dallas Cowboys. Williams has been diagnosed with a torn MCL and dislocated patella and currently does not have a timetable for his return. Until the Panthers share more information on Williams’ rehab, all we can do at this point is speculate as to when he’ll be back, so let’s speculate! Dr. David Chao at National Football Post said this in 2015 about MCL injuries:Dr. Chao then noted the Broncos Shane Ray had suffered a high grade MCL sprain and would miss 4-6 weeks. This is generally consistent with published information from the University of California San Francisco which says the MCL “usually responds very well to non-surgical treatment” and a Grade 3 tear usually takes four to eight weeks to heal. I’m not a doctor, but let’s assume Williams will be out eight weeks since he also had the issue with the patella. That puts his return sometime at the end of September which is Week 4 of the NFL season. Carolina conveniently has a bye during Week 4 which means Daryl might only miss the team’s first three games. (Or he could be out a lot longer, we just don’t know yet.)An eight week recovery leaves Taylor Moton starting at right tackle against the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, and Cincinnati Bengals. Each of these teams had good defenses last year with Atlanta having the No. 8 scoring defense (19.7 PPG), Dallas the No. 13 (20.8 PPG) www.authenticscarolinapanthers.com , and Cincinnati the league-average No. 16 (21.8 PPG), per ESPN. Frankly, I’m excited to see what Moton will do as a starter against quality opponents. I’m on record as saying the Panthers wasted Moton’s rookie season last year by giving the second round pick just 64 offensive snaps while Amini Silatolu somehow played 256 snaps. It’s time to take off Taylor’s bubble wrap. The best case scenario, of course, is Moton holds his own as a fill-in starter and Williams returns somewhere around the Week 4 bye. We can all then breathe a sigh of relief in knowing Moton can provide solid depth for the rest of the year and potentially start next year if Daryl Williams can’t be re-signed. And who knows, maybe Moton steps in at left guard later this season if he looks good early on? Crazier things have happened. We saw virtually nothing from Taylor Moton during his rookie season. He’s an enigma. He’s a mystery. He’s all potential with no real track record. There will be no more hiding in 2018. The spotlight on Taylor Moton will be bright. Let’s hope he’s ready for prime time.