Norv Turner is the old pro orchestrating the Panthers' hot hand
Norv Turner is an easy enough figure to mock. He looks like a sourpuss middle manager who chides you in monotone about improper filing of reports. In reality, it’s true the man has a wholesale lack of charisma.
Though he rose to prominence with the 1990s Cowboys dynasty and has led a few other respectable if not-quite-championship-caliber teams, Norv has been around long enough to have a highlight reel of failures at the head coaching and coordinator levels. While he was once hailed as an offensive mastermind, with time and the emergence of other innovative coaches, the perception of Turner is much more closely aligned to the old guard than the vanguard.
So when the Panthers named him as their new offensive coordinator this past offseason, the news drew a mostly bemused and acerbic reaction. This, analysts asked, was how the Panthers were finally going to inject life into an often-sputtering offense?
Turner had become shorthand for the type of uninspired retread coaching hire that has become the standard in the league. After all, there are plenty of mainstays in the NFL coaching ranks who get job after job no matter how well they perform. Just look at Gregg Williams getting another crack at being a head coach despite little semblance of success since the Bountygate days with the Saints.
Yet, while it took a little bit to get the offense going, the decision to bring on Norv is beginning to look like a smart one for the Panthers. Cam Newton is quietly having his best year since his MVP season in 2015. In fact, his passer rating at the midway point of 2018 would be a career high.
In the last two weeks, the Panthers have put up a staggering 78 points. Chunk plays, which came only sparingly in the early part of the season, are becoming the norm. As Norv grows more comfortable with the stable of young players added to the offense, the more daring he’s been willing to be in his misdirection-heavy schemes. Rarely do the Panthers end up doing what they initially line up to do on offense. Then there’s the further complication of dealing with Newton's bulk running read-options at the defense:
Case in point came on Sunday when second-year receiver Chris Samuels turned a double reverse into a 33-yard touchdown during which he ran for 103 yards total, juking defenders with ease en route to a score that broke the game open against Tampa Bay in the first half. Carolina got another nice gain with an end-around out of the I-formation, an unusual look that also fooled the Bucs.
Carolina still lacks a breakout No. 1 receiver, as it has for years, though first-round pick D.J. Moore’s development has been encouraging, and Devin Funchess has been respectable in the putative role. Christian McCaffrey is becoming one of the best pass-catching threats out of the backfield. So there are weapons but still not that one go-to guy.
The preseason started with the last wideout the Panthers thought would be the anchor for the corps, Kelvin Benjamin, badmouthing Newton and questioning his preparation. As Benjamin continues to be erratic and Newton has his best season in years, it’s fair to write that off as the sour grapes many recognized it was at the time.
But with still no star in the passing game outside of Newton, Turner has leaned on distribution over matchups. Twelve players got touches on the ground and in the pass game in the win over the Buccaneers. Samuel has emerged as one of those weapons teams love to deploy just a few times a game to great effect and to keep the defense on its toes. The Carolina skill players mostly don’t yet have the name recognition, but they make up for it in speed.
On Thursday, the Panthers visit Pittsburgh to kick off a five-week stretch in which they play on the road four times. A 6-2 start is all well and good, but there’s still plenty of opportunity for things to go awry. 2018’s NFC wild-card race so far isn’t as airtight as analysts predicted at the outset of the season. Ten wins was the minimum for entry in 2017. This season, considering the underachieving by Philadelphia, Green Bay and Atlanta, a wild-card berth may very well go to a team with nine wins.
Should the Panthers come out of their road trip still in contention for the division title, they close out the regular season with two of their last three games against the first-place Saints. New Orleans handed Carolina a devastating three-game sweep last season, beating the Panthers twice in the regular season and adding a third defeat for good measure in the wild-card round.
Repeatedly being on the wrong side of the Saints' offensive barrage, as well as sharing a division with the similarly point-happy Falcons, surely pressured the Panthers to come up with solutions during the offseason. The early returns are good, but as with last year, it’s likely to come down to whether they're good enough to get past New Orleans. The Saints finally taking down the Rams on Sunday shows they’re going to be once again among the NFC’s best. Already a game back in the NFC South, the Panthers might need to go no worse than 5-1 in their remaining games not against the Saints and then sweep New Orleans if they want to take the division.
That’s why the short-week test against Pittsburgh is so important. The Panthers haven’t beaten the Steelers since their inaugural season in 1996. Being a non-conference opponent, that means only a five-game losing streak, though the most recent three of those have come with Ben Roethlisberger under center. Pittsburgh is loaded with the kind of stars on offense the Panthers wish they had, but Carolina is making it work all the same with its less star-studded cast.
Having to win a shootout in Pittsburgh seems counterintuitive for NFL purists, but there’s a good chance that’s what will happen. For the first time in a while, Carolina is up to that challenge, and that's largely thanks to Turner's scheming and Newton's return to MVP form.
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