The Carolina Panthers were THE team to beat in the 2015-2016 NFL season. Their offense was number one in the league in points scored (31.2 per game), their defense was ranked sixth in points allowed per game (19.2), their quarterback, Cam Newton was the league's Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year and the team cruised to a 15-1 record.
Most pundits chose the Panthers to defeat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50-and this game was touted and hyped (oh, the HYPE!) into a battle between the "old guard," Peyton Manning, and the "new face of the league" Cam Newton, with Newton and the new school Panthers primed to shove "chicken parm that tastes so good" into the face of the Broncos and (perennial TV pitchman) Manning. These Panthers were too good. They were so good that it was too easy for them this year.
And maybe that was the problem ... it was too easy.
Most pundits chose the Panthers to defeat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50-and this game was touted and hyped (oh, the HYPE!) into a battle between the "old guard," Peyton Manning, and the "new face of the league" Cam Newton, with Newton and the new school Panthers primed to shove "chicken parm that tastes so good" into the face of the Broncos and (perennial TV pitchman) Manning. These Panthers were too good. They were so good that it was too easy for them this year.
And maybe that was the problem ... it was too easy.
It was clear from the start of the game that something wasn't right with the Panthers. The swagger, the energy (some might say cockiness), the level of confidence that they brought into NFL stadiums this year was gone. The things that had worked all year stopped working. And when adversity arose, it looked to me like they didn't know what to do, or how to handle it. In the end, they didn't.
Isn't it funny that we often go to great lengths to avoid adversity, pain, disappointment, and failure in our lives. Yet, as cliched as it sounds, it's the "crappy" that leads us to the "happy" doesn't it? It's experiencing pain, and the experience of leaning into and walking through the pain, and somehow finding a way to keep going on, regardless of the outcome, that enables us to become champions.
If you watched the press conferences after the Super Bowl, you could see the extreme disappointment in the Panthers faces, especially Newton who kept his head cloaked under a hoodie and his answers short, not so sweet and then quickly exited the stage. His aura just screamed, "It wasn't supposed to be like this! We were too good."
And maybe they were "too good" and that's what cost them in the end. (Well, that and the Broncos defense. Wow.)
Sometimes a little adversity is a great thing ... even if it doesn't feel like it at the time. Remember, sometimes your greatest setback is the setup for your comeback!
Isn't it funny that we often go to great lengths to avoid adversity, pain, disappointment, and failure in our lives. Yet, as cliched as it sounds, it's the "crappy" that leads us to the "happy" doesn't it? It's experiencing pain, and the experience of leaning into and walking through the pain, and somehow finding a way to keep going on, regardless of the outcome, that enables us to become champions.
If you watched the press conferences after the Super Bowl, you could see the extreme disappointment in the Panthers faces, especially Newton who kept his head cloaked under a hoodie and his answers short, not so sweet and then quickly exited the stage. His aura just screamed, "It wasn't supposed to be like this! We were too good."
And maybe they were "too good" and that's what cost them in the end. (Well, that and the Broncos defense. Wow.)
Sometimes a little adversity is a great thing ... even if it doesn't feel like it at the time. Remember, sometimes your greatest setback is the setup for your comeback!
