Carolina Secondary Could Be Liability Due to Injuries

The Carolina Panthers are out of the spotlight this week as they prepare for their playoff opener next week during a bye week, while the wildcard round of the NFL postseason plays out this weekend.

The Panthers lost just one game all season and head into the postseason as the NFC’s No. 1 seed with the best overall record in the league.

Carolina has been quite lucky this season with few injuries other than Kelvin Benjamin its number one wide out but he was injured and lost for the season before it even started.

However, this week the Panthers did lost one of their key starters but hope his replacement can step up and fill in.

Last week in the final game of the regular season, Carolina won to wrap up the No. 1 seed, but lost Charles Tillman their star cornerback when he tore his ACL.

The injury to Tillman hurts Carolina, since their secondary is depleted already heading into the playoffs. Bene Benwikere another cornerback was lost a couple of weeks ago. Benwikere plays the slot and broke his leg during Carolina’s 38-0 rout of Atlanta in December.

He actually was the starter at one time in place of Tillman during the early part of the season when Tillman has a sore knee.

Josh Norman is still healthy and one of the top players in the NFL on defense, but the only remaining defensive back who can hold his own is Cortland Finnegan who joined the Panthers in the earlier part of December after coming out of retirement.

Wide receiver Benjamin has returned to practice. However, because of being on injured reserve, he cannot play but it gives the team an early optimistic outlook for the 2016 regular season.

One can only imagine what the Panthers will be like next season with a healthy Benjamin or if they would have still been undefeated this season if he had played.

Ted Ginn Jr. saw his eight-year career revitalized after joining the Panthers. He had his best season this year with 44 catches and 10 touchdowns.

However, he sat out the season’s last game with an injured knee. He said he was able to play in that game but did not want to risk the playoffs. He is back at practice preparing for the role he has played well this season.

The Panthers will start practice again on Monday preparing for their next opponent that will have to visit their home field.