No Super Bowl loser has made it back to the big game since the lovable, heartbreaking Buffalo Bills of 1993. Needless to say, Carolina couldn't care less.
"History said nobody won the NFC South twice, or three times in a row," fullback Mike Tolbert said, via ESPN.com. "We did it. Why can't it be done?"
Added tight end Greg Olsen: "This is too hard to come out half-assed and find ourselves 1-4 and wonder what's going on. We're not going to allow that to be the problem.
"Everything starts now. This is the next step. We're not going to win the Super Bowl today, but we're going to do all the right things to lead up to the first preseason game. That leads to our first regular-season (game), and so on and so forth."
Football is not a simple game, and rallying the collective psyche of 53 players and dozens of coaches and executives takes a lot out of a person. That's why head coach Ron Rivera is doing his best to focus on the positive energy from a year ago.
As we noted in this year's training camp preview, there's a good chance the Panthers could waltz into a matchup with the Cardinals on Oct. 30 at 6-0. While their schedule is harder than it was a year ago, there aren't many stumbling blocks that we haven't already seen Carolina sidestep. It's up to the rest of their division to make life more difficult.