The last four teams to play for the NFC championship have the same goal: Super Bowl or bust.
Carolina, Arizona, Seattle and Green Bay are still the class of a conference that has far more pretenders than contenders. It’s a smart bet one of the four teams will be in Houston playing for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in February.
Reigning NFL MVP Cam Newton led the Panthers to a 17-1 record before Von Miller and the Broncos stifled them in the Super Bowl. Carolina returns the bulk of its roster except All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman, now in Washington. The offense should be even better because star receiver Kelvin Benjamin is back after a knee injury forced him to miss last season.
“Given the talent we have on the offensive side, it’s about every guy maximizing their role,” Newton said. “We don’t want to look back and say we didn’t maximize our opportunity with all these talents.”
The last eight teams to lose the Super Bowl have won at least 10 games the next season. But no team has reached the title game a year after losing since the 1993 Bills.