Panther fans are about to see a lot of Greg Olsen. Does he think team will make playoffs?
Carolina fans are about to get a big dose of former star tight end Greg Olsen, who will be the Fox Sports TV analyst for each of the next two Panther games.
Olsen, who retired from the NFL earlier this year and still lives in Charlotte with his family, will travel to Texas to broadcast the Carolina at Dallas game on Sunday. It will be the first time he works a Panther game as a broadcaster rather than a player. He then will get to stay home for a week to broadcast the Panthers-Philadelphia Eagles game in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium on Oct. 10.
“I hope the Panthers go undefeated so I can call an entire year from home,” Olsen joked Wednesday when we spoke by phone.
Seriously, though, where does Olsen think the 3-0 Panthers will wind up in January?
In the playoffs, he said, most likely getting there via one of the NFC’s three wild-card slots.
“I don’t know if they’re going to be able to win the division,” Olsen said of the Panthers, who he played for from 2011-19 while posting three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. “I think Tampa — just with that experience and Tom Brady and whatnot — might be a tough hill to climb. But I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that the Panthers can’t find themselves in the playoffs. The (NFC South) division is top-heavy with Tampa. But Atlanta is kind of going through a rebuild and the Panthers have already gotten a win against New Orleans.”
The Panthers have limped to three straight losing seasons since making the playoffs in 2017, but the team’s most recent two 3-0 starts produced Super Bowl appearances in 2003 and 2015. Olsen acknowledged the Panthers’ 2021 schedule has been favorable so far.
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“But you don’t apologize for that,” he said. “You play who you play. As the season progresses, they’re going to face better offenses and better teams overall. Hopefully by then they can get (Christian) McCaffrey back.”
Olsen also said he believed the No. 1 reason the Panthers have started 3-0 is quarterback play.
“Sam Darnold has really answered a lot of questions,” Olsen said.
I’ll have more from my Q&A with Olsen in a more extensive story later this week. The Panthers-Cowboys game, which will start at 1 p.m. Sunday, will be broadcast by the Fox Sports announcing crew of Olsen, play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt and sideline reporter Pam Oliver.
More Panthers reading
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+ New Panthers cornerback C.J. Henderson still not sure why the Jaguars traded him
+ A look at what’s off between Sam Darnold and Robby Anderson through Panthers’ 3-0 start
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 3:46 PM.
