The Carolina Panthers have had some inconsistencies over the past five seasons and have transitioned out of the John Fox era into the Cam Newton/Ron Rivera era. The constant has been general manager Marty Hurney.

RealGM has been using a statistic called the Trench Counter to rank NFL teams since the 2007 season.

The Trench Counter accounts for average yards per pass, yards per carry, penalty yards, first downs and turnovers to determine how well teams control the game in the most meaningful ways.

The Panthers rank 15th in Trench Counter from the 2007 season through 2011.

Below are Carolina’s season-by-season rankings, Trench Counter totals and actual record in parentheses.

2007: 22nd, -3.1 (7-9)
2008: 5th, +5.6 (12-4)
2009: 16th, +0.8 (8-8)
2010: 32nd, -8.2 (2-14)
2011: 14th, +0.9 (6-10)