After the Carolina Panthers lost Super Bowl 50 to Denver, head coach Ron Rivera said his team could take inspiration from the Broncos, who returned two years after losing the game to claim the Lombardi Trophy.
With the Panthers aiming to follow Denver's lead, they first set about creating their defense in the image of that 2015 team.
A year after their youth movement in the secondary led to some long Sundays, the Panthers went with an old-school approach on defense.
Or in the cases of defensive end Julius Peppers (37) and strong safety Mike Adams (36), really old.
Peppers, Adams and cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, who's 29 but entering his ninth season, were the big free-agent additions on defense.
All have been in the league a long time. Peppers and Munnerlyn began their careers with Carolina.
"That's by design," Rivera said of the push to add experience to the defense. "It's one of the things that we struggled with last year because so many young guys were put in some very tough and difficult positions. I think bringing Julius back and Captain back brings some of that stability that you need."
The defense from the Super Bowl year � besides being opportunistic � had a graybeard quality. Cornerback Charles Tillman and defensive end Jared Allen retired after the season, while veteran defensive backs Roman Harper and Cortland Finnegan signed with New Orleans.
The Panthers didn't replace that experience void last season, which only deepened when general manager Dave Gettleman jettisoned Pro Bowl corner Josh Norman and picked up three rookie corners in the draft.
"We lost some very veteran, savvy guys last year," Rivera added. "This year we've added a couple guys I think will be really big for us."
Rivera sees Peppers becoming this year's version of Allen, with Adams filling the role formerly held by Harper and Munnerlyn stepping in as the veteran corner the Panthers lost with the departures of Norman, Tillman and Finnegan.
