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CHARLOTTE (AP) — For a team that went 12-4 last season and has 20 of 22 starters back, there sure is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Carolina Panthers.

Eight months of bad news will do that to an NFL team.

Consider the spiraling events since Carolina took a 7-0 lead on Arizona in last season's NFC divisional playoffs:

l Jake Delhomme threw five interceptions and lost a fumble, Larry Fitzgerald shredded the secondary and the visiting Cardinals cruised, 33-13.

l Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers declared he wanted to play elsewhere, skipped offseason workouts, then begrudgingly agreed to return on a salary-cap busting one-year, $16.7 million deal.

l Top run-stuffer Maake Kemoeatu tore an Achilles' tendon not 30 minutes into the first training camp practice, the first of numerous key injuries.

l Owner Jerry Richardson's two sons abruptly left the organization, leaving no clear successor to the 73-year-old head man, who is recovering from a heart transplant.

l The Panthers went winless in the preseason, the first-team offense scored only one touchdown and the defense mimicked the shaky play of late last season.

All Carolina has to do is overcome all that — and what is projected as the NFL's second-toughest schedule — to post consecutive winning seasons for the first time in the franchise's inconsistent history.

"You can't read into the preseason too much," safety Chris Harris insisted.

With Peppers, dynamic running back DeAngelo Williams and explosive receiver Steve Smith, the Panthers have weapons. Yet there were few bright spots in an 0-4 preseason.

They couldn't tackle and were slow to adjust to new defensive coordinator Ron Meeks' system, and the offense failed to move the ball consistently. Those are bad signs with Philadelphia, Atlanta and Dallas looming in the first three weeks.

It will help if Jon Beason returns this week as he expects. The speedy middle linebacker and top tackler the past two seasons has been sidelined since Aug. 22 with a sprained knee ligament.

Linebackers Thomas Davis and Na'il Diggs also missed time with injuries, and safety Charles Godfrey hopes to play against the Eagles with a cast protecting a broken hand.

"We've had a lot of nicks throughout the preseason," coach John Fox said. "I don't think we've had our whole starting group out there at all."

It's unclear who one of those defensive starters will be. Louis Leonard, acquired from Cleveland last week, may take over Kemoeatu's role on a line that has produced little pressure.

Teammates insist Peppers, who had a career-high 14½ sacks last season, is committed to the team. He reported to camp on time and hasn't missed a practice. But he was not a factor in parts of seven quarters of play in the preseason, totaling four tackles, no sacks and one quarterback hurry.

The offense, led by Williams, carried the defense late last season — until Delhomme had one of the worst performances in NFL playoff history.

"I let my teammates down," Delhomme said Tuesday. "That crushed me more than anything."

Carolina remains committed to the 34-year-old quarterback, who had reconstructive elbow surgery in 2007. He received a new contract and faced no competition in camp.

Delhomme's top receiver remains Smith, the four-time Pro Bowl choice who has recovered from a scary shoulder injury in training camp that limited his work in preseason games.

The only touchdown by the first team during the preseason was Williams' nifty, tackle-breaking 25-yard run against Miami. Williams, who set a franchise record with 1,515 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns in a breakout 2008, looked more than ready to stay among the NFL's elite backs.

Trouble is, Jonathan Stewart, who teamed with Williams to give Carolina the most productive 1-2 run tandem in the NFL in 2008, missed virtually all of training camp with a mysterious Achilles' tendon injury. At first, Fox said he was just resting Stewart. Then he started listing him as day-to-day — nearly a month ago.

Then there's the shaky kick-return game, lack of offensive line depth and front-office uncertainty.

With Richardson apparently running off his two sons, it's hard for anybody to feel secure — including Fox and GM Marty Hurney.

And history indicates the Panthers are due for a fall.

A year after reaching the NFC championship game in 1996, the Panthers went 7-9. They had the same record in 2004, a season after reaching the Super Bowl. They went 8-8 in 2006, a year after a loss in the NFC title game.

The franchise's fourth playoff berth ended with a thud in January. Now the Panthers hope to avoid a steep fall by erasing the eight ugly months that followed.

"We have enough hunger built up in this locker room," wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad said. "We'll definitely be ready."