CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Remember when the sky was falling because the Carolina Panthers lost their top four wide receivers from last season? Remember the woe-is-me attitude from fans who wondered who quarterback Cam Newton would throw to this season?

Don’t look now, but the Panthers are on the verge of having two 1,000-yard receivers for only the second time in team history.

Tight end Greg Olsen has a career-high 960 yards receiving on 81 catches and rookie wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin has 952 yards on 67 receptions.

If they surpass the 1,000-yard mark in Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, they will match the accomplishment Muhsin Muhammad and Patrick Jeffers achieved in 1999.

Muhammad had 1,253 yards receiving and Jeffers 1,082 that season in the more pass-friendly West Coast offense of George Seifert.

Is this vindication for all the criticism the Panthers took when they released all-time leading receiver Steve Smith and lost Brandon LaFell, Ted Ginn Jr. and Domenik Hixon to free agency?

“I think that would put a little comfort into the whole situation," Olsen said.

Consider:

• Olsen ranks 16th and Benjamin 19th in receiving yards. The only other teams with two players in the top 20 are Green Bay, New England and Denver.

• Smith ranks 23rd in receiving yards with 926 and LaFell ranks 27th with 819. Ginn has only 13 catches for 184 yards, so he’s not in the top 50 in either conference. Hixon suffered a season-ending knee injury in May.

• Smith and LaFell have a combined 13 touchdown catches. Olsen and Benjamin have 15.

Vindication?

“I wouldn’t say vindicated," Carolina coach Ron Rivera said. “There were just things we had to do."

But the Panthers did what they had to do knowing they had a proven receiver in Olsen, knowing they’d have a shot at a receiver like Benjamin in one of the best and deepest draft classes ever at that position.

They also felt comfortable in their chances of landing a free agent such as Jerricho Cotchery, who has 40 catches for 509 yards.

But having Olsen first and foremost was critical.

“Right before the season we had a team meeting and everybody went around and said the things they want to bring to the table," Newton recalled. “And Greg stood up and said, in Greg’s way ... he wants to give everybody closure in the huddle that as long as they have Greg Olsen on the team, they’ll be all right.

“They don’t have to worry about the tight end responsibility and if he’s going to be able to make a play or not."

Newton wouldn’t look back at what he lost, but he didn’t hesitate to praise what he has.

“No doubt these guys have been playing great football at times with Kelvin Benjamin and Greg Olsen," he said. “One of them couldn’t do it without the other. They surely couldn’t do it without the other guys doing their roles."