The no-huddle offensive attack continues to be one of the hottest trends in the NFL. The Carolina Panthers were one of several teams that had a lot of success by increasing their usage of the no-huddle during the 2014 NFL season.

One of the biggest reasons why the no-huddle has become so popular in the NFL is because of its ability to render defensive substitutions almost useless. According to the NFL rulebook, defenses are allowed to substitute during a no-huddle series if the offense also makes a substitution; however, if the offense sticks with its personnel grouping while running the no-huddle attack, the defense cannot substitute.

SBNation.com writer Danny Kelly explains why this is such a huge advantage for offenses:

"One of my favorite aspects of the no-huddle/hurry-up is that the teams that are best at it are also the teams that are the most versatile, personnel-wise. Running the hurry-up is about more than simply dictating tempo, it's about dictating matchups. By not allowing an opposing defense to substitute specialized players based on what personnel you put onto the field, you can vary between run and pass depending on what vulnerabilities the defense presents."

The Panthers capitalized on these defensive vulnerabilities all season long with their no-huddle attack, often out of their "11 personnel" grouping (1 running back, 1 tight end, 3 wide receivers), which is the Panthers most effective running and passing formation.

Here is one interesting example of the Panthers running the hurry-up offense out of their 11 personnel package, during their Week 16 matchup against the Cleveland Browns. What’s so fascinating about this series is how the Panthers were able to run the exact same play three times in a row and still gain huge chunks of yardage on the ground. This is rare in the NFL.

(These are embedded HTML5 videos, courtesy of NFL Game Rewind. To pause, fast forward or rewind the play, or to watch in full screen, simply right click anywhere on the video and select "show controls")

It all starts with a third down and five situation for the Panthers, from their own 42 yard line.

The Panthers line up in their 11 personnel package, with Kelvin Benjamin and Corey Brown as the outside receivers, and Jerricho Cotchery in the slot. Greg Olsen and Jonathan Stewart are both lined up in the backfield. Olsen will end up staying in the backfield to help pass protect on the play.

The Browns are in a 2-4-5 formation, a speed rush package commonly used by 3-4 defenses on passing downs. In the secondary, the Browns are in a Cover 1 defense, which means all their cornerbacks are in man coverage, with one single free safety deep. The strong safety is playing a "Robber" role, which is like zone coverage with the added freedom of helping double team any receiver by reading and jumping (basically "robbing") the route.

The Browns blitz with five rushers. Newton’s first read on this play is Kelvin Benjamin, who is running a quick out route, but he is double teamed as a result of the cornerback in man coverage, and the strong safety in the "robber" role. Cam then moves onto Jerricho Cotchery, but sees Cotchery is unable to get any separation on his post route. Cam moves onto his third read, Corey Brown. Brown runs a beautiful quick out route against tight coverage from fellow rookie cornerback Pierre Desir, and is able to get a solid four yards of separation. Cam throws the pass, and the Panthers pick up 10 yards.

Immediately after this completion, the Panthers go into their no-huddle attack. The Browns defense is stuck with their nickel speed rush package, leaving them extremely vulnerable against the run due to only having 2 defensive linemen up front. The Browns only have six men in the box.

The Panthers call the "Counter OF" run, which is a gap run play (blocking man to man, instead of zone). The right guard Trai Turner pulls and kicks out the edge defender, while Greg Olsen will take out the inside linebacker.

Stewart has a nice run lane, and ends up gaining 17 yards on the run.

The Panthers continue to operate out of the no-huddle, so the Browns still can’t substitute. The Panthers run the exact same play again.

Once again, the Browns only put six men in the box. Turner pulls and smashes the edge defender, while Olsen once again takes out the inside linebacker. Byron Bell also makes a great block on the inside lineman, giving Stewart another big run lane.

Next, the Panthers substitute Tolbert for Stewart, and run the exact same Counter OF play.

This time the Browns are ready, and overload the run side with 4 defenders. They also drop the strong safety, so there is now a seven man box.

However, Andrew Norwell and Ryan Kalil are both able to make great blocks, and Tolbert gains 8 more yards.

On the next play, it seems like the Panthers are going to run the Counter OF play yet again. However, Cam sees something he doesn’t like with the defense, so he audibles, and calls a Power run with left guard Andrew Norwell pulling.

The Panthers end up gaining five yards on the play.

Unfortunately the Panthers offense got shut down once it got inside the 10-yard line. It’s interesting to note that they went back into the huddle after Tolbert’s five yard run, and the resulting plays were two incomplete passes, and a one yard run from Jonathan Stewart. The Panthers ended up kicking a field goal. Perhaps if they stayed in their no-huddle attack, they might have continued to catch the Browns defense off-guard, and capitalize with a touchdown on the drive.

According to Coach Ron Rivara, the Panthers could utilize the no-huddle more often in 2015. One of the biggest reasons why is because it helps quarterback Cam Newton, both in the run game (less pressure on Cam to make plays) and in the passing game (secondaries can't effectively disguise coverage against no-huddle offenses, which gives Cam clearer passing reads).

"We just want to see him (Cam) pick right up where he left off," Rivera said. "One of the things we did to help him, once he was healthy and ready to roll, was to institute a no huddle. He seemed to handle that well. Starting from where we finished, we'd like to see him hone that skill."

With more talent at the wide receiver position, along with improved play from the offensive line, the Panthers should be in an even better position to execute their no-huddle offense this upcoming 2015 season.