That day, was not yesterday for the Panthers

by S4G

The Carolina Panthers played great football against the Colts - for about twenty five minutes. On the opening drive of the game Vinny Testaverde and the coaches orchestrated a very good football series. Marching 80 yards in around 11:00 minutes, and walking away with 7 points to show for their efforts. Then, on the defensive side of the ball the Panthers defense comes in and holds the defending Super Bowl champions to a three-and-out! After that little went well for the Panthers.

On the ensuing Colts punt Carolina's Ryne Robinson fumbles the punt, giving the Colts short field position. Still, the Panthers defense holds Payton Manning and company to a mere 3 points. For the rest of the half the Panthers and Colts went back and forth.

On one possession the Panthers tried consecutive long pass plays to Steve Smith - both were incomplete. As a fan I would have preferred a first down, but I understand what they were trying to do. With Steve Smith the play-maker, if they get him for a long completion, maybe even a touchdown, it might take some of the preasure off of the front line.

A dagger in the heart of the Panthers offense had to be a key turnover inside the Colts 10 yard line. That was a gift from the Colts who had a rare turnover of their own on a fumble that was recover by the Panthers on the Colts 26 yard line.

After that series the Colts went to a no-huddle offense halfway through the 2nd Quarter, and then the wheels started to come off the defense. Before the half the Colts drove down and scored a touchdown of their own. Entering the half the score was 7-10.

The second half of that game was just plain ugly for the Panthers. David Carr was unable to get Steve Smith the football once, and the running game was poor. The Colts continued their no huddle offense in the 2nd half and they were able to just push the Panthers defense at will. By the end of the 3rd Quarter it was all over with the exception of the game clock.

I do not coach football at any level, and my sons do not play the game either, so I cannot really claim to be an expert of the sport, but the Panthers are not going to go very far unless they can make some drastic improvements.

The Special teams are aweful! Giving Payton Manning anything less than 50 yards to move the football is just asking them to put up points.

The Defense really did a great job limiting them to just 3 after that costly mistake. But that had to take some of the winds out of the sails. The Defense is still giving me ulcers. They came out of the starting blocks hot and did some really good things. But once the Colts went to a no huddle they seemed almost lost - well, at least the Colts offense made them look that way. At best they were a half step behind - and that's all Payton Manning needed.

Carolina's Offense... and I feel like I am kicking a man when he's down when I say this... Three QB's injured in seven games. I read an article that the offensive line takes it personally when "their" Quarterback gets injured. If these men were samurai they'd be required to walk to mid-field and commit sepuku (after the third QB to get taken out of the game so far this season...). David Carr has never been able to get the ball to Steve Smith consistantly - the running backs are inconsistant - the wide receivers do not compliment each other well. In my opinion it was a huge mistake to let Keyshawn Johnson go.

Even with all of this going on the Panthers find themselves atop the weak NFC South, but how long will that last? Comparing the remaining schedules of the Panthers, Buccaneers, and the Saints (who are pulling up along the outside right now) it is still anyone's division. If the Panthers can keep pounding (to borrow their slogan to raise money for cancer research) they can really make it an interesting race - leading to a pivotal season ending matchup against the Bucs 30-December.