Sunday, October 5, 2008

5 things I liked about the Panthers' win

The Panthers haven’t been this dominant on a Sunday in years – they totally dismantled Kansas City, 34-0, to go to 4-1. It was a win so devastating that now I even remember which backup QB McCown brother the Panthers employ, since Josh played most of the fourth quarter.

Normally, I make my first postgame Panther blog a list of things I liked and things I didn’t about the Panthers’ performance. Given the enormity of this whipping, however, we’ll drop the dislikes just this once.

As for the 5 things I liked the most:

** THE PANTHERS' DEFENSE. Linebacker Jon Beason said only last week that he was ready for some “goose eggs” from this squad, and darned if Carolina didn’t post its first one of the season today. The Panthers were so dominant in the first half that Kansas City had only one first down. Carolina looked like a varsity high school squad facing a bunch of eighth-graders and just creamed Larry Johnson (7 carries, 2 yards).

** DeANGELO WILLIAMS. The Panther tailback had zero TDs on the season entering the afternoon. Now he has three following that spectacular first half, along with his first 100-yard rushing game of the season. I'm sure it was only coincidence he did so after I wrote in Sunday's Charlotte Observer he needed to have a breakout game soon to keep his starting job.

** THE PANTHERS' OFFENSIVE LINE. Despite missing both starting offensive tackles in Jordan Gross and Jeff Otah, it blocked admirably for both the run and the pass.

** AN ACTUAL HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE. Carolina went 2-6 in 2007 at Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers are now 3-0 in 2008, and you could see the fans had some pep in their step as they walked into the stadium Sunday.

** JAKE DELHOMME. He’s had one poor throw in the past two weeks – an interception in the end zone Sunday. But he makes so many good decisions – he threw for 236 yards and two TDs Sunday -- that the Panthers have a chance to go a long way with him this season. He will be the subject of my column in Monday's Observer.

-30-

1 comment:

radicaldad said...

Listen to the free radical show, on itunes for full nfc south coverage that is funny and informitive. Great win!! I was at the live obama speech here in asheville, during the second half. Wow!! Defense was dominant and the offense is clicking. Lets pray for health the rest of the year.