Friday, December 18, 2009

My Panthers-Vikings prediction

Thanks to the Brett Favre factor, this one will be played under the lights at Bank of America Stadium. That doesn’t mean this game is going to be ready for prime time, however.

-- If you’re not busy, keep a count for me Sunday on the different positive adjectives that NBC's announcers use to describe Favre. I mean it. Make a list and then e-mail it to me at sfowler@charlotteobserver.com. I’ve got the over-under at about 30.

-- Matt Moore makes his third straight start today for Carolina. What we’ve seen from Moore – one really good deep throw per game and not a whole lot else – doesn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence. No matter who is doing the picking for Carolina in the April 2010 draft, put me down right now as betting that the Panthers will take a quarterback at some point.

-- What would have happened if the Panthers had pursued Favre in the offseason? Probably nothing. I doubt Favre would have wanted to sign here given that Jake Delhomme, at the time, was entrenched as a starter. A team like Minnesota offered a great nucleus with a gaping hole at quarterback.

-- Carolina’s only chance today will come if the Panthers can somehow out-physical the Vikings, like Arizona did a couple of weeks ago. The Cardinals, astoundingly, held Adrian Peterson to 19 yards in 13 carries. Can’t see that happening Sunday, but that’s close to what it would take.

-- Watch Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield play some in this one. That guy is something.

-- I don’t think this one is going to be very close – the Vikings are a bad matchup for Carolina. My prediction: Minnesota 27, Carolina 10.

(The stats: I'm 8-5 picking the Panthers' outcome for the season. But my preseason prediction that the Panthers would go 7-9 is starting to look too optimistic).

17 comments:

Tommy said...

DRAFT ARMANTI EDWARDS!!

Anonymous said...

"one really good deep throw per game and not a whole lot else"

Hey, it's Jake Delhomme in his prime!

Anonymous said...

Armanti Edwards will not be a QB in the NFL, sit down App fans. He lost to Montana. God be quiet he'll get drafted or signed very very late, but he will. If you can't beat richmonds or montanas in AA then you can't beat NFL teams as a QB. be quiet.

Anonymous said...

Responding to Anonymous: "Armanti Edwards will not be a QB in the NFL, sit down App fans. He lost to Montana."

Seems to me the Joe Flacco led Delaware team lost to App State a few years ago in the 1-AA championship and their quarterback went on to be a pretty stand-up NFL guy. Not saying Edwards will make it in the NFL but your logic is undoubtedly full of itself.

Anonymous said...

Also, if you actually watched the game you would have seen how many passes were dead on but dropped by App's receivers including the final play in the end zone. The temperature was in the teens with snow falling so I do't fault the receivers completely but the QB did all he could do.

Stonepanther said...

The perfect scenario in my opinion would be cut Peppers loose and take Alex Smith from the 49ers.

His deal is up and they dont want to pay him. This guy is developing nicely and has a gun for an arm!

Steve said...

Anyone want face value tickets to Sunday night's game? 534, row 4.

Call my cell at 704-947-0361. I can meet you in Charlotte or email tickets to you.

Anonymous said...

Responding to Anonymous: Armanti Edwards will not be a QB in the NFL, sit down App fans. He lost to Montana. God be quiet he'll get drafted or signed very very late, but he will. If you can't beat richmonds or montanas in AA then you can't beat NFL teams as a QB. be quiet"

He has all the skills to be QB for NFL but not size he has. QB is part of team and QB is not one man show. Wide Receiver has responsible to catch the ball and gain the yards after the catch. You talking about Montona or Richmond how close the game is. Football is base on how the offense and defense play the game as team. In end of the game, better team won which is Montona, both team gave them all in cold snowing weather. Edwards has showed every games during his time which he helped ASU as QB who help the team keep moving the chain and win the game. It is part of the QB jobs.

There is more I can say about how amazing Armanti Edwards is....He could be QB in NFL or Wildcat as Pat White (Dolphin) or Wide Receiver. Edwards has accomplished many things in his college to showed NFL that he can play as QB

Michael Odom said...

Make a deal with Detroit or St Louis and DRAFT TIM TEBOW!

The Reid said...

Michael Odom, I think you're high as a kite! Tim Tebow...gimme a break! And as for Edwards, he's not an NFL QB but I think he can have success in the NFL as a Wildcat a la Pat White or as receiver a la Antwan Randle El. As a Panthers fan, I hope that they make a deal(more than likely one that involves Peppers and another draft pick) to trade up and draft former Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen. I am by no means a Golden Domer supporter but he's been impressive in every game that I've watched him, especially in the 4th quarter. Even when he played less than stellar for the first 3 quarters, he showed toughness and played well in the 4th quarter to get his team back into contention. Against Purdue, basically on one leg, he came back into the game and led them on a game winning TD drive.

The Reid said...

And Scott, what do you think the chances are of this game being do or die for John Fox?

Anonymous said...

Really isn't going to be much of a draft without a 1st round pick. Look for the panthers to limp through 2010 like this year. I wonder if Vinny is done cleaning out his garage and can come play for us again.

Matt said...

I agree with the last poster regarding the draft. Panthers mortgaged off their first round pick this year for last year's draft. The only way I see a good draft pick for a QB happening is if the Panthers unload Peppers for some compensation, and that depends entirely on if any of the other teams are crazy enough to take him at the price he commands (there is a glimmer of hope, being that 2010 might be an uncapped season). That aside, it's a decent year for rookie QB's, but I don't know that it's a great one. Panthers will wait and see what happens in free agency, I'm sure. Draftwise, I think McCoy has some potential and so does Jevan Snead. Another one that intrigues me is the kid from Central Michigan (name escapes me at the moment). Tebow's a good athlete, but not your prototypical pro passer - I think the Panthers' last go-around with a Heisman QB didn't work out so well last time (Weinke). Bradford's injury scares me, as it should the Panthers.

Anonymous said...

Here's my wish list for QBs if the Panthers scrap Delhomme as a starter ... that's IF ...

Free Agents
Chad Pennington

Trade
Sage Rosenfels

Draft
Jimmy Clausen (trade another future 1st rounder if we have to, hell the season will be a lockout anyway ...)

And for God's sake, keep Fox until the strike ... hell, he's still a great coach and I'll stick by him to the end!

Julie said...

I'm not sure if Brett Favre will hold up in the postseason. So if the Vikings are the 2nd seed in the playoffs and then Favre throws a lot of interceptions and they are upset in their first playoff game, then they will be no different than the Panthers were last year. So I'm not sad we didn't get Favre because in a way I would prefer to just be out of the playoffs now and not get my hopes up.

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No matter who is doing the picking for Carolina in the April 2010 draft, put me down right now as betting that the Panthers will take a quarterback at some point.

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