Having past on going home and watching the Panthers / Bucs there, due in part to a feeling that the Panthers play better when I watch at my current home, I am in the living room getting ready for the game. Unfortunately, none of my friends are Panthers fans, in fact some may secretly root against them, so here I am by myself, thus I have decided to steal an idea from “The Sports Guy” Bill Simmons and keep a running log of the game. Hopefully, I can do for the Panthers what he occasionally does for the Red Sox – though with a little bit more success for my team. After seeing Mel’s Diner on Cold Pizza, one has to feel pretty confident that anyone can duplicate his success at sports insight.
Pregame: Bad sign. I just got back from the store, turned on the digital TV, and there was a message that the service was “disconnected”. Not my area in the household, but I doubt it really is “disconnected”. At least the whole game will be on Tivo.
Good sign. This must be an important game for Fox since they replaced their horrible usual local announcers with Joe Buck, Collingsworth, and Aikman. At least, they should be neutral – the “hometown” guys the last two games I watched seemed to be against the Panthers.
12:04 1st Quarter: Two punts already with the Bucs starting at their own 16 twice. Neither offense looks particularly impressive. Looks like it will be a long day for Brad Johnson – no protection. Foster had a good run called back. Holding… HOLDING? OBVIOUS? Mitchell pancaking Sapp is holding? They must believe he was pulled down, but I think Sapp was just stumbling in the direction of the Earth. Btw, Walker, once again, held Rucker on 3rd down… CALL IT REFS!!!!!
11:05 1st Quarter: Minter just returned an interception for a touchdown. This was great for a couple of reasons beyond the obvious. First, the lack of touchdowns by the defense this year – might have been the first one. Second, Johnson is getting ZERO protection. Our defensive backs are great when they only have to play defense for 3 seconds. Also, it was the 1st touchdown for Carolina against the Bucs this year and they only had one in their two games last season.
9:39 1st Quarter: Walker/Peppers flaring up. Roughing penalty on Walker after the freaking 1st down – thus only field position will be effected. Good, but could have been better. Hey, refs, if you called the penalties earlier like you should, these flare ups would not happen!!
7:52 1st Quarter: I hope that wasn’t a designed roll out for Johnson on 3rd and 1. Hell, QB sneak would have a better possibility for success. Johnson lost a couple of yards.
1:55 1st Quarter: Horrible call/play by Muhammad that ended the chances for a touchdown. He was called for a face mask, aka illegal hands to the face, on the opposite side of the field from a Foster first down run. I hope he didn’t intentionally hit the guy in the face – he is a veteran after all – though it did seem a little long on the replay. Kasay just kicked a rather long field goal. Going into this game, I had a bad feeling his streak of perfection was going to end, but the 48 yarder was high initially and straight down the middle.
1:45 1st Quarter: Why wasn’t that intentionally grounding? The Buc’s screen play blew up (a play the Panthers historically have had trouble with, but not this current team), so Johnson kept backing straight up, staying inside the tackle box, and threw it well short by 5 or so yards, which is hard to do when you are about 10 to 15 yards away from the “intended receiver”. Come on, let’s coddle these QB’s a little less.
0:43 1st Quarter: Chance for something special from Foster, but reversing the field failed when Delhomme only mildly attempted a block. I don’t blame him, but teammates might respect a better effort there.
0:00 1st Quarter: WOW! 1) I thought the Panthers would run on 3rd and 11. 2) Delhomme avoided the rush and completed a pass for the first down. I didn’t think he could do that and that is the second time he’s done it in this game.
12:10 2nd Quarter: Having lived in Charlotte, one at times can be surprised by how strong the wind can be. It’s due to the mountains and the skyscrapers all being on the north side of the stadium. It has already affected a couple of punts by Tampa Bay, and the field has just reversed with the end of the quarter. So the Panthers line up for a 53 yard field goal with a 10 – 0 lead. Kasay definitely has the leg for it, but who knows what the wind will do and if he misses, the Bucs will be in good field position. Fox tells Kasay to pooch with the Bucs having no one back, and it works to perfection with the ball stopping within the 5 and an idiot Buc player almost touching the ball. Not a bad call, however, an offside penalty on the Bucs give the Panthers an extra 5 yards. If it was brilliant at 53, would it still be brilliant at 48? Kasay wanted to kick it. It will be interesting to see how this turns out.
6:05 2nd Quarter: I agree with Collingsworth. Why? Tampa Bay just returned an interception for a touchdown on a ball Delhomme should never have thrown – thus winning the battle of starting within your own 5 yard lines after the Bucs managed to drive far enough to punt it there. Not going for the 48 yard field goal doesn’t look quite as good now.
5:51 2nd Quarter: Penalty brings back a touch down on a kickoff. Why is that a hold? A Panther just pancaked a guy again!!! When did they become holding? They are not pulling people down, they are knocking guys on their asses. Up to the offense to make up for their mistake now.
3:52 2nd Quarter: The announcers just made some stupid comment about the Panthers not being able to run – after just getting a first down running. The reason the Panthers are being out rushed at this point is that they have rushed fewer times. They probably will start rushing more soon.
3:43 2nd Quarter: Missed opportunity on a short punt when the Panthers didn’t recover after it glanced off a Buc. One thing the Titans game has shown is that unexpected (and not on purpose) short kicks can result in both turnovers and OK field position with a minimal chance at good returns.
1:48 2nd Quarter: I love Ricky Manning Jr. as a player, but he is a short DB and another near “bad thing” almost happened with him guarding the much taller Bucs receivers. Luckily, the receiver couldn’t catch the ball. Hopefully, this won’t bite the Panthers in the ass today.
1:36 2nd Quarter: Steve Smith once again showing that he has some bad tendencies as a punt returner. If you are standing at your own 10 and the ball goes over your head, DON’T FAIR CATCH! You might gain 5 yards at best. However, if the ball is coming to you when you are standing on the 20, don’t let it roll by and then get it. You should try to get it immediately, admittedly while making sure you don’t miss it.
0:51 2nd Quarter: The Panthers are so conservative that they always run out the clock when they have the ball at the end of a half, no matter the score. Fox is apparently so worried about late turnovers that he probably would run 5 minutes off by kneeling if it was possible. The Panthers want to run out the clock here, but the Bucs time out forced them to move the ball down the field, and they actually have made a couple of first downs. Oh, the irony if they score here.
0:00 2nd Quarter: Foster has the promise to be a great running back, but he’s got to learn to run inside. He has great speed, but he just missed picking up a 3rd and 1 because he cut inside at the wrong time when running to the edge. If your teammate is blocking someone, it is not a good idea to try and run between the two.
Halftime: Sometime during the first half my roommate came home, complained to the cable company, who immediately said they just have to hit a switch to turn the digital cable back on. Why didn’t they know to hit that switch? I should learn more about these things. Anyway, this happened after the Panthers were up 10-0, so being somewhat superstitious there may be a switch to Tivo if things started going a rye. Luckily, the Panthers start with the ball, so I expect a long drive with lots of running.
9:51 3rd Quarter: It looks like the refs have cost the Panthers ANOTHER shot at a touch down. I admit I am a homer, but I think I can be honest enough to say when a Panther has held another guy. On this play, Foster showing some of that breakaway speed runs for a first down and then some to inside the 20, but the refs call Muhammad for holding Lynch, which a) did not effect the play and b) replays show that Lynch was in fact holding Muhammad, and I am amazed the refs did not see that. Part of me would like to see holding reviewable, but then that would make EVERYTHING reviewable pretty much and the game would come to a screeching halt. While writing this, Kasay did make the field goal.
8:26 3rd Quarter: Wow, this is looking a lot like the first game where every play has a penalty. Tampa just got called for holding on a kickoff return that didn’t go past the 30. That is pretty hard (and pointless) to do. Admittedly, they are calling it both ways, but they just keep calling things penalties that should not be. This is probably part of the reason these games are so low scoring.
7:37 3rd Quarter: 15 yard roughing the passer penalty on Peppers. That’s a tough one to take. He beat the lineman like a blanket and the guy knocks him down after he goes by him, which results in him falling into the quarterback. Seemed like it really should not be called.
6:31 3rd Quarter: Yeah! The Bucs lose a challenge, and what will probably be a valuable time out on a play where they should have gained 40 yards but Keyshawn “Give me the damn ball” couldn’t hold on to it. As I am writing there is a VICIOUS hold by Walker, but it is an incomplete pass anyway. The refs have helped prevent the Bucs from scoring on this drive at least since the Bucs are forced to punt.
3:58 3rd Quarter: Wow!! Wow!! If you can’t guard a streak, then you need to be doing something different on defense, especially on 3rd and long. Back in Junior High that would be the only route we would guard against, and pretty much the only one anyone would run. Ricky “good hands, no speed” Proehl just ran a go route behind everyone for a 60 yard touchdown. Admittedly, they probably didn’t think Delhomme would have enough time or arm strength to get it there, but he is proving he has plenty of both.
0:33 3rd Quarter: Johnson apparently was pissed that he was hit 5 yards from being out of bounds. Umm, this is football Brad, if you don’t want to be hit, just sit on your ass and slide. Oh, no. The Panthers accepted the holding penalty instead of taking the 4th down. When they did this again the Titans, they turned a field goal into a touchdown. This time, they get a sack. The Bucs offense really looks quite horrid.
12:34 4th Quarter: Not a good exchange on the punts. The Panthers 3 and outted with a bunch of running plays they should discard. I wonder if perhaps Foster has a bigger tendency to fumble when he runs between the tackles. All the plays are for him to go outside. My main worry at this point is for the Bucs to have a long drive and to tire down the defense. This isn’t usually much of a worry since the Panthers have great defensive depth and the possession time has been pretty even, but at this point in the game offenses spread the field and defenses get tired.
10:19 4th Quarter: Yep, the Panthers miss by a hair on a couple of sacks and Johnson wings a touchdown to Johnson. Pretty much exactly what happened at the end of the last game. It would be terrific if the Panthers had a long drive with at least a field goal. This is not in their nature, but lets see what happens.
8:58 4th Quarter: Rice finally makes a play and sacks Delhomme to force a long 3rd down. The Panthers might have gotten lackadaisical there by sending Foster on a delayed pass route and thus having him run by Rice. Though it might be a “rookie” mistake on his part for not recognizing that Steussie needed help. Additionally, the Panthers burned a time out which might come back to bite them in the ass.
8:53 4th Quarter: Yeah, 3rd and 19 is hard to convert. Rice sacks Delhomme on the second consecutive play after he unfortunately decides to step up in the pocket. Luckily, Steussie recovers the fumble. I would think they just would have run considering they were only rushing 4 with no one else in the box. Good punt though. It turns to the defense. My prediction is that the Bucs kick a field goal to keep the drama going.
6:33 4th Quarter: The football gods should be angry. The Bucs need to pick up a yard on 4th down around midfield after being stuffed on 3rd down. They could punt, but I like that Gruden believes they can pick up a yard. This is the NFL, after all. Johnson rolls out and fools everyone. Instead of running a long way, he decides to underthrow an uncovered Warren Sapp who still manages to barely catch the ball. They should pay for that.
4:44 4th Quarter: That was quite an unbelievable catch by McCardell on 3rd and 20 (and as stated before, 3rd and 19 is hard to convert. A little bit of a push by McCardell to get Howard to go by him, but hey, good catch. They do manage to hit the extra point to take a 21-20 lead. If they had missed it again, they should fire everyone remotely involved with PAT’s. The water boy named Pat shown be tossed out on his ear. Even though the Panthers offense has been in a coma since “the streak”, I like their chances to get into Kasay field goal range.
4:23 4th Quarter: The grim reaper has just entered the room. Delhomme on 2nd down apparently decides to thrown 30 yards down the field into triple coverage after running out of the pocket. Not good. Interception. This might be a Gil Thorpe situation where one lets the team score to get the ball back.
2:41 4th Quarter: Grammatica hits the 39 yard field goal to give them a 4 point lead. I’m surprised he didn’t celebrate more afterwards. Unfortunately, the Panthers have no time outs left. In fact, they lost 35 seconds due to wasting a time out earlier.
2:00 4th Quarter: Sometimes, a team doesn’t want the first down. Luckily, after gaining 9 yards the refs did not give the Panthers a first down. At the two minute warning, the Panthers now have a first down around midfield after a reception instead of a 3rd down. While the Bucs have had success rushing only 4 guys, they need to get out of the prevent or the Panthers will march pretty close to the end zone.
1:27 4th Quarter: Delhomme finally made a completion when forced to throw off his back foot. Muhammad caught it around the 5. If the Bucs weren’t playing prevent it probably would have been picked off.
1:06 4th Quarter: Oh, no. The Panthers scored on the next play. This could be too much time left. At least Kasay made the PAT (don’t take it for granted in this series) to give the Panthers a 3 point lead.
1:01 4th Quarter: The Bucs only return it to the 22. The announcers didn’t even have time to mention the fact that Bucs the have never returned a kickoff for a touchdown, which announcers have to mention by law.
0:56 4th Quarter: Wow, they finally called Walker again for grabbing the face mask of a defensive lineman. Perhaps he should develop a new signature move. Backs the Bucs up to the 7 or so.
0:16 4th Quarter: Johnson has lots of time, but not much of a pocket. Now it is 4th and 6 at the 41.
0:09 4th Quarter: Mike Minter does what he does best and crushes McCardell to force an incompletion of what would have been a first down. Probably being reviewed. I love Mike Minter. He is getting a game ball today. Wow, no booth review. The Panthers have won.
0:00 4th Quarter: The Panthers have won 27 to 24. What have we learned?
(After an hour and a half break to play Ultimate, which I am late for)
Post Game: We have learned that the Panthers are better than people think (I am talking about you, King Kaufman and Bill Simmons) and Tampa is worse than people think. The Panthers are about as good as Tampa Bay was last year, which really isn’t saying much, but they did win the Super Bowl: ahhh, the period of mediocrity in the NFL.
We have learned that either Simeon Rice’s word is no good or he believes his teammates McFarland and Sapp suck. Both are probably true. Rice only showed up for two plays, and while they were significant, obviously they didn’t seal the deal. None of them made their presence felt on the last series by the Panthers offense, which re-educates us on the old cliché “Prevent defenses prevent you from winning the game”. It usually doesn’t make too much sense to abandon your base defense after it has been so successful. The majority of the Panther’s receptions on the last series were results of the prevent defense zone.
Eventually, we might have to accept that Delhomme is a great come from behind Quarterback. He is not a great QB, as he showed on many plays today, especially both interceptions, but he knows how to win when the game is on the line. Three overtime victories and 2 game winning touchdown passes with a minute or less left – I sense a pattern. Admittedly, Stephen Davis (thus the O line), special teams, and the defense also have played vital roles late in games, but perhaps Jake deserves some credit.
We’ve learned that people who picked the Bucs based on the “Win one, Lose one” pattern are idiots. Please, at least provide a reason that has some creditability, even if it is only a gut feeling.
Now, take a breath, but if the Panthers, who are now 7-2, win only four more games (and they have Atlanta, Arizona, and Detroit left on their schedule plus the NFC East which I have no respect for this year) to go 11-5, they will win the decision. If they go 4-3 the rest of the way, they WIN the division. Heck, if both the Bucs and Saints lose at least one more game each, and both are currently below 500 at 4-5, the Panthers only need to win 3 games. Nothing in this world can be taken for granted, but the Panthers are close to printing up tickets for a home playoff game. They could clinch in three weeks. Additionally, they currently lead the NFC, so they have the best chance for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Wow.
My mother called after the reaper entered the room (he was blindsided by Mike Minter on his way out) to yell at me for staying here to watch the game when I could have been home. I immediately hung up on her. After the game, I forced her to agree that it was best for the Panthers that I watched the game here. There is obviously and undeniably a control I have over these games….
Posted by shs4 at November 10, 2003 12:21 AM | TrackBack