Unbelievably, for the second straight week every game whose outcome affected the Carolina Panthers ended in Carolina's favor (except of course for the one they directly participated in).
Update: Of course, Atlanta won't be doing the Panthers any favors against New Orleans, but if Carolina beats them it doesn't matter.
First, a recap of yesterday's game now that I have had 23 hours to calm down. I just really don't know what to say. It's as if the Falcon's made a deal years ago when the Charlotte franchise was born that we could have an NFL team in exchange for some Southern-Fried hex over it. This goes back to the team's very first game when the Panthers had a holding penalty that convinced them not to go for the two point conversion and the win with no time left on the clock in a game they eventually lost in overtime. Fast forward to last year, where in Vick's grand return he sets the QB rushing record and the Panthers lose due to a bad interception by Delhomme in overtime. What happens this year? A not-quite-as-bad interception by Delhomme in OT leads to another defeat. This game really stung me since it is the first close game of any consequence that the Panthers have lost where I got to watch it comfortably (I watched the Super Bowl last year in FL in a not-so-comfortable situation). None of the games this year which the Panthers have loss have been of any great consequence at the time and they have only been close in terms of “if they hadn't turned the ball over twice they would have won” variety.
There are plenty of excuses to explain this loss. The Panthers have yet to beat Vick and especially in this game that was due in large part to the “Vick Rules” (football's answer to the Jordan Rules). The NFL's advertised superstar seriously gets every call imaginable. Blatant holding not called, insane hit out-of-bound penalties, and a date for me to punch Jim Mora Jr. in the mouth if I ever see him over lies he told at half-time about imaginary face mask infractions against Vick. My only solace is that one day Julius Peppers will end Vick's career – and believe me I truly do hate wishing another athlete harm, but I have seen it in my crystal ball. Though I do give Vick some credit, despite being the worst passing quarterback in the league, he did win the game due almost entirely to the ability to take a licking. After some of the hits he took near the end of the game where he wobbled to the sideline, I think everyone thought he couldn't walk 11 yards, yet alone dive into the end zone to win the game by an inch. I would love to know if the Panthers had declined the penalty on 3rd down and goal to let them have 4th and inches instead of pushing them back to the 11 what they would have done. They couldn't have ran it up the gut and they couldn't have passed it in, so would a sprint by Vick to the corner have worked? Plus, even if they did score, would the Panthers had put up a better last gasp drive for a field goal with some more time on the clock?
Announcers are idiots. Before the games today, they were all saying that the Panthers had ruined their season by losing this game, yet at the end of the day the Panthers are still in the same position they where when the weekend started, the last wild card team in. With the way things are going the Panthers may only have to win one more game to make it. They still don't control their own fate because of the dreaded St. Louis – Seattle tied with them scenario, but St. Louis doesn't look like it will win another game and the chances of them winning one are probably as good as Seattle beating Arizona or Atlanta. Though I hate to think of the Panthers losing either one of their remaining games (much like how I wouldn't consider the possiblity of them losing to the Falcons), I'll probably explicitly list all the scenarios later in the week. Nevertheless, things are not looking too bad for the Panthers.