Preview: Panthers @ Jets

Vs.

Both the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers are 4-6 this season and have dimming playoff chances. With that said, I think the Panthers will win this game. The Jets' QB Mark Sanchez has been having trouble lately with 6 TDs and 14 interceptions in is last 7 games. The Panthers have a great pass defense and we should be able to add a few more interceptions to Sanchez's tally. Hopefully their run attack will not compensate for their lowly passing game due to our multiple injuries on our D-line and Linebackers. For our offense, Delhomme and Smith seem to be on the same page again having several TD passes between the them in the past few games. Also, Williams and Stewart should continue their exceptional running attack, which is our offense's best weapon. I predict the Panthers to win this game by a TD.



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Carolina 17, Miami 24

The Miami Dolphins beat the Carolina Panthers 24 to 17 in this game. It was an important game to both teams since they were trying to reach .500 and keep their playoff chances alive. But with this loss, the best record the Panthers could have is 10-6, which would means winning every game for the rest of the season. The odds of our team doing that are slim because we are a good team, but this year we can not win this close ones, and those games are the deciding factors of seasons. Even though we are plagued by injuries to our top players, that alone is not an excuse for our performance. In this loss against the Dolphins, Miami RB Ricky Williams pounded us for 119 yards rushing and 3 TD, and this is a 32 year old RB which is pretty old for a player who takes so much beating over the years. While Jake's performance has been much better for the past month, no longer having multiple interceptions in a game, the Panthers have still not found a solid rythm to win many games. With 6 games left, I think we will win 3 of them, beating the Jets, Bucs, and Giants.



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Preview: Miami @ Caolina

The Miami Dolphins visit the Carolina Panthers tonight in tonight's Thursday night game. Both the Dolphins and Panthers are 4-5 this season and winning tonight's game is critical to their hopes of winning a Wild Card berth into this year's playoffs. So both teams will be looking to win this game to keep their post season hopes alive. Another thing these teams have in common is running back injuries: Miami Dolphin's RB Ronnie Brown is out for the season with an injury and both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart are questionable for tonight's game. Brown's injury will likely affect the Dolphins' Wild Cat offense which will likely play into the hands of our defense. The Panthers have been playing well recently and have a great chance of winning this game even with the mounting injuries.

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Injuries are starting to add up for Panthers

The Carolina Panthers' injuries are starting to add up for the season. In this past week's game against the Falcons, Veteran Pro-Bowler Left Tackle Jordan Gross broke his ankle and is out for the rest of the season. Just the other week, LB Thomas Davis had a season ending injury with a torn mcl. Also, at this year's very first practice, Defensive Tackle Maake Kemoeatu tore his Achilles tendon, which ended his season before it even began. These players with season ending injuries are some of the best players on the team and at least Gross and Davis were likely going to the Pro-Bowl the way they had been playing. But it is not just major injuries that plague the Panthers; there are multiple non-season ending injuries that could become major. Both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart have been sitting out of practice recently for knee and Achilles issues respectively. Then FB Brad Hoover has been out the past few games with an ankle problem that has severely hurt our FB position, especially hurtful since the Panthers often rely on a FB to help block in their offense. On top of this all, DE Julius Peppers has a broken bone in his hand. While he is still playing, he was limited to passing downs in the game against the Falcons. If he is limited to only a few downs per possession, then our defense will take a huge hit without his contributions. Even thought the Panthers have been playing pretty well recently, these injuries might start to add up and have a significant impact on the Panthers for the rest of the season just as we are getting in a steady rhythm.


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Carolina 28, Atlanta 19

The Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons 28 to 19 this past Sunday. The Panthers played pretty well in this great win over our NFC South rivals. The reasons for the win include a strong running game by DeAngelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart, another turn over free game by Jake Delhomme, and a solid defensive showing with a few interceptions. At this point in the season I think Jake Delhomme has finally worked out the major problems he had in the beginning of the season. He is no longer having 3 or 4 turnovers a game and is slowing starting to have decent stats for a QB, most noticeably his two TD throws to WR Steve Smith. The Panthers have been playing some good ball the last few weeks, including the Saints game where we let that win slip through our fingers. We have finally turned our season around and have a decent chance at finishing above .500.



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Preview: Atlanta Falcons @ Carolina Panthers

The Atlanta Falcons will visit the Carolina Panthers this week in a NFC South rival game. This game should be a great one. Both teams have been having trouble with their Quarterbacks, and thus have been relying on their terrific running backs: Michael Turner for Atlanta and DeAngelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart for Carolina. After the watching the Panthers' game last week against the top team New Orleans Saints, I think the Panthers are definitely in swing to win this game. If they played like they did for the majority of the game last week AND if they can actually close out the game and finish, we will beat the Falcons tomorrow. The key to this win will be the Panthers not self destructing towards the end of the game.

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Thomas Davis Out for the Season

Linebacker Thomas Davis is out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. Davis injured his knee in the fourth quarter in Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints. This is bad news for the Panther's defense because Davis was having an amazing season and had a great chance of going to the Pro Bowl. Replacing him will be tough due to how physical and athletic Davis has been this season. Many contribute his great year not only to his physical and mental talent, but also the new defensive system installed by the new Defensive coordinator Ron Meeks which places a linebacker with the skill set of Davis to really excel. Hopefully our defense will be able to make it without such an effective player.

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A lost opportunity against the Saints

The Panthers lost to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday 30-20. The Panthers had the chance to win this game but were never able to seal the deal, which allowed the Saints' amazing offense come back. We jumped to an early 14-0 lead in the first half and were able to go into halftime up 17-6, which included a huge defensive stop that led to the Saints getting a field goal instead of a TD at the end of the half. But then the Saints came back in the second half and we more or less lost our composure. While there were several aspects that cost us the game, two plays stick out in my mind as the most important. The first one was when the Panthers were 1st and goal from the 1 yard line, but due to extensive injuries we had Mackenzy Bernadeau, an o-line man, as our fullback who bumped into Jake on the play causing him to be sacked for a loss. We ended up settling for a field goal on this play and a TD would have put us up more and kept our momentum going. Instead it was a momentum killer. (I wonder why Bernadeau was in as fullback since he doesn't know that position and why a RB like Jonathon Stewart, who knows the motions in that area perfectly, was not called in to block for DeAngelo Williams). The second play was when the Panthers drove to make a comeback, DeAngelo Williams fumbled the ball and the Saints recovered in the endzone for a TD. This put the game out of our hands. So if we had continued to play in the second half like we did in the first, then we would have beaten an undefeated team, but at the end of the day we were not good enough to do that.



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Preview: Panthers @ Saints

Coming off a great road win last week, the Panthers have another tough game ahead of them. They will be playing at the unbeaten New Orleans Saints (7-0). The Saints are one of the best teams in the NFL right now, if not the best. They are being led by their outstanding quarterback Drew Brees who is having another outstanding season. But something will have to give in this game: Either Drew Brees will have a great day passing or the Panther's pass defense, which is ranked #1 in the NFL, will shut him down. Hopefully our defense will have another 5 interception game like we did last week against Arizona. I think for us to win the game 3 things have to happen. 1. Jake Delhomme can not turn the ball over. If he starts throwing interceptions again, then this game will be over shortly. 2. Our running game has to be productive. DeAngelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart have been superb the past few games, so they just need to keep doing what they have been doing. 3. Our defense has to provide good pressure against Drew Brees and our corner backs can't let him complete huge plays. So the Panthers have a decent chance of winning this game if they play the way they did last week, but still the Saints are probably the best team out there.

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Cardinals get a taste of their own medicine

I am thrilled to say that I was completely wrong with my prediction about this game. I thought the Panthers were going to play poorly against the Arizona Cardinals and lose. Fortunately, the Panthers played their best game of the year. The greatest part of this game that helped redeem our horrible loss against the Cardinals last year was the irony of the stats. In last year's playoff meltdown, Jake Delhomme had 5 interceptions and 1 fumble; in Sunday's game, Arizona's QB Kurt Warner had 5 interceptions and 1 fumble. Jake had ZERO turnovers in this game. But the success, or rather lack of failure, of Jake Delhomme was not the only high point of this magnificent win. Our running game was fantastic. The Cardinals were the number one team in rush defense before this game but DeAngelo Williams put up 158 yards and Jonathon Stewart posted 87 yards and 2 touchdowns. Also, DE Julius Peppers had his best performance in years. He was applying great pressure to Kurt Warner all day, had an amazing interception he returned for a TD, and sacked Warner causing him to fumble the ball. This game is a turn around point for the Panthers. All of our big name players had great games, Delhomme is starting to get back to normal and actually threw a TD to Steve Smith, and the confidence gained from this redemption win will work wonders. I'm sure Jake Delhomme knows exactly how Kurt Warner feels, but what comes around goes around.



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Panthers @ Cardinals Preview

In just one hour the Carolina Panthers will visit the Arizona Cardinals. It would be impossible to talk about this game without referring to last year's playoff game between the two teams. It was a painful loss and it seemed to be the start of Jake Delhomme's string of bad performances. In that game he had 5 interceptions and 1 fumble, which made us lose the game. Since Jake is the starting QB in this game, he will have a chance at redemption. Unfortunately, and I hate saying this, Jake and the Panthers will likely not be able to do that. For various reasons we are just not that good of a football team this year and the Cardinals are a good team. It is doubtful that Jake will have an identical performance to last year (Coach John Fox would likely bench him before that happened) the panthers just do not have what it takes to beat the Cardinals at home at this point in the season.

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