Carolina Panthers

We look at it this way from a fan point of view… It is about risen above misfortune, having faith that the guy next to you is going to be doing his job and you being responsible by doing your job and having conviction that it is going to happen, having tolerance, because you know that sometimes you make errors and there are ups and downs through the game, that there’s this tide and flow going on. Throughout all of that, the teams that overcome that kind of adversity are the teams that are going to win.

The Panthers overcame about as much adversity as a team could in their 20-17 home-opening victory over the Bears last Sunday September 14th.

As much determination as the Panthers demonstrated a week ago, winning their season-opener at San Diego on a last-second touchdown pass from Jake Delhomme to Dante Rosario, they managed to dig out of an even deeper hole to improve their record to 2-0. On Sunday, the Panthers battled back from a wicked first half filled with penalties and other mixed mistakes, including allowing a punt to be blocked and returned for the game’s first touchdown to help the Bears to a 10-3 halftime lead (which would grow to 17-3 early in the third quarter).

This is not to deceit the Bears. They opened the season with a convincing win over the Colts at Indianapolis. They have an impressive rookie running back in Matt Forte, who rushed for a game-high 92 yards Sunday and they have a highly talented defense, we’ve stated this before (Preseason Preview NFL – Chicago).

The Panthers were simply inferior through two quarters. How bad? They nearly had as many yards in penalties (40) as they had in offense (47). They were called for multiple false starts and illegal-formation penalties (one of which was declined).

Muhsin Muhammad finished with five receptions for 59 yards, making him the 29th player in NFL history to reach 10,000 career receiving yards, but he was not alone, Jake Delhomme’s 3 for 3 and running back Jonathan Stewart gave the Panthers a boost in the second half after the team managed just 47 total yards in the first two quarters. The rookie finished with 77 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.

Just how is it possible to overcome a 17-3 lead by Chicago at the end of the 3rd quarter? The Panthers’ final five full series included two touchdowns. Chicago’s final five series ended in three punts, a fumble and a turnover on downs, creating a result that showed how both the offense and defense picked each other up and carried the team when the other side needed it the most.

More importantly, the Panthers learned just how intensely they can count on each other, a lesson that could serve them richly in the weeks and months to come.





By: Cindy Ferguson