Testaverde likely to start for Panthers
According to reports out of ESPN.com, Vinny Testaverde practiced for the second-straight day and is expected to start for the Carolina Panthers this Sunday in their game with the San Francisco 49ers. This is all very good news for the Panthers. VinnyT is starting. They play the 49ers. This is a very winnable game for the Panthers. They will need to come out hungry and tenacious to grab a win.
The problem here is that VinnyT hasn’t exactly been great at finishing the games he’s started. If he remains healthy, he’ll get the start. However, it should be noted that Testaverde missed last week’s game because his back stiffened up the day before the game. How’s that for an old man injury? While VinnyT gives the Panthers the best chance to win if he’s healthy, it just seems to me that as much as we all wish it weren’t true, Vinny will need to find some of the youthful vigor that got him where he is today if the Panthers are to win with his arm.
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Panthers near Bottom of Power Rankings
ESPN.com has released their weekly Power Rankings, and the news, yet again, is not good for Carolina. The Panthers have fallen yet another spot in the rankings, this time to number 26. The pundits, analysts and experts at ESPN.com actually feel as though the Panthers are the worst four win team in football right now. Look at the other four win teams right now, I can’t say I blame them. While injuries can certainly be blamed for much of their trouble, at some point a team must rise above adversity. Let’s hope they can pull it together soon.
Perhaps even more troubling than the Panthers’ plummet in the Power Rankings is the fact that the Panther have yet to win a home game this season. Even if that’s the case, there are still some sweet games to go to, and the season could have a suprising twist at the end. Did you watch Notre Dame struggle and fail all year and then win two in a row at the end? Let’s end on a high note, too. Get out there and support your team in its time of trouble, Panthers fans!
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Testaverde Likely Starter
According to this report out of the Charlotte Observer, Vinny Testaverde is the likely projected starter for the Carolina Panthers this week versus the San Francisco 49ers. At least, VinnyT will start if he’s healthy. In case you’re keeping track, this is the one millionth week in a row that the Panthers have had some sort of QB controversy. Okay, so it’s not that bad, but it has gotten almost laughable. Except, of course, if you’re a Panthers fan, in which case it’s not funny at all.
Vinny gives the team the best chance to win, that’s for sure. But the man is just plain old. While his first game was a storybook fairy tale that sucked in even this jaded blogger, the fact remains the the man is having trouble pitching complete games right now, and the Panthers’ other two options haven’t worked out. No offense to Matt Moore, who is just a rookie and is expected to struggle. Just calling it like I see it. Let’s hope Vinny T can re-find that magic that he had in his first game back. The 49ers’ D is a great place to look for such things.
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Bridges Found Guilty
In a somewhat interesting turn of events, Panthers guard Jeremy Bridges was found guilt of pointing a gun at a woman in a parking lot yesterday. He was sentenced to a 60-day suspended jail sentence. He also will have to deal with a year of unsupervised probation (isn’t that an oxymoron?), 60 hours community service, and a $500 fine. The last part is my favorite. I mean how much more slap on the wrist can you get? 500 bucks for aiming a gun at someone? That’s not okay.
The real question now is how long will it take the Commish to suspend Bridges? Now that he’s been found guilty, the league’s personal conduct policy stipulates that he’s going to be in some seriously hot water. I mean, this falls somewhere between Tank Johnson and Pacman Jones. Bridges may not have shot someone, but he did a bit more than just own a bunch of guns. He pointed a gun at some lady. If he’s not suspended for at least the rest of the season, I’ll be shocked. All in all, this is a very unfortunate state of affairs.
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Panthers Still Winless at Home
These are blogs I truly hate to write. I hate being the bearer of bad news. I have other blogs, for other teams, and I try my very best, no matter the situation, to find the silver lining of every cloud. Unfortunately, there is just no easy way to say that the Panthers lost to the New Orleans Saints this weekend, continuing this season’s home losing streak. I can’t imagine what it must be like to only see your team win on the road, Carolina fans. My heart truly goes out to those of you who are honestly committed to this team.
The Panthers were supposed to be better than this in 2007. The team was ready to reload and take back the NFC South. They had all the tools. They had a new offense in place. But when your marquee quarterback suffers a season-ending injury, you really need a reliable backup. David Carr was signed to be that backup. I have been saying all season that he is not the guy the Panthers need. After watching the coaches bench him this week, I believe everyone knows now what all the fans in Houston could have told you.
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Carolina Plummeting in Power Rankings
ESPN.com has released their weekly Power Rankings. In many ways, not much has changed since the last time these rankings were released. However, for some teams, the change has been drastic. No change has been more dramatic or surreal than the drop of the San Diego Chargers, once again finding themselves on the outside of the top 10. Other notable changes were the Packers (from 4 to 3), the Colts, (3 to 4) and the Texans, who jumped from number 22 to 17 after getting their starting QB and WR1 back from injury.
Perhaps plummeting is an overreaction, considering the Panthers only dropped two spots this week, but the fact remains that the Panthers are running out of spots to drop. They’re at number 25 now, with only seven teams worse than them in the entire NFL. Does that sound right? It doesn’t, does it? It seems like the Carolina Panthers should be a better team. It feels like they shouldn’t be in the lower third of NFL teams. And yet, here they are. They’re not totally out of the playoffs yet, but the Panthers need to get back on track quickly if they want to keep their postseason hopes alive.
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Smith May Play this Sunday
In a cryptic day of information, Coach John Fox reported that he expects Steve Smith to play this Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. Smith missed last week’s game against Green Bay with a bruised shin, and has also had some problems with a hip injury this season. Coach Fox is optimistic Smith will play, but when asked directly about his injury, Smith didn’t commit to playing this Sunday. He simply admitted that he feels better than he did last week.
Is anyone else ready for Steve Smith to just blow a gasket? Is there another player in the NFL who wishes he’d tried out free agency more than Steve Smith? That contract extension must just look to him like a huge NO TRADE cloud hovering over his head at all times. The man has been known for having a temper in the past, and I must say that all geological signs point to Mt. Smith unleashing a verbal tirade about his team and his season sooner rather than later.
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Panthers Offense Continues to Struggle
As the Carolina Panthers fell yet again on Sunday, this time to the Green Bay Packers 31-17. It seemed once again that the pervasive story was simply that the offense never really got off the ground. The final score is somewhat misleading, as the Packers led this game 28-3 at one point, making the two Carolina TDs basically garbage time points. The Pack ran away with this game early and never relinquished control to the Panthers in a game that brilliantly showcased just how much thing have changed in the NFC in 2007.
Jake Delhomme is no longer the quarterback in Carolina, so obviously the offense is not at 100%. The Panthers have used more than one quarterback in most of their games so far this year, so to say that the offense has been unable to find a rhythm due to the shakeup at the quarterback position. However, at this point, the onus falls squarely on the coaching staff to figure this out – and more importantly to start taking some chances with the offense – before the wheels really start to come off in Carolina.
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Steve Smith Misses Second Straight Practice
Carolina wide receiver Steve Smith sat out his second practice in a row on Thursday with a shin injury, according to an AP report. The Carolina superstar has not made his presence felt on the field as of late, with theories for his absence from the top of the stat sheets ranging from bad coaching and offensive schemes to just plain bad QB work from the backups in Delhomme’s absence. Now we can add “nagging leg injury” to the list of possible reasons why Steve Smith has faded in the second half of the season.
With a huge game with Green Bay this Sunday, the Panthers need Steve Smith to be out on the field. They also need whichever healthy quarterback they put under center to get Smith the ball. Lately the Panthers have been remiss to throw deep downfield for some reason, but hopefully with VinnyT and David Carr both healthy and practicing this week, the Panthers will pick a QB and starting taking a few chances against the Packers.
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Peppers Takes Questions
The Charlotte Observer is running an interesting article on about Julius Peppers. As has been noted in many publications throughout the season, Peppers’ productivity has been in a tailspin this season, and many pundits and analyst have conjectured as to what was causing Peppers to slip. People have claimed Peppers was still feeling the effects of a nasty illness that kept him out of training camp, or that he was hiding an injury.
The usually quiet Peppers took questions all day yesterday about his lack of production this season. The 27-year-old defensive end says he’s not sick, he’s not injured, he’s not upset about the way he’s being used in the defense this year. He attributes his lack of success on the field this year to being defended differently this season by linemen, and to himself. Peppers took responsibility for his issues on the field this season, which is refreshing to see, but I’m sure Carolina fans would rather see a few more sacks.
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