Panthers-Saints Preview

The 3-3 New Orleans Saints will travel to the Bank of America Stadium on Sunday to try and regain lost footing on their season, while the 4-2 Carolina Panthers try to patch up some of those ego bruises they suffered in a loss to Tampa Bay last weekend. The Saints come into Charlotte bringing their powerful second-ranked offense to the field, while the Panthers meet them with an incredible defense that has allowed the second-fewest passing yards so far in the league, making for an interesting matchup for Sunday’s Week 7 game.

Drew Brees will lead the Saints with passing yards, as the New Orleans QB has already assembled four straight games with 300 yards or more in the season, but Carolina’s Jake Delhomme is also looking to be on his A game to match that of Brees. Taking a peek at past Saints-Panthers matchups, Carolina is on top of the all-time series wins 14-12 against New Orleans, even though they lost their regular season matchup against the team last year. The Panthers have also won every one of their home games this season, while the Saints are 0-2 on the road, so stay tuned to see how it all pans out on Sunday.

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Along with Stewart-Williams Duo comes Smith-Muhammad Force

Yesterday’s blog discussed the dominance of the Jonathan Stewart-DeAngelo Williams duo as one of the NFL’s most dangerous running back tandems, but the New Orleans Saints are already sizing up Carolina’s other star pairing as they look forward to this weekend’s Saints-Panthers matchup. The Saints have already found another one of the league’s best duos, this time in the form of wide receivers Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad. Compared to a two-headed monster, the Smith-Muhammad combo is just as explosive as the Stewart-Williams tandem, if not more; especially when the Saints are involved.

When it comes to Smith and Muhammad’s performances against New Orleans in their careers so far, these two players have been the most powerful weapons Carolina has seen. Combined, the two players account for three of the top four receiving yields of all time for Carolina receivers in franchise history, always hot when New Orleans meets Carolina. Take a look at Muhammad’s record against the Saints: the receiver had a 192-yard, one touchdown game when the teams met in 1998, a 112-yard game against New Orleans in 2002 and a 179-yard, one touchdown game when the teams met in 2004. This is the kind of performance the Saints can expect from both Smith and Muhammad on Sunday, and the Stewart-Williams combination won’t be any easier to contain, either.

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The Stewart-Williams Combo

When it comes to a solid offense, there’s nothing more rewarding than finding running back tandems to get the job done. A strong set of running backs is crucial for an outstanding offense, and ESPN The Magazine has recently ranked the best in the NFL. Not surprisingly, Carolina’s Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams top the list of the NFL’s best backfield pairings, falling at number eight on the list. Coming in ahead of the Stewart-Williams team are New Orleans’ Reggie Bush/Deuce McCallister, Oakland’s Darren McFadden/Justin Fargas(or Michael Bush), Tampa Bay’s Ernest Graham/Warrick Dunn, the Giants’ Brandon Jacobs/Derrick Ward, Miami’s Ronnie Brown/Ricky Williams, Atlanta’s Michael Turner/Jerious Norwood and, topping the rankings, Dallas’ Marion Barber III/Felix Jones.

Panthers coach John Fox plucked Jonathan Stewart from Oregon as the 13th draft pick to help strengthen Carolina’s offense, and Stewart has been nothing but a phenomenal addition to the team so far. The running back’s most exciting plays this season could be his contribution to Carolina’s Week 2 game against the Bears, when Stewart busted out 76 second-half yards and scored the team’s two touchdowns, bringing the Panthers to a come-from-behind win over Chicago. He’s more than proven his worth, and the unbeatable combo of Stewart and Williams has made for one revived Carolina offense.

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Going from Good to Great

The Carolina Panthers are a good team. They’ve shown their determination and resilience with the return of Steve Smith to the lineup after a two-game suspension, and that factor they call Moose hasn’t been hurting the team, either. After a 4-1 start on the season (before Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay, that is,) Panthers fans all but believed this Carolina team is the best since the 2003 Panthers made it to the Super Bowl, putting extreme faith in the cats. All things considered, however, are the standards set too high for this Carolina team?

The Gaston Gazette opines that the Panthers are good but not great this year, and a few things need to change before the Panthers can be considered the dominant force in the NFC South. First, Carolina needs to reduce the numbers of penalties they’ve been racking up. Calls like false starts and too many men on the field have haunted the Panthers this season, and these easily fixable errors need to be worked out before Carolina can be considered and NFL elite. Second, can we say blocked punt return for a touchdown? It’s happened to the Panthers more than once this season, and it’s time for a change. If kinks like these get worked out, the rest of the NFC should watch out, as this Carolina team would be unstoppable.

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Bucs Tie Panthers for Division Lead

If yesterday’s Carolina-Tampa Bay matchup proved anything to the NFC South, it was an indication to the Panthers not to get overconfident. Coming off an incredible 34-0 win in Week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Panthers may have gone into yesterday’s game with a bit more assurance than necessary, their fire quickly stomped out after Tampa Bay put it in Carolina’s face by returning a blocked punt for a touchdown, almost immediately coming back for an interception-turned-touchdown all in the first quarter of the game. The Panthers ended up losing yesterday’s game at Raymond James Stadium 27-3, but the feisty Carolina team is still tied with the Bucs for first place in the NFC South, standing at 4-2 on the season.

Tampa held Carolina at 282 total yards in yesterday’s game, allowing just 40 yards rushing compared with the Bucs’ 315 yards, 142 of it rushing. Among other factors in Carolina’s limited offense in yesterday’s game is the factor of the offensive linemen, two of which (right tackle Jeff Otah and center Ryan Kalil) were out for ankle injuries while left tackle Jordan Gross started his first game since suffering a concussion two weeks ago.

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Panthers-Bucs Preview

The tornado of the NFC South will reach its apex this weekend as the Carolina Panthers take on division rival Tampa Bay at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium. With the Panthers currently on top of the NFC South, the Buccaneers are out for blood. Will they get their revenge? Going into Week 6, it’s Carolina that’s the dominant team, and the Bucs will have to be absolutely on top of their game to rival these tough cats.

The Panthers have won eight of their last 10 games against Tampa Bay, coming out on top for five consecutive visits to the Raymond James Stadium. With most of the team healthy, Jake Delhomme and his right-hand men Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad will lead the Panthers into a tough match, and linemen Jordan Gross and Jeff Otah may even play on Sunday, as well. This all spells trouble for the Buccaneers, who have been juggling a number of quarterbacks this season that started with Jeff Garcia and has flip-flopped back and forth to Brian Griese. This instability could be seen as a weak spot to the Panthers, who are looking for a way into the end zone. Stay tuned for the most important NFC South matchup of the season.

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Ins and Outs for Carolina

The Carolina Panthers have dominated the NFC South this season, but it’s easy to forget about what’s going on in the background while those shiny blue uniforms take over the football field. The Panthers performed extremely well without wide receiver Steve Smith (suspension) in the first two games of the season, also traipsing on without D.J. Hackett (knee) and, most recently, doing without left and right tackles Jordan Gross (concussion) and Jeff Otah (ankle) in Carolina’s last game against the Chiefs.

This revolving door of players is less than ideal for the Panthers and head coach John Fox, but with other key players like Jake Delhomme and Muhsin Muhammad taking the reins and covering up holes in the team, the Panthers have organized a way to go on without their injured stars. Carolina kick returner Ryne Robinson was the latest asset to the injured reserve list, placed there after failing to make much progress on a preseason knee injury. Now that Robinson is out, former Wake Forest receiver Kenneth Moore has been signed on to the team’s practice squad, meaning that Mark Jones will still return punts for the Panthers while rookie running back Jonathan Stewart will still come in as kickoff returner for upcoming games.

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Heating up the NFC South

From the looks of the Carolina Panthers during Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the mighty cats are on the prowl once again, sniffing out a path that already resembles the makings of Carolina’s 2003 season. In 2003, Muhsin Muhammad helped lead the Panthers to a Super Bowl appearance, coming up just short of knocking the New England Patriots off the throne. Muhammad parted ways with the Panthers after the 2004 season, but Moose is back and dangerous as ever, helping lead Carolina into a 4-1 start on the season.

The team’s 4-1 start is the best Carolina has seen since the magical 2003 season, and it places the Panthers as the lone team on top of the NFC South right now after being tied with Tampa Bay last week. The Buccaneers’ loss to Denver over the weekend (along with Carolina’s win against the Chiefs) put the Panthers back on top of the division, so Sunday’s showdown between the Panthers and Bucs will certainly be one to pay attention to. Playing at Tampa Bay on Sunday, the Panthers will attempt to hold their lead in the NFC South.

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Memorable Records, Not So Memorable Game

The Carolina Panthers set multiple records last weekend during the four-quarter maul over the Kansas City Chiefs. Not only did the matchup give Carolina its fourth shutout in franchise history (winning the game 34-0,) it also locked in the Panthers’ second consecutive win against Kansas City. The Panthers were fired up and ready to go in Sunday’s game, and the energy just oozed out of the team that actually looked like it had the team dynamics back and ready to roll. Some of the weekend’s records are as follows:

• Carolina rushed 48 times for a season-high 205 yards.
• Running back DeAngelo Williams rushed for a career-high 123 yards and had two touchdowns.
• Wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad tied Steve Smith with the most touchdowns in team history, coming away with 46.
• Quarterback Jake Delhomme threw his 100th touchdown as a Carolina player.

While everything sort of fell into place for the Panthers in Sunday’s game against the Chiefs, the victorious Carolina team will have to make sure the glue sticks for next week’s game at Tampa Bay. The 3-2 Buccaneers are an NFC South division rival, so Sunday’s matchup is an important one for the 4-1 Panthers.

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Panthers Sweep Chiefs at Home

Everything went right for an unstoppable Carolina team yesterday as the Panthers led a stampede over the Kansas City Chiefs in a 34-0 shutout. The 1-4 Chiefs came off a 33-19 win against Denver last Sunday perhaps a bit overconfident, setting themselves up for the embarrassing defeat that ensued in yesterday’s slaughter at Bank of America Stadium.

While Kansas City had just eight first downs and 127 yards of total offense during yesterday’s game (just 35 of it on the ground), Carolina answered with a blood-thirsty Jake Delhomme completing 14-of-22 passes and 236 yards with his first-career three-touchdown game. Another standout Panther in yesterday’s matchup was DeAngelo Williams, who ran for two touchdowns and caught a scoring pass in the game, ultimately getting a career-high 123 yards with 20 carries in the game.

Yesterday’s game against the Chiefs was Carolina’s fourth regular-season shutout in team history, following one versus Tampa Bay (24-0) in 1996, at New Orleans (13-0) in 1997 and versus St. Louis (15-0) in 2006. On the other end of that spectrum, the shutout was Kansas City’s first since December 28, 2002, when the Chiefs lost to Oakland 24-0.

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