Panthers D was a joke!

[thenry20]

They made Antowain Smith look like Riggins or Marcus Allen. They absolutely couldn't stop any RB when they rushed. A. Smith will never be a HOF back that is for sure.

Plus, they couldn't manage any sort of a pass rush. They did at times when their secondary played man and bump coverages.

Jake played his ass off and ended up with 300+ yards. In the first half, his receivers must've been eating popcorn and forgot to wipe that damned butter off before going back in the game.

That D was extremely overrated and their D Coordinator should shoulder much of the blame.

[STAMPY]

what r u talkin about dude... the defense is great on that team... its just that the pats oline destroyed them. they are one of the best defenses still and delahome was rusty is 1st till he got hot not the receivers... get off the crack

[thenry20]

Look at the Tampa and Ravens D-line in the SB and tell me how they're similar to the Panthers! LMAO!!

How many sacks did they produce and how many rushes did they stop behind the line of scrimmage. Brady's jersey was quite clean at post-game interviews.

You must be a Pats fan to sing their praises in such a manner.

Perhaps, you would like to review a tape of the game before mocking others posts!

Either that or you need to test your eyesight! We saw two different games tonight.

[Devin]

Naw unfortunatley I have to give Pats O-Line credit, Panthers D was on point. Just happens that Pats O-Line worked those front 7.

Panthers D was only thing that kept them in the game the first half.

[BillyT92679]

Three cheers for Jake Delhomme... all this garbage about him not being able to produce or to shrink away under pressure, that can all go away now.

[Bert102176]

well one thing that pissed me off was that 4th down the Panthers stopped them and the refs f@&% up again and spotted the ball so they could get a 1st down.

[caveboy]

Considering both sides gave up 29 points almost all the way to the end, looks like both Ds were ineffective at keeping the score down. Points are more important than how many yards are given up.

But IMHO, John Kasay's kick out of bounds cost Carolina the game. With the way Carolina's D was able to limit Brady, I think they stop NE if that kickoff is covered back around the 20, not giving it to them at the 40. NE would've had to go another 20 yards at the end, and with not much on the clock, they would've run out of time in regulation.

Carolina's front line was able to put more pressure on NE than they were used to. I also saw NE get stuffed when they ran a lot more too. Brady couldn't fire off those 1-step quick little shots to the WRs like he's been doing. Carolina lso had their DBs play tighter to the line than NE has seen in the playoffs.

Jake sure hung in there though. Lotsa cred to him even whne their O was sputtering. There's only so much the D can do if the O keeps failing though. Damn, how many times did Carolina try and run up the gut against Mt. Washington? Too many. And a lot of Jake's throws weren't exactly on target in the first half.

Interesting stat by Boomer Easiason before the game, that Carolina was under the cap by 12 million this year. They could be competitive for a few years if they build their secondary in FA.

[jchild178]

great post caveboy!! John Kasay really fu@#ed his team with that kick outta bounds

[Ebenezer]

I don't think you can put it on the Panther D...three bad calls by John Fox was the difference...two times going for two point conversions...and the angle kick to the sideline...just bad coaching...and you can't blame Kasay...do you really think he (or any kicker) just missed the entire field?? The call came from the coach...kick it straight down the field as long as possible and NE doesn't get great field position.

[caveboy]

Ebe -
Not sure I get your point. Are you saying they called an angle kick on purpose, and he just missed, or...? ;-)

Regardless, if that's the case, whether it was the Kasey's fault or the call from Fox, that play cost them the game IMO. If I'm Fox, the way my team had been covering kick-offs, I'm not worried about a long return by NE, so I kick it straight down.

I also think Carolina's O getting off to a late start hurt them more than their D giving up the rushing yards.

[Ebenezer]

Cave, it is a large field...the call for an angle kick comes from the HC or the HC in agreement with the ST coach...a NFL caliber kicker does not just kick the ball out of bounds...the call was there and Kasay missed...if Fox calls for it down the middle Kasay would not have kicked it out of bounds...plain and simple.

[Dozerdog]

Did any of you folks watch?

Both defenses played great for the first 26 minutes of each half. The two minute drill defenses for both teams got torched..


NE's Defense forced a lot of 3 and outs most of the game

Carolina was in terrible field position most of the game but came up big and turned away the Pas numerous times. This game could have been an early blowout.

I thought both sides played awesome. ..Not much to complain about the referee performance either. Everyone brought their A game

[Ebenezer]

Originally posted by Dozerdog
Did any of you folks watch?

Both defenses played great for the first 26 minutes of each half. The two minute drill defenses for both teams got torched..


NE's Defense forced a lot of 3 and outs most of the game

Carolina was in terrible field position most of the game but came up big and turned away the Pas numerous times. This game could have been an early blowout.

I thought both sides played awesome. ..Not much to complain about the referee performance either. Everyone brought their A game

I don't disagree with any of that...Carolina put together 3 80+ yard drives...so much for Romeo Crennel and his vaunted defense.

[Michael82]

Originally posted by Bert102176
well one thing that pissed me off was that 4th down the Panthers stopped them and the refs f@&% up again and spotted the ball so they could get a 1st down.

I totally agree! I was screaming at that play! It was so obvious that they stopped them.

[elltrain22]

You obviously did not watch the same game. Before the panthers offense woke up late in the 2nd half, what was it that kept them in the game, ohhh that s right it was there dee. There defense did suffer alot of penaties, but it was a great effort, by a great defense.