Last year, Sports Illustrated picked the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl XL. This year, many pundits, including ESPN’s Sean Salisbury, had the Panthers Super Bowl-bound yet again. And now after a 27-24 heartbreaking loss to the Eagles on Monday night, one has to wonder if the Panthers will ever live up to all the hype.
When I say live up to the hype, I mean dominating a division and being considered one of the elite teams in the NFL. That doesn’t entail being an inconsistent 6-6 team on the outside looking in at a playoff berth in the mediocre NFC. Living up to the hype is not allowing scatter-feet Jeff Garcia to throw for 312 yards and three touchdowns. Living up to the hype is beating a down trotted Philadelphia team who, before this win, had been looking for a reason to quit on the season when Donovan McNabb got hurt.
I hear every year how John Fox is this brilliant mind that always gets his team to play for him until the bitter end. If he’s so brilliant why did he only run the ball 23 times against an Eagles defense that just gave up 237 yards to the Colts a week ago? If his players play for him until the end, why does Carolina lead the league with five fourth-quarter losses this season? It’s always tough to play in Philly in the month of December, but you have to beat a Garcia-lead Eagles team when a postseason berth is on the line. Especially when you have first and goal from the seven-yard line with less than thirty seconds left to play and a field goal at least ties the game. Now you allow a very dangerous Andy Reid-led Eagles team to have new life.
P.S. I don’t want Jake Delhomme anywhere near my huddle in the fourth quarter with the game on the line unless Jake Plummer is my backup.
