Carolina Panthers win again thanks to Chris Harris and Jonathan Stewart

The Panthers started out terribly on Sunday, but finished strong. After an early blocked punt resulted in a touchdown, Carolina rallied from a 17-3 deficit to win 20-17. It was an incredibly sloppy first half for the Panthers, who had several false start and illegal formation penalties. After halftime, though, the Panthers played much better. Chris Harris is the best in the league at stripping the ball, and he did it again. Jake Delhomme was, well, Jake Delhomme. Fox had a stat that since the 2003 season, Jake Delhomme has more 4th quarter touchdown passes than any quarterback in the league. More than Brady, Manning, Favre... anyone. That's impressive. In all fairness, Jake threw a few tantrums that would make 5 year olds envious in response to obvious false start calls. Defensive players can move as much as they want prior to the snap, as long as they don't get into the neutral zone and cause the offensive linemen to move. Delhomme, Jordan Gross, Jeff Otah and Dante Rosario must not realize this.

There are still a couple of concerning things about the Panthers. Julius Peppers really looks like about 50 other defensive ends right now. It's tough to remember, but midway through 2006 there was significant talk about him being the MVP of the league. Not NFC defensive player of the year: MVP, of the entire league. The last 25 games or so have been a different story. It really makes you wonder if the Panthers will (or should) break the bank to re-sign him in the off-season. At the end of the day, I think they'll have to re-sign him, because their other defensive end position is even worse, and they won't have a first rounder next year to draft his successor. It's disappointing to see a guy fail to live up to their potential. And without exaggeration, Pepper's potential was to revolutionize the defensive end position the way L.T. revolutionized the linebacker position. At this point, though, Peppers mediocre play isn't a trend, it's reality.

It will also be interesting to see how this team plays next week when Steve Smith returns. There haven't been a whole lot of receivers in NFL history with his combination of small size, extraordinary strength and speed, and a proclivity to violently attack defenseless teammates. If nothing else, the Panthers seem to be using the training camp incident as team-building, which is the absolute best-case scenario for the team. I have read reports that Ken Lucas was heavily involved in the Panthers decision on Smith's punishment, up to and including trading Smith from the Panthers. However it came about, two games was the absolutely appropriate suspension. If Smith should repeat his behavior, he will be gone from the Panthers, and now other NFL teams will know the history of his missteps. Let's be honest, though: Smith could attack another teammate, get cut, and Al Davis would still have him on the Raiders within a day. In the NFL, talent transcends any other negatives, and Smith is eminently talented.

I stand corrected, because I sincerely expected the Panthers to probably go 0-2 without Smith, and to finish with an 8-8 record when 9-7 would make the playoffs. To go 2-0, especially considering the San Diego win, puts the Panthers in the driver's seat in the NFC. For right now at least, it's reasonable to expect them not just to make the playoffs, but to host at least one home game.