Carolina Panthers' First-Quarter Report

The NFL season is now a quarter over.  The Carolina Panthers have exceeded most expectations and now sit atop the NFC South, along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Let's take a look at how they got there.

In the first game of the season, the Panthers traveled coast-to-coast to take on the San Diego Chargers. No one gave the Panthers a chance in this game.

But they rode their running game, special teams, and QB Jake Delhomme's late-game heroics to an amazing victory.

I tell ya, I can still remember every detail about that last play that won it for us...Delhomme, takes the snap, backtracks a couple steps, steps up into the pocket, skitters left, pump-fakes, lets it go, Rosario leaps, and....HE COMES DOWN WITH IT!!! PANTHERS WIN, PANTHERS WIN!!! THEY HAVE UPSET THE CHARGERS!!! I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!"

I challenge you to go the NFL.com and watch the highlight reel of the game and see if you don't still get shivers down your back from watching that magical play again.

In Week Two, it was the Bears at home, a game the Panthers were supposed to win.  Yet they nearly lost it.

The Bears used their running game to dominate the first half. Matt Forte ran well, and the Bears stacked eight guys in the box to stop the run, knowing that the Panthers wouldn't easily be able to beat them with the pass.

But in the second half, Jonathan Stewart replaced DeAngelo Williams and ran all over the Bears' D, scoring two touchdowns—including the one that put the Panthers on top to stay—and gained 76 yards on 13 carries.

The defense also stepped up and channeled everything into stopping Forte. It worked. Forte and the Bears' offense stagnated for the rest of the game. They only scored one touchdown in the second half, and that was on the first possession of the third quarter.

In their third game, the Panthers were subjugated by the Vikings. 

Carolina reeled off the first 10 points.

But then the Vikings' insane defense reared its ugly head and completely shut the entire Panthers offense down.

In addition, Minnesota QB Gus Frerotte kept completing short passes that often just barely earned a first down, and running backs Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor did just enough to keep the chains moving every time. 

This balance between the running game and passing attack kept the Panthers defense on the field for minutes on end, exhausting them rapidly.

This past week, the Panthers faced a division rival, the Falcons, at home. They cruised their way to a win with their passing game and defense.

So the Panthers have been flying pretty high, aside from that embarrassing game in Minneapolis.

But it hasn't been all fun and games.

Penalties—namely false-start penalties—have been a major cause for concern.  False starts especially killed us in the Chicago and Minnesota games. 

The Bears' tenacious defense put eight men in the box and made it extremely difficult for the still-gelling offensive line to block effectively.

Against the Vikings, the false-starts were the result of crowd noise. Center Ryan Kalil has said that he often couldn't hear Delhomme's signal and snapped the ball late. While Kalil was late, the rest of the Panthers offense was on time, making it appear as though several offensive players were getting off the ball early.

The false-start issue was rectified against the Bears—only one was called—but there were still 10 other infractions that cost the Panthers 85 yards.

The running offense, strongly hyped before the start of the season, has been spotty. It was great the first game—Stewart and Williams averaged nearly five yards per carry.

But the Bears shut Williams down. Stewart had to come to his rescue with two touchdowns and 76 yards on minimal carries.

The Vikings just stopped the running game cold. Simple as that.

Williams and Stewart did...good...overall against the Falcons.

As usual, Stewart did better. He averaged more than four yards per carry and scored a touchdown, to Williams's roughly 3.5 yards per carry and no touchdowns.

Stewart has done better than Williams all year. Maybe that's because of the injury issues the offensive line has dealt with. 

Left guard Travelle Wharton has missed two games with a knee injury (though he came back for the Falcons game), right tackle Jeff Otah missed part of the San Diego game, and now left tackle Jordan Gross will likely miss two weeks with a Grade Three (the highest possible level for a measured concussion) concussion he suffered in the Atlanta game.

The injuries to the offensive line got so bad in the Falcons game that for a while, the Panthers had no more offensive linemen left to plug in if someone got hurt. Thank God that didn't happen.

The best thing about this Panthers team is that no one unit has had to carry them to each of their wins on its own. 

I'll admit that the run defense has been spectacular. This run D has taken on L.T., Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, and Michael Turner. Three of these guys are a few of the best backs in the league. And none of them have gained more than 97 yards.

But this team doesn't rely exclusively on its run defense. The pass D hasn't allowed any given receiver more than 90 yards. That indicates that the personnel in the secondary is talented and can hold its own. 

The problem with the pass defense is the coaching. Defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac just doesn't get it. It's easy to figure out how to beat this passing D—throw short passes underneath. Then let your receivers go to work trying to get yardage after the catch.

Every team across the NFL knows that this is the way to beat us. They've been doing it as long as I can remember. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to watch opposing teams throw short pass after short pass for first downs and see Trgo refusing to adjust his scheme.

Trgo just needs to make an adjustment before it's too late. The season could very well depend on it.

But, to go back to the positives, this team has what the Panthers have lacked since 2005—heart, passion, desire, and chemistry.

Think back to last year's team. They didn't play with any enthusiasm after Jake got hurt, and the offense stalled for the rest of the season, didn't they? The offense's attitude rubbed off on the defense. Half the time, it looked like the defense was playing just to get through the game—not the least bit passionate.

But this year, the Steve Smith-Ken Lucas incident has brought the team closer together. It's resulting in better chemistry and cohesiveness. As a result, the whole team is playing harder and with far more passion because no one wants to let any of his teammates down. In addition, the great start doesn't hurt.

The Panthers have started this season on a high note. Their only loss has come to an inspired Vikings team playing at home, with all the crowd noise to boot. The units are picking each other up every week. Plus, they're playing with the chemistry and heart needed to make something special happen. 

Right now they're right on track to go 12-4. But they've played three tough teams so far and beaten two of them. The weak part of the schedule is coming. This Panthers team can do something special this year. Panthers fans, you won't want to miss this show.