Lies and Conspiracy!

Before the Week 16 games, the Panthers were still mathematically alive for the final NFC wild card spot. The requirements to make the playoffs were thus: The Panthers needed to win out (to get to 8-8), the Saints needed to drop at least one game, the Redskins had to defeat the Vikings and then lose their final game. Unusually enough, everything lined up perfectly for the Panthers on Sunday. The only problem was that the Panthers' game was on Saturday, on NFL Network, no less. After some finagling and debate, we managed to find the game, though in low-definition.

As predicted, Matt Moore started as quarterback. The offense played conservatively, but Dallas' high-octane seemed restrained. Moore did a fair job in the passing game, throwing one TD to Steve Smith and only one interception. DeAngelo Williams carried 10 times for 60 yards, though most of it came on a 39-yard run, which he finished by flattening Terrence Newman before going out of bounds. DeShaun Foster ran an ineffective four times for nine yards.

The defense held up reasonably well, led by Richard Marshall's 10 solo tackles (Jon Beason had 8). Unfortunately, Marshall also missed a crucial open-field tackle that allowed Terrel Owens to score the game's first points. The defensive line was on the field far too long, and it showed. They held the running game in check for as long as they could, but in the fourth quarter, Marion Barber III simply ran all over them to finish the game, much as he has done too teams all year. One of my friends remarked that Tony Romo's jersey was immaculately clean towards the end of the fourth quarter. Indeed, his white looked like it was fresh from the laundry, with no sacks or knockdowns to Carolina's credit. Part of this was due to Julius Peppers' absence, without him, the Cowboys freely double-teamed Kris Jenkins, snuffing out any pocket pressure the Panthers might have applied. The depth that Peppers provided was gone, and frankly, Al Wallace, who left the team before the season, was also missed. The Panthers are not wont to blitz often, so Tony Romo probably did not even need to shower after the game. Thomas Davis was busy, with one forced fumble, one interception and six tackles.

Despite mediocrity on both sides of the ball, what really killed Carolina was the officiating. Three calls at critical junctures doomed the team to the top half of the draft. Two of the calls were actually non-calls, as Mike Carey and his crew missed a Dallas defensive back pulling on the arm of Jeff King, preventing him from making a catch for a first down. They also missed Drew Carter being rapped on the head and then tackled before attempting to make a huge catch on third down. The third and most obviously incorrect call was on a long catch by Steve Smith. Moore heaved the ball down the right sideline and Smith, streaking in double coverage, leaped for the ball, and then came down with it, and then fumbled it out of bounds. The official who was standing at the sideline where the catch occurred paused for a moment and then signaled a catch, causing the stadium to erupt into cheers. Mike Carey then came over and ruled the pass incomplete, turning the fans' cheers into a hail of boos. After some contemplation and much shouting at the television, Coach John Fox threw out the red flag to challenge. The replays that scrolled during the review clearly told the story: Smith caught the ball, and then touched down with both feet. However, due to the height and angle of his jump (or perhaps his thighs are made out of springs), he immediately bounced and became airborne once more, finally landing on his back and only then (after he should have been ruled down) did he fumble. Unfortunately, Mike Carey did not see it this way. He ruled the pass incomplete, to a chorus of boos and maledictions from the fans. I could have understood if had had ruled down by contact, or even caught and then fumbled out. But he did neither. Mike Carey suddenly went from one of the three NFL referees I could name (the other two being he-man Ed Hochuli and the venerable Gerry Austin) to the most despised man in sports.

Of course, the Panthers lost the game 20-13 (frankly they should have been blown out, but that is a rant for a Texan writer).

Now the Panthers are eliminated from playoff contention, and most likely, the season will end in such a fashion that had they won this game, they would have slipped into the playoffs as the sixth team.

I'm looking into patenting Haterade.

Week 14

Unfortunately, this post a continuation of the last one. Last week (12/2) the Panthers had the good fortune to play a team as feeble as themselves, the San Francisco 49ers. They ran trick plays with success, had 6 takeaways and generally dominated their former NFC West foes. This week, they played the Jacksonville Jaguars, their "expansion twins" with dissimilar results.

The Jaguar are everything the Panthers aspire to be. They have a powerful running game, a hard-hitting defense designed to stop the run and a QB who rarely makes mistakes. The Jaguars even have Jack del Rio, the former Panthers defensive coordinator, as their well-dressed head coach.

They Panthers hung tough for the first half, but the Jaguars poured on 27 points in the second to make the game a snoozer. Vinny Testaverde was unusually inaccurate, with diminished power on many of his passes. Steve Smith was limited to a few harmless catches, the running game was ineffective and the Panthers' could not score a touchdown, the hallmark of their continually abysmal offense. Jon Beason once again shone in a losing effort, with 12 tackles, 10 of them solo.

If Vinny continues to act his age, Matt Moore may see more reps and more snaps, if nothing else to prepare him to be an adequate backup to Jake Delhomme next year. Though David Carr was signed to be a Plan B at QB, he has now been relegated to 3rd string for the past two games and it remains to be seen if he will fulfill both years of his contract with the Panthers. The Panthers would have to win their remaining three games and receive substantial help to reach the playoffs.

The Patriots and the Colts both heaped on the points, but it was the Cowboys who caught my eye this week, with yet another magical win. They have also had close wins over Buffalo and Washington, and their only loss is to the 13-0 Patriots.