Monday, November 9, 2009

Davis ACL injury -- ouch!

Remember 2008?

The Carolina Panthers' 12-4 regular season was keyed in part by an extremely stable defense. It was if the Panthers had sprayed "Off -- the NFL version" all over their D, in which all 11 starters started the first 14 games in a row.

Not this year. Carolina's run of great injury luck in 2008 has caught up with it in 2009, starting with losing DT Maake Kemoeatu 10 minutes into training camp and continuing today with the announcement that linebacker Thomas Davis has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and will miss the rest of the season.

Davis -- called "T.D." by his teammates -- was having a Pro Bowl-type season. An amazingly fast linebacker, he had thrived in the "Tampa Two" system installed by new defensive coordinator Ron Meeks much like Derrick Brooks used to thrive in the same system at the same outside linebacker position at Tampa Bay.

Here's a small excerpt of a column I wrote about Davis earlier this season:
"For my money, Davis has made a greater impact this season for Carolina than anyone on the squad. On a team that has too often during the past month seemed that the key players are either too old or too young, Davis, 26, stands smack in the middle of his prime.
"Davis has played well all season - a fact somewhat lost with Carolina's 1-3 start. He had an astonishing 18 tackles in the season opener against Philadelphia, which is about two games worth for most good linebackers....
As coach John Fox said... "Thomas is having an excellent season. Unfortunately, the Panthers aren't. It hasn't been his fault."


To lose Davis halfway through the season is perhaps even more significant than the Kemoeatu injury, which Carolina didn't really recover from until signing self-proclaimed "fat guy" Hollis Thomas to eat up space in the middle. Carolina did have two super-speedy linebackers to erase a lot of mistakes and make a lot of plays on the field in Davis and Jon Beason.

Now it's down to one. No matter how the Panthers reshuffle the linebackers, Davis isn't really someone you can replace. It's just another sad signpost in a 3-5 season that seems headed straight toward oblivion.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bring back Lehman.

Anonymous said...

Bring back Lehman

Anonymous said...

Bring back Lehman

Anonymous said...

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Bring back Lehman

Anonymous said...

Uh, take it easy Jeremy. We can read.

Anonymous said...

lehman blows. start connor

Anonymous said...

Lehman's in the UFL. Bet he is still pointing at the guy in section 145, row 28, seat 11 after every tackle.

Anonymous said...

Fire Fox...bench Jake

Anonymous said...

4:45: Oddly enough, neither of those individuals cost us the game this weekend.

Anonymous said...

excuses for the losing season that we all knew would happen ""This ain't your night (Panthers)"! My night! I coulda taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville! You was my brother, (Jerry Richardson)Charley, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short-end money.

Unknown said...

Panther fans suck. Fox is an elite coach. Injuries are part of the game. Again Panther fans suck.

MrBernz said...

Thank god coach Fox & Delhomme arent as retarded as some of the retards posting here under "anonymous".........

Anonymous said...

It is what it is!

Curtis Watkins said...

Scott, I think you summed it up pretty well in the title.

Ouch.

Anonymous said...

"Lehman still pointing......" Now that's funny, I don't care who you are.

Julie said...

This is so sad. I was looking forward to seeing Thomas Davis at the Pro Bowl. I look forward to seeing him next year on a hopefully much improved Panthers team!

Aarone said...

It’s really depressing for the fans to loss Thomas Davis for the whole season. I hope he would soon recover from his orthopedic injury and for once more would be in play fields scoring against his rivals.