Sunday, January 3, 2010

Panthers lead 17-3 at halftime

Dwayne Jarrett -- whose name has been generally followed by the words "draft bust" for most of the past three seasons -- just scored his first-ever NFL touchdown. The 30-yard strike from Matt Moore pushed Carolina's lead to 14-3 with just seconds remaining in the half.

But Carolina wasn't done, because New Orleans fumbled the ensuing kickoff with 0:05 on the clock and the Panthers' Dante Wesley recovered. Kicker John Kasay knocked in a 41-yard field goal, and suddenly Carolina had extended a 7-3 lead to 17-3 at halftime in a matter of seconds.

Jarrett's TD came right after the Panthers converted a fourth-and-4 from the New Orleans 35, and Jarrett did that, too. He made a catch in traffic, got hammered and held on for a 5-yard gain that moved the chains.

All in all, it was the best drive of Jarrett's career, which isn't saying much, but give him his due for this one.

New Orleans, meanwhile, can do nothing offensively despite good field position for most of the first half. Quarterback Mark Brunell looks ancient and hasn't been helped by several drops, but the Panther defense is also stuffing the run. Unless things change, the Saints are about to enter the playoffs with 3 straight losses and the Panthers are about to enter the offseason with 3 straight wins.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

And yet which team would you rather be? 0-3 over the last few games with guaranteed home field advantage or 3-0 and going nowhere

Anonymous said...

It's about time that actually gave DJ a chance with someone who can throw him the damn ball!!!!!

cchhotdog said...

Wow, amazing what a guy can do if you throw him the ball. Jarrett is no bust, but if the QB never throws him the ball you come up with the assumption that a guy is a bust. Thanks to Matt Moore for throwing Jarrett the ball and showing the fans he is no bust.

Curtis Watkins said...

Actually anon @ 2:57...I'm sure you think that you're pretty clever with that comment. As if, we are so happy that we've won the past 3 games that we don't care about going to the playoffs, right? Moron.

But, I tell you who we ARE. We are a team that understands our situation - and these games serve a purpose for our future.


Frankly, if I'm a Saints fan - I'm not so smug I'm writing off these games as "unimportant". There is a reason no team in NFL history has lost 3 games going into the Playoffs and even made it to the Super Bowl. It's called momentum...it's called getting hot at the right time.

So, make your sinde comments. I'd call it compensating for someone who is, and should be, worried about the Saints.