Thursday, October 18, 2012

Can Panthers spring the upset against Dallas? My prediction

The Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers have a strange history. Carolina fans generally remember Cowboy games fondly, because the two biggest games in the 11-game series were both playoff games in Charlotte. And the Panthers won both of those convincingly -- following the 1996 and 2003 seasons -- to produce two of the franchise's best moments.

But in the regular season it's been a far different story. The Cowboys are 8-1 against Carolina in regular-season games. Current Dallas coach Jason Garrett threw for 287 yards against the Panthers in one of those victories back in 1998. And Dallas has won the last four matchups in a row. So Panther fans' happy memories of this series are getting pretty ancient.

** In the NFL, the Cowboys are always a friend for the opposing team's ticket director. Dallas will play in front of its 83rd consecutive road sellout Sunday in Charlotte -- the Cowboys' last "non-sellout" on the road was at Arizona 10 years ago. So Panther fans must brace for the inevitable influx of Dallas fans Sunday, because as always a large number of Cowboy fans will have bought their way into the stadium. At least they'll have as hard a time getting through security as everyone else.

** The Panthers better watch out for No.94 Sunday. DeMarcus Ware already has six sacks this season and is fourth on the Cowboys' all-time sack list. Ranking fourth doesn't sound that impressive until you consider the first three (according to the Cowboys' statistics) are Harvey Martin, Randy White and Ed "Too Tall" Jones. Ware only needs nine more sacks to pass them all.

** What the Panthers need most of all Sunday is a ground game. Did you realize Carolina that since the beginning of 2008, which was Jonathan Stewart's first year in the NFL, the Panthers have produced more rushing yards than any other team? But they have been mediocre at running the ball this season (ranked 13th). With the Cowboys' defense No.1 in the NFL against the pass, the Panthers keeping themselves away from third-and-10 situations will be huge.

** Dallas is the slight favorite in this one. But I picked the Panthers to go 8-8 before the season began. If they don't get started winning some games soon, there's no way they will get close to that. Both teams lost to Seattle, but the Panthers played the Seahawks a far better game. Just playing a hunch here -- and my hunches are suspect, given my game-by-game prediction record on the Panthers so far this season is only 2-3: Carolina 24, Dallas 23.

14 comments:

Swizzle52 said...

Only chance Carolina has is to run the ball...with our RB's!!!

Irvin's Suit said...

Come on Cowboys Nation!! Let's takeover this place once again! The Panther fans will just have to get over AMERICA's TEAM coming in and making the place ours. If you are lucky, we will let Cam play the whole game. But if he does that silly dance even once, we will break him. Wait a minute, who am I kidding. YOu guys have no chance to score against us!

Cowboys- 49
Kitty Cats- 3

Anonymous said...

If the Cowboys lose, how many trailer parks in Gaston county are set on fire? Romo gives us 3 picks and Jones fumbles twice....Panthers 27 America's Mullet 17

Big livin said...

BIG,BIG,BIG diamonds!

John said...

Final Score :

Ono Romo : 2 INT's 1 Fumble

Fig Newton 3 INT's 2 Fumble

2 Pick 6's by the Cowgirls will jump start their floundering season while burying the Pansies deeper into their Litter box.

Anonymous said...

So Dallas has 1 playoff win since 1995, and the Panther fans are supposed to be intimidated by that? The same team that was crying that Minnesota ran up the score on them in Favres first year there? The same Dallas team that Switzer stated, he didn't even know where Charlotte was before that memorable playoff game which ended the reign of Sanders, Irvin, Aikman, and Smith? Your team has been garbage for 17 years, and counting.

Anonymous said...

Scott....what is your record? Isn't it the same as the panthers....1-4?

Anonymous said...

We won't win 24-23. If we win, it will have to be by two scores or more because as soon as we have a one score game, this team finds a way to lose, or Cam simply fails to make a play to win. Go back and look at last season and this season and you'll see that almost all of Cams wins to date were blowouts. Any game decided by less than 8 points is a loss with the exception being Jacksonville. If we beat dallas, it will have to be by more than 8 because this team doesn't know how to pull out a close game.

Anonymous said...

God bless Cowboys fans, they have no attachment to reality whatsoever!

Roy B. Santonil said...

Cam's right about this (especially in the NFL): Anything can happen.

DallasPantherFan said...

I am a Panther Fan living in Dallas for the past 8 years. I think the Cowboys fans in Charlotte are more loyal than the ones in Dallas. Cowboys fans here in Dallas are fair weather and have been jumping off the bandwagon this year. The Cowboys are very beatable and I expect the Panthers to have a good Sunday.

Anonymous said...

Both teams played the Giants to Scott. Dallas won while the Giants destroyed the Panthers. SO can I base my hunch from that??? Absolutely not.

Cowboys 27, Panther 20

Tony B. said...

Well Scott, in light of today's injury report, there is still time for you retract your prediction for the game.

Unknown said...

I wish you were right Scott but who is going to stop the dallas wr's....this game will be a blowout...a great time for cowboy fans....our team has quit already....I wished these panthers gave us something to be excited about....I am so tired of lousy football....