Two months ago, the Carolina Panthers made sure the rest of the NFL world was paying attention to them by edging San Francisco, 10-9, on the road at Candlestick Park.
Now to advance in the playoffs, the Panthers will have to repeat that victory. The 49ers will come to Charlotte next weekend for a sold-out 1 p.m. playoff game at Bank of America Stadium to face the Panthers in the NFC playoffs. The winner will face the New Orleans-Seattle winner Saturday in the NFC title game on Jan.19th. If New Orleans and the Panthers win, the game would be played in Charlotte. If Seattle wins, the Seahawks will host that game, regardless of whether Carolina or the 49ers win.
The 49ers had to beat Green Bay, 23-20, on a last-second Phil Dawson field goal Sunday night to punch a ticket to CLT. (Nevertheless, that win was impressive enough that the 49ers are now the only road team that is a consensus favorite among sportsbooks this week -- they are favored in most by a point or two over Carolina). San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick had a big fourth quarter, running the ball for major yardage when he had to (he ended up with 98 yards rushing) and hitting tight end Vernon Davis with a 28-yard TD strike to offset Aaron Rodgers' own set of big plays.
The teams looked very evenly matched, and while I went into the game thinking the Packers would be a far better matchup for Carolina, by the third quarter I had decided it didn't matter much. Both of them would present their own set of problems for a Panther team that had a hard-earned weekend off and will now try to avoid the repeat of the playoff debacle five years ago at home against Arizona in Jake Delhomme's six-turnover fiasco.
A few things to consider as we start sinking our teeth into Panthers-49ers, Round 2:
-- Carolina will never allow Kaepernick to have that much time in the pocket, because the Panthers' pass rush is so much better than Green Bay's. Greg Hardy (above) has been almost unblockable in his past two games and will be a huge key.
-- Kaepernick -- who threw for only 91 yards last time and was sacked six times for 45 yards in losses, resulting in a paltry 46 net yards passing -- will have more weaponry. He didn't have Michael Crabtree the first time the two teams played (who Jim Harbaugh called "the greatest catcher" ever following the win). Kaep also lost Davis to a concussion in the second quarter. He did have Frank Gore, who will be a tough out for the Panthers once again.
-- After a slow start, Rodgers and Green Bay moved the ball pretty effectively against San Francisco. Quarterback Cam Newton will have some work to do, but if he gets Steve Smith back, he probably can generate more than 10 points as he did in the first game and definitely will need to do so.
-- Panther cornerback Drayton Florence has gotten the defensive backs and, eventually, the whole team doing the old Ric Flair "Wooooo!" after wins. But Flair, a Charlotte resident, gave a speech to the 49ers Saturday night, said he was a big 49ers fan and then predicted San Francisco would beat both Green Bay and then Carolina. (Flair also said during the speech he didn't know that the Panthers had beaten the 49ers earlier in the season until very recently, so it's not like he keeps up with the NFL.) In any event, probably safe to say we won't see Flair back on the B of A stadium scoreboard that he long ago used to appear on regularly anytime soon.
-- The 49ers looked to come out of the game without too many health issues, other than being very cold. The early forecast for next Sunday at 1 p.m. in Charlotte will be a lot different than it was in Green Bay, with a high of 56 degrees and a 30 percent chance of rain. Think about that when it gets down into the single digits Monday -- warmer weather is around the bend.
-- Lastly, remember this picture? Our Joseph Person snapped it when Stephen Curry -- another famous Charlotte resident when he's not hitting treys for Golden State -- visited the Panther locker room following the Panthers' victory over the 49ers Nov.10th. Safe to say that Steph won't be giving any motivational speeches to the 49ers this week.
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19 comments:
No more flair.....the guy is a complete baboon....the panthers do not need cheap gimmicks.....we win with hard work.....his team will smack the 49ers......now let's see New Orleans do their part so the NFC championship is in Carolina!!!
Cam must bring his a-game every drive every down he must be focused for us to be victorious, Receivers catch whats thrown to you, We need our running backs to produce positive gains in the running game, Shula you must put together a winning game plan and adjust as needed Be smart about your play selection and also be cunning at times, The defense must bring it every down we must pressure and cover at all times we also need a couple interceptions from our defense.Coaching staff we must be ready to make adjustments as needed to win this game,
Very disrespectful! That's what everybody is saying about 49ers vs panthers. Nobody giving our panthers a chance against this team and 49ers being a more complete team. What a bull. I hope Panthers come out and play Smash Mouth football and shove the 49ers feet in their mouth! Unleash the Kraken! We need Cam to play with his feet and not to worry about style plays.
I never cared at all for the Rick Flair stuff. Hopefully that will slither away like the snake he turned out to be by giving his allegiance to SF. Who cares? A fake athlete from a fake industry. If used at all perhaps it can be thrown back into his face. Just dump it regardless.
I'm hoping the Panthers simply bring a huge message to the Niners. We are flat out better than you. Execution. Come out and execute each play like a surgeon. Leave a lasting message that says we're going to be here for the decade to come. Get use to it. In the name of the great Sam Mills.. Keep Pounding!
Offense has to produce, Period!!! The Defense will do its thing as usual. Let's hope Cam brings his "A" game the rest will fall into place!
Maybe this whole Flair thing is a set-up on the Niners, like a PUNKED episode...maybe not. But you heard it here first......
Not that all that crap matters. It's all about whether the Panthers D can dominate like before and whether Cam and the offense can do better than recent weeks. They have to in order to win this week.
Much will depend on the schemes and play-calling of the offensive coordinator.
Must put pressure on the 49er's quarterback. When the Panther's have done that, it's worked in our favor. If you let the quarterback have too much time it will bite us in the butt. PRESSURE, PRESSURE, PRESSURE the quarterback. Green Bay wasn't effective in that last night.
Panthers must start the game all pumped up. The game against Atlanta they looked very slugish the first half!! No turnovers either.
Just hope Cam can keep his passes out of the stratosphere so the receivers will have a chance to catch them. He has a big problem overthrowing people.
LEJ
Yeah, no playing just hoping the defense can completely shut down the other team. We have to step on the gas a little on offense. Go down trying to win, carefully, rather than just trying to do just a little and rely on the defense.
Advantage 49ers, they have 3 healthy veteran receivers :Boldin, Davis, and Crabtree.S.Smith says he'll start but how effective he'll be with that sore knee is anyone's guess.Both defenses will be challenged at keeping the opposing QB in the pocket.
Ron don`t dare let up come out swinging our team has had a week to rest up and stay focused,Its you and your coaching staffs job to have a winning game plan drawn up and get this win, I`m challenging you and your entire staff to dominate this game and make a statement,We have came a long way and there`s no looking back , As for our players I hope Steve is back 100%,if he struggles I hope you make adjustments by getting healthy players in the game that are 100% to give us the best chance of winning. I would rather see us be affective moving the chains and spreading the ball around than to target a receiver who is not getting open and waste downs...here I go again I blame Shula and Cam for all the incompletions to La fell 8 or 9 pass attempts and only 1 completion??? Cam should of never thrown some of those La fells way, How many does it take before you realize he`s not breaking coverage, so throw to someone else who can get open ,DON`T waste downs, you only get so many opportunities a game so make the most of them. Rivera We sold out all our tickets in 3 minutes no other team in the NFL did that If that does`nt tell you how bad we desire a super bowl victory then nothing will.That should be mentioned to your coaching staff as food for thought,(MOTIVATION) Jerry Richardson needs this season...Steve Smith needs this season...Gross needs this season...You and your coaching staff need this season and the Panther fans deserve this season So continue on with another victory toward our goal of super bowl champs.
Panthers seemed to have strolled into the playoffs, the last 4 weeks have not been all that impressive. That should be concerning against a 49er team that's won 7 in a row.
Hawk fan here...I can tell you the 12th man in Seattle and around the country is a lot more concerned about having to face the Panthers than we are the Whiners. The Whiners have been sneaking by teams like Atlanta...only because Matt Ryan blew it at the end. Big deal they beat the 7-8-1 Packers. We kicked the Whiners last year and again this year at C-Link and we would do it again. Panthers game now...that is a much tougher game. We got the season opener from you guys but that was a weird game and the Panthers are a much better team now. Even though we are concerned about playing you guys we think if we really want this to mean something we need to beat the best which would be a Hawk/Panther NFC Championship game. Good luck against the Whiners and have fun watching Harbaugh try to get the ref's to throw a flag on every play.
Regardless of who wins, Monday morning you fools will still be in Carolina
The O line had better double team Niners LB Aldon Smith,he has regained his early career form lately.
He dominated GB line on Sunday.
And for goodness sakes don't let QB CK wander around back there, the more he moves the better he is.
Why would we care what Rick Flair thinks unless..
I can picture him coming out of the tunnel in his Nature Boy costume and leading a cheer for the Panthers!
Whooooo!
Hey Panther Fan's congrats on a great season for you ! Sorry it has to end !Quest for Six! And Remember Bank of America came from San Francisco and they suck too!
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