Once upon a time this season, the Carolina Panthers were 2-0 and everyone was smiling.
Since then, they have fallen on hard times, going 1-4-1 over the past six games. Somehow that still is good enough to lead the NFC South, but that will change Thursday night at 8:25 p.m. if Carolina (3-4-1) gets beaten at home against New Orleans (3-4).
Every season has a few pivot points. This is one of them for the Panthers.
I believe New Orleans remains the Panthers' biggest competition in the division, and I don't think there's much way Carolina can beat the Saints in New Orleans on Dec.7. So this is one the Panthers have to get. Otherwise, New Orleans moves into first place and Carolina spins into second with a difficult Monday night game Nov.10 at Philadelphia coming up.
-- I was so sorry to hear about Mo Collins, the former NFL player and West Charlotte high school coach who died Sunday at the age of 38. Collins was a former first-round draft pick out of Florida who played offensive tackle for the Oakland Raiders for six years. He also was a true Charlottean who came back to his community after his own playing days were done and tried hard to make things better at his alma mater.
-- The NFL Network's pregame show on Thursday night will have a feature on Cam Newton and some of the kids he has given "touchdown footballs" to over his career. Newton posed with and talked to more than a dozen of those kids just before Christmas last year for a long Charlotte Observer story I wrote -- one of my most personally gratifying stories ever. One of the pictures from that December photo shoot with Observer photographer Jeff Siner is above.
NFL Network contacted me recently, wanting to do their own version of the "Cam and the kids" story, and so I put the network in touch with some of the same families. The resulting feature will air sometime between 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday.
-- Speaking of TV, our news partners at WBTV will be broadcasting this game live locally. WBTV is doing its own live pregame show from 7:30-8 p.m. Thursday, which will feature Delano Little, Leah Rubertino and a couple of Observer reporters.
-- OK, prediction time. I am now 5-2-1 picking the Panthers this season, having correctly forecast Carolina to lose the past two weeks.
New Orleans was very impressive against Green Bay Sunday, but the Saints are 0-4 on the road. In a high-scoring game, I think the Panthers will pull this one out. My prediction: Carolina 30, New Orleans 28.
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10 comments:
More likely outcome, Saints win by 24. The Kitty Kats are going to slid into ANOTHER losing season with just six wins.
Mr. Fowler, I disagree. We are not a playoff team this year. 17-10 Saints. And it's over....
Any chance we get rid of Roman Harper and DeCoud soon? I still haven't understood how we picked up two "over the hill" safeties from conference rivals. Yes, they may provide some insight about their respective teams to help the D out, but at the same time we've burned both of those dudes so many times and now we get to experience them getting burned on our team??
No way do the Panthers score 30 unless Williams has a huge day! Saints D appears to be righting the ship. They did not blitz Rogers but they will certainly be blitzing Cam and that will cause turnovers. Brees will exploit Harper and Saints win by at least 10.
I LOVE the 'gloom and doom' trollers on these blogs. One win and then they'll all be predicting Super Bowl wins. Hilarious...
Its a possible win depends on if Cam's head is in the game or not. But we are back to going nowhere so be that again.
"Where is the closest Bojangles? I am Starving!"
- Rob Ryan
Cam runs for his life and flat worn out by the 4th because of a swiss cheese front line. We will not have the gas to finish after barely being in it for 3.5 quarters. Saints-31 Panthers-26
Until the Saints can go on the road, walk in the enemy's house, sit in the enemy's favorite chair, grab the remote and tell the enemy to bring them a ham and cheese sammich and a beer, they will continue their sad road history. Saints 21, Panthers 28!
Its about time that management needs to make a decision and bench newton and start Anderson for two games and let newton get his senses back where they need to be.He has to come out ready to play for 60 minutes. He has not done that this year.
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