Panthers lose 21-10 in preseason finale

Carolina closed out an inglorious 0-4 preseason with a 21-10 loss to Pittsburgh Thursday night at Bank of America Stadium.

The Steelers led, 14-0, in the first quarter and mostly coasted after that. Both teams' starters were off the field before halftime. Pittsburgh scored its TDs on an 80-yard punt return, a 10-yard run and a 31-yard interception return of an errant Matt Moore pass.

The only Carolina TD came on a 1-yard run by Canadian Jamall Lee. John Kasay added a field goal. Rookie running back Mike Goodson again flashed some major potential but lost another fumble, this time inside the Pittsburgh 5.

The Panthers open the regular season Sept.13 against Philadelphia at home -- a scary prospect at the moment.

I posted some of these thoughts earlier on this blog, but in case you missed them, here's a brief rundown of what happened when the game mattered -- i.e. when the Panther starters were still in the game.

Panthers offense: Two series and one total first down. One dropped pass (by Muhsin Muhammad). One third-and-1 run that lost two yards. One sack of Jake Delhomme. One tipped Delhomme pass at the line. One first down (a pass to Muhammad). No touches for Steve Smith.

Panthers defense: Two series. One excellent three-and-out (while facing Ben Roethlisberger in his only action – he threw one pass before leaving). One horrid touchdown allowed.

On the TD, the Carolina D allowed Pittsburgh’s third-string running back Isaac Redman to roll right through five attempted tackles for a 10-yard scoring run. Among the men who missed or bounced off Redman: safety Chris Harris and defensive end Julius Peppers. And bear in mind, that was Pittsburgh's second-team offense out there blocking, too.

On that desultory note, the Panther defense was done for the night. It was 14-0, Pittsburgh, when the last Panther starter left the field. In other words, it was par for the course during this Carolina preseason.

However, John Fox was happier with the defense than most fans probably were. He said after the game: "I thought defensively we were much better."

-- Pittsburgh’s other early touchdown came courtesy of an 80-yard punt return by the Steelers’ Stefan Logan. Logan completed that run only 100 seconds into the game and was greeted by an onslaught of Terrible Towels – at least one third of the fans in attendance seemed to be for the Steelers. They all were having a good time, at least, on a gorgeous night for football.

-- Again, Panther rookie Mike Goodson (79 rushing yards, including a 22-yard run where he reversed field completely) looked very good at times but his fumbling problems continued – he lost one inside the Pittsburgh 5 in the second quarter.

-- The best individual play made by any Panther in the first half was a beautiful one-handed catch by tight end Dante Rosario that would have resulted in about a 25-yard gain. Sadly, it was nullified by an illegal motion penalty on Kenneth Moore.

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A nasty night for Panther starters

Some thoughts on the Carolina-Pittsburgh preseason game as the Panthers' exhibition season limps to a merciful close:

-- It was really nasty for Carolina -- especially when the starters were in the game. The Panther offensive and defensive regulars each played two series apiece before retiring for the night in the team’s final preseason game against Pittsburgh. It was a close call as to which one was worse. Here’s a brief review.

-- Panthers offense: Two series and one total first down. One dropped pass (by Muhsin Muhammad). One third-and-1 run that lost two yards. One sack of Jake Delhomme. One tipped Delhomme pass at the line. One first down (a pass to Muhammad). No touches for Steve Smith.

Panthers defense: Two series. One excellent three-and-out (while facing Ben Roethlisberger in his only action – he threw one pass before leaving). One horrid touchdown allowed.

On the TD, the Carolina D allowed Pittsburgh’s third-string running back Isaac Redman to roll right through five attempted tackles for a 10-yard scoring run. Among the men who missed or bounced off Redman: safety Chris Harris and defensive end Julius Peppers. And bear in mind, that was Pittsburgh's second-team offense out there blocking, too.

On that desultory note, the Panther defense was done for the night. It was 14-0, Pittsburgh, when the last Panther starter left the field. In other words, it was par for the course during this Carolina preseason.

-- Pittsburgh’s other early touchdown came courtesy of an 80-yard punt return by the Steelers’ Stefan Logan. Logan completed that run only 100 seconds into the game and was greeted by an onslaught of Terrible Towels – at least one third of the fans in attendance seemed to be for the Steelers. They all were having a good time, at least, on a gorgeous night for football.

-- Again, Panther rookie Mike Goodson looked very good at times but his fumbling problems continued – he lost one inside the Pittsburgh 5 in the second quarter.

-- The best individual play made by any Panther in the first half was a beautiful one-handed catch by tight end Dante Rosario that would have resulted in about a 25-yard gain. Sadly, it was nullified by an illegal motion penalty on Kenneth Moore.

-- Funny moment during the coin toss. Because of the referee’s open mike, you could hear the Panthers win the toss and take the ball, followed by a Steeler shouting playfully: “We didn’t want it anyway!”

You know that poor #Panthers tackling? Still a MAJOR problem

The Panthers just went down 14-0 in their preseason game against Pittsburgh, and the way they did it was disturbing.

OK, let's set the scene. It's already 7-0, Pittsburgh, midway through the first quarter. The Steelers get the ball at Carolina's 35 because Panther QB Josh McCown gets stripped on a pass play and fumbles it away.

So Pittsburgh puts all its second-stringers in on offense, and Carolina KEEPS all its first-stringers in on defense. Mismatch, right?

And it was -- in Pittsburgh's favor. The Steelers slammed the ball into the end zone, with the final 10 yards coming on Isaac Redman's 10-yard run in which he broke or ran through five attempted Panther tackles (including Chris Harris and Julius Peppers).

The Panthers first-string offense can only watch this. It's already been retired, with 8:36 left in the first quarter, after two possessions and one first down. Not much of a night so far unless you're a Steelers fan, and there are a ton of them here.

100 seconds gone and Panthers already down 7-0?!

How many times can a team utter the phrase "Thank goodness it's only preseason?"

The Panthers may be approaching their limit. After their 0-3 preseason start, they have already managed to go down 7-0 in Fake Game No.4 following an 80-yard Pittsburgh punt return for a TD.

How'd Carolina get behind so fast? Carolina got the ball and started with a nine-yard run by DeAngelo Williams.

On second-and-1, a nice offensive call: a play-action pass to a wide open Muhsin Muhammad. Unfortunately, Moose dropped a nicely thrown ball 15 yards downfield.

Then, on 3rd-and-1, the Steelers defense did what it does -- stacked DeAngelo up for a 2-yard loss.

Then came the clincher: a 52-yard Jason Baker punt followed by an 80-yard punt return for a TD by Pittsburgh's Stefan Logan.

Danny Morrison making the rounds at Panther stadium with Steelers in the house

New Panthers president Danny Morrison is shaking hands and getting to know everyone -- two of the things he does best -- as he makes the pregame rounds at Bank of America Stadium.

Morrison could just about shake everyone's hand in here right now -- 20 minutes before kickoff, there may be 7,000 people seated in the 70,000-seat stadium (and about half of them are wearing Steeler jerseys).

But the Panther fans will eventually file in, and they better do it pretty quick -- the first quarter is the only one that really matters much tonight other than the marginal players trying to grab one of the final roster spots available.

Morrison did a couple of pregame TV interviews and has also been walking around the press box. He said he'll probably start his new job in late September in Charlotte, once he ties up all the loose ends as TCU's athletic director.

What will he see tonight? A Panther team that is 0-3 in the preseason and still needs some serious work but doesn't have a lot of time to do it. The Panther starters are expected to play no more than 1-3 series tonight.

Carolina did get some decent pregame news, I suppose. Michael Vick definitely won't play in Carolina's season opener vs. Philadelphia Sept.13. Vick's suspension has been shortened, but he won't be eligible to return until Week 3.

Morrison a safe choice as Panthers president

Davidson basketball coach Bob McKillop praised new Panther president Danny Morrison Wednesday as “a classy gentleman” and "consensus builder" predicted Morrison would do well in his new high-profile role with the Carolina Panthers.

“He makes a great appearance,” McKillop said of Morrison. “He can disarm you. But I think he’s tough, too. You can’t take advantage of him.”

Morrison’s hiring – one day after the stunning resignation of brothers Mark and Jon Richardson from the organization – continued the news binge in Pantherland.

For the past four years, Morrison has been the athletic director at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to that he was also the athletic director at Wofford (where he helped manage the transition of that small college into a Division I-AA program and into becoming the Panthers’ training camp home for the past 15 years).

My dealings with Morrison mainly came while he was at Wofford. He struck me as a charming man – always dressed nicely, always glad-handing folks, always walking around and making sure everything was OK. I remember him frequently wearing a button-down blue dress shirt and a tie on 95-degree days at Wofford, strolling around the training-camp practices but never seeming to sweat. (That sounds just like something Jerry Richardson would do, and in fact it is).

I don’t claim to know Morrison as well as McKillop, though, who saw Morrison’s efforts up close while Morrison was the commissioner of the Southern Conference (which includes Davidson) from 2001-05.

“Danny was a consensus builder,” McKillop said. “He dealt with a lot of different schools – state schools, private schools, recent members of the conference and schools that had been in it for 60 years. And he was often able to build some type of consensus despite dealing with a lot of significant differences between the schools.”

Morrison, 55, leaves a very good job to come to an even better job. He will have Mark Richardson’s duties – running the business side of the Panther operations. I think Morrison will do just fine. He’s got the Wofford connection with Richardson (they both went to school there). He’s a good businessman. He’s both an outsider and and an old friend of the Richardson family, and he can work all that to his advantage.

Morrison’s hiring comes out of left field in two senses. Reaching all the way to Texas is a long way to go to find the next team president, and Morrison has absolutely no experience in an NFL front office. But overall he’s a safe choice during this very surprising week.

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Strange Panther doings at the top

In one of the oddest and most jarring Carolina Panther announcements in franchise history, the team said today that team president Mark Richardson and stadium president Jon Richardson have announced their resignations from the Carolina Panthers.

Excuse me?!

A team official has told me that there is no plan to sell or move the team in the wake of this announcement, so at least that rumor can (more or less) be put to rest.

But an announcement like this makes all sorts of other rumors pop up. The quotes in the Panthers' press release – one apiece from owner Jerry Richardson, Mark and Jon – tried to smooth over any rumblings of internal discontent. Those quotes also gave absolutely no reason for why this was happening, which makes me think, of course, that there’s some serious internal discontent somewhere -- in fact, likely in several places.

Mark and Jon used words like “exciting” and “fortunate” and “unique” and “great” to describe their experience with the team in the press release. That begs the question: Why would you leave all that? They are still retaining a minority ownership stake in the team, but as far as the day-to-day operations, that’s done. Only Jerry Richardson is left.

And this is (or was) the Richardson family business, after all. Once it was hamburgers. Now it is football. You don't walk away -- or get pushed away -- from that lightly. (I left phone messages for Jon, Mark and Jerry Richardson, but haven't heard back from any of that trio).

Mark was groomed as Jerry Richardson’s heir apparent for years as No.1 on the Panthers' organizational chart. Who fills that role now is one of the biggest questions about this announcement. Well-liked Panther ticket guru Phil Youtsey -- who has been with the team since its inception -- would be one obvious candidate to run the business side like Mark did, but there will be others. Scott Paul will help direct the stadium operations side to help fill Jon's void. But titles may change -- no one is saying the Panthers are automatically going to add another president on the org chart.

Mark has been team president since 1997, since the generally beloved Mike McCormack retired. Mark is the dapper dresser with the expensive tastes who oversaw the business side of the Panther operations. The announcement of his resignation is the one that absolutely has stunned the Panthers' staff.

Jon is the more down-to-earth brother – the one who has battled cancer off-and-on for the past decade. He loves to wear jeans and eat at diners. Jon has been the head of Bank of America Stadium operations since it opened in 1996. The team release said Jon had told the Panthers’ staff awhile back he was going to resign.

In fact, Jon sent out an e-mail at least a month ago telling Panther staff members that he would be leaving without giving a timetable. From what a Panther source tells me, Jon's decision is lifestyle-related. Although his health is OK as of now, the long battle with cancer has taken a toll. He wants to have more time, basically, to enjoy life. This was a decision he had been mulling for many months.

But Mark Richardson no longer functioning as the team president? Now there's the shocker.

Here’s their father, team founder/owner Jerry "Big Cat" Richardson, in the team press release about their resignations: “Both Mark and Jon made great contributions to the stadium and team that have enabled us to enjoy much success over the last 15 years. At the same time, I am thankful that we have a staff that has been in place for many years and knows our philosophy.”

Hmm. If you’re reading the tea leaves on that quote, it’s not exactly brimming with praise, is it?

“Great contributions,” yes. That gets one sentence. But Jerry Richardson quickly comes back in the second sentence to make it sound like the staff in place can do the job just as well as his sons did.

Strange doings, for sure. Stay tuned. And make sure to read Wednesday's Charlotte Observer -- and on CharlotteObserver.com -- for more news on this developing story.

** And in the meantime, the Panthers traded for a defensive tackle -- Louis Leonard of Cleveland -- today. That was for an undisclosed draft choice, which usually means a late-round choice. Leonard only started 4 games in Cleveland the past two years -- he's no Kris Jenkins or Maake Kemoeatu -- but at least he weighs 325 pounds and can function as a space-eater if not much else.

On most days, that trade would have been huge news for the Panthers. Today, though, it's not much more than an afterthought due to the seismic tremors from the front office.