Schedule quirk sabotaging Panthers?
Carolina facing its fifth consecutive road game against a team coming off a painful defeat.
By David Scott
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/story/377190.html
The Green Bay Packers and running back Ryan Grant (25) have lost three of their past four games, all on the road. In their previous home game, they blasted Chicago, 37-3, on Nov.16. ALEX BRANDON - ASSOCIATED PRESS
Carolina tight end Dante Rosario (88) gets hit by Atlanta's Erik Coleman (26) Sunday. The Panthers trailed 17-0 and lost 45-28 in the Georgia Dome. DAVID T. FOSTER III – dtfoster@charlotteobserver.com
Here's how the Panthers' previous four road opponents fared the previous week, then how they did against Carolina. The Panthers play at Green Bay on Sunday:
OPPONENT
PREVIOUS WEEK
VS. PANTHERS
Minnesota
Lost to Indianapolis 18-15
Won 20-10
Tampa Bay
Lost to Denver 16-13
Won 27-3
Oakland
Lost to Atlanta 24-0
Lost 17-6
Atlanta
Lost to Denver 24-20
Won 45-28
Green Bay
Lost to New Orleans 51-29
?????
David Scott
A trend continues Sunday when the Carolina Panthers meet the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
It will be the fifth straight road game for the Panthers in which their opponent will be coming off a loss. In this case, the Packers were humiliated on Monday Night Football by the New Orleans Saints, 51-29.
The Panthers' record in those previous four games (the season opener at San Diego isn't included) is 1-3, the only victory a 17-6 triumph at Oakland.
What that means, who knows? But it could provide a hint as to why the Panthers have fallen behind in the first quarter of three of their past four games – three of those on the road. The Panthers, incidentally, won the week previous to those road games.
Are the Panthers battling human nature, taking a satisfied feeling into a game against a team playing with a defeat-fueled sense of urgency in front of an enthusiastic and impatient home crowd?
“When you lose, you come in and look at how you do everything, from warm-ups to how you get dressed,” said offensive tackle Jordan Gross. “When you win, you're happy however it came about. When you win and you're in the film room, you might be able to laugh (about something you did wrong), instead of cringing.”
Defensive tackle Damione Lewis said it's all a matter of consistency, in how the team prepares and how it plays. He remembered when he was a rookie in 2001 with the St. Louis Rams, a team that won their first six games. In their seventh game, they led the Saints by 18 points, but quarterback Kurt Warner threw four second-half interceptions and New Orleans rallied to win 34-31.
“It's just really hard to be consistent, week in and week out,” said Lewis. “You have got to work at it.”
Part of what's puzzling about the Panthers' recent underwhelming performances is that they've come against last-place teams like Detroit and Oakland.
“I really don't think there are any teams in the NFL that are way below everybody else,” said Gross. “A whole organization might run things better or players might work well together or coaches might coach together better. But I was just as happy to beat the Lions as I would have been to beat the Titans when they were undefeated.”
So Green Bay's 5-6 record and the bad loss to New Orleans on Monday shouldn't give the Panthers any kind of false hope.
“I remember my rookie year, we finished the season against the (New York) Giants,” said Gross. “They were far out of the playoffs and we had already clinched. But I had to go against (NFL career sacks leader Michael) Strahan.”
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