Panthers' offensive line dominates
Carolina rolled up a franchise-record 299 yards rushing against Tampa Bay.
By David Scott
dscott@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Tuesday, Dec. 09, 2008
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/gameday/story/402581.html
Monday night, the Panthers had at least that many by the second quarter – all of it, in fact, on one 40-yard run by DeAngelo Williams – in a 38-23 victory at Bank of America Stadium.
Behind an offensive line that's now staying consistently healthy, the Panthers rolled up 464 yards in total offense, including a franchise-record 299 yards rushing against Tampa Bay.
The Panthers also scored four rushing touchdowns against a Buccaneers defense that had allowed just one all season.
That makes that loss – and the 40 yards rushing – at Raymond James Stadium in October seem a distant memory.
“If we did it, that's what you got,” offensive tackle Jordan Gross said of the first game between the two teams. “But if you get ahead and stay ahead, you can keep the running game going and it gets better and better.
“It's a dream. A plan like that doesn't always come to fruition. So it's exciting because that's not going to happen a lot. We'll really cherish it a lot.”
The Panthers averaged 8.1 yards running Monday, with the line carving out huge holes in a Buccaneers defense that was allowing 95.4 yards entering the game.
“You keep pounding it, that's what you want to do,” said Gross. “You don't want to pass protect all day. It was a good day.”
The offensive line has been solid for most of the season, despite injuries earlier that had center Ryan Kalil and tackle Jeff Otah missing games. Gross sat out one game with a concussion.
“I haven't watched the film yet,” said guard Keydrick Vincent. “But that's what they brought us here to do. They want us to run the ball and we had all five back together and that's what we wanted to do.”
Vincent said the weekend arrest of backup guard Jeremy Bridges didn't affect the line's play.
“He's part of the family,” said Vincent. “We hope everything turns out fine.”
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