After big win, Panthers must keep their focus

After big win, Panthers must keep their focus
Posted: Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/story/405634.html

Relentless pursuit of running backs pays for Panthers

It's understandable that all Carolina Panthers fans are ecstatic right now.

But hold off on buying those Super Bowl tickets a little longer. Don't let Jeremy Bridges spray you with Dom Perignon just yet.

For the 10-3 Panthers, it's not time to launch into a full-fledged celebration. There is too much work to do.

While it's true the Panthers won't lose another game the rest of this season if they run the ball for 299 yards per contest, it's almost impossible to bottle the lightning they unleashed on “Monday Night Football.”

Carolina's game against Tampa Bay was a masterpiece – a 38-23, prime-time, testosterone-fueled whipping of the Panthers' fiercest rival.

Tampa Bay players were using words like “embarrassing” and “disappointing” in the wee hours Tuesday morning to describe it.

But while Carolina fans will buzz about the Monday night performance all week, the players know better than to get giddy.

Their focus remains admirable. They've not had two bad weeks in a row the entire season, and that's one big reason why today they sit atop the NFC South.

Carolina coped beautifully with Steve Smith's two-game suspension to begin the season. The Panthers have lost three games by 10 or more points in 2008, but followed each with victories.

The Panthers have played so well that they now control their playoff destiny.

With three more wins in a row, Carolina would sport home-field advantage in the playoffs until the Super Bowl.

“That'd be the perfect scenario,” fullback Brad Hoover said. “We'd love to be in that situation.”

But if the Super Bowl is a destination, the Panthers are only halfway there.

Could they get to the Feb.1 Super Bowl at Tampa and win it? Absolutely. When you can run the ball like the Panthers did Monday, everything is possible.

If DeAngelo Williams doesn't make the Pro Bowl this season – and it's very possible he won't – that's a crime. At the moment, he's the best back in the NFL. And Jonathan Stewart looks like he could start for at least half the teams in the league.

But let me mention some numbers to you: 22, 45, 31 and 23. That's how many points Carolina has given up in the past four games. That should frighten you.

John Fox's basic formula contains two components: a strong running game and a stingy defense. Right now the Panthers get full credit for Part 1, but only a half-credit for Part 2.

Carolina's defense is far from awful – it still ranks 15th in the NFL in total defense and eighth in points allowed. But it has been mediocre for a month.

The defense just doesn't scare opponents at the moment like Pittsburgh or Baltimore. Tampa Bay receiver Antonio Bryant scorched Carolina's secondary for 200 receiving yards Monday night.

So the defense, especially, can't rest. Carolina hosts playoff-bound Denver on Sunday, and the Broncos combo of quarterback Jay Cutler and receiver Brandon Marshall is better than anything Tampa Bay has got. Even if the Panthers get past that one, the 11-2 Giants loom.

But this Carolina team, unlike so many others the Panthers have fielded, is very dangerous on offense. It sent a shock wave through the NFL when it put up 38 on Tampa Bay.

This is a confident, remarkably healthy Panthers team that knows it might be on the verge of even better things.

When I asked receiver Steve Smith after the game if this was the Panthers' best game of the year, he paused.

“I don't want to say the best,” Smith said. “The season's not over.”