Panthers Team Report
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/team/carolina-panthers/teamreport
Updated: December 16, 2008, 2:00 AM EST
Inside Slant
Less than 16 hours after his team's 30-10 win on Sunday, Panthers coach John Fox was already thinking about the New York Giants.
And with good reason.
Whoever wins Sunday night's game on NBC will be the top seed in the NFC playoffs and have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Both teams are 11-3 and the winner will capture the head-to-head tiebreaker, which means their Week 17 game will be irrelevant.
Despite being 11-3, the Panthers still haven't clinched anything yet - and it's possible, although unlikely, they could go from playing for the No. 1 seed in the NFC to not even making the playoffs.
However, the only way the Panthers won't make the playoffs is if they lose their final two games against the Giants and New Orleans Saints and if Tampa Bay, Dallas and Atlanta all win their final two games.
Fox said the Panthers still have to be considered "underdogs" heading into Sunday's game. Of course, he wouldn't have it any other way.
"I know next week is our newest biggest game ever," Fox said with a laugh at his Monday press conference before adding, "(just) like the last three."
However, this really is the biggest regular-season game in team history.
It's the first time in their 14-year NFL history the Panthers have an opportunity to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win.
In injury news, Fox had no updates on defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu (ankle) and right guard Keydrick Vincent (groin). It doesn't sound like Kemoeatu's injury is all that serious, but we'll have to wait until Wednesday to get the official word.
Notes and Quotes
--It appears the only thing that can slow down DeAngelo Williams these days is an injury.
He suffered one Sunday, but it wasn't serious.
After being held to 28 yards on his first 10 carries, Williams broke free for a 56-yard touchdown run with 12:49 left in the third quarter, the seventh straight game in which he's found the end zone. However, he left the game after that run and didn't return until nearly 10 minutes into the fourth quarter.
He carried one more time and also caught a pass. Prior to the injury he was well on his way to his seventh 100-yard rushing game of the season.
He finished with 88 yards on 12 carries.
Williams said he was "a little fuzzy" in the head, but didn't quite know when the injury occurred. He said he was fine after the game and will play next week.
"I have no idea what happened," Williams said. "They said I was dinged up, or something of that nature, but I was ready to go. The doctors are going to be cautious. But I did go back in there at the end."
Williams has now scored 12 touchdowns in the past seven games and ran his season total to 14.
--Owner Jerry Richardson, who is awaiting a heart transplant, took in the game from his suite at Bank of America Stadium along with his wife Rosalind. She fretted over him most of the game, making sure he was covered with a blanket.
Richardson didn't address coach John Fox or the players before or after the game, but players said seeing him left them inspired.
"That was great to see him up there," said offensive tackle Jordan Gross. "We didn't know that he was going to be here. The crowd really erupted when they showed him. I think he's doing well. We're trying to do everything on our end to brighten his spirit."
Said Fox: "He's been in our prayers, our football team's and mine too. We are just hoping for a speedy recovery and I did not get a chance to visit with him. I think he probably got in and out pretty fast."
--Defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu injured his ankle in the second half of Sunday's game and did not return. The extent of the injury is not known, but that can't be good news for the Panthers heading into what's expected to be a physical game against the New York Giants.
Also, early in the fourth quarter right guard Keydrick Vincent went down with a groin injury and did not return. He was replaced by Jeremy Bridges. Vincent had been the only linemen to take every snap this season.
--The Panthers went with a no-huddle offense on their first possession of the game and marched 74 yards in six plays to tie the score at 7-7 and prevent the Broncos from seizing momentum.
Wide receiver Steve Smith was big on the drive, catching three passes for 66 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown. It was Smith's sixth touchdown of the season.
The Panthers went no huddle to counter Denver's four-linebacker look on defense. Although the Panthers hadn't seen that look on tape, Jake Delhomme said the team knew how to combat it.
"We see it against our defense a lot in training camp too," Delhomme said. "I think that's a big plus. We see exotic looks from our defense. You have to go back to basics with some of those things, and I think we did that."
--With 17 seconds left in the first half, the Broncos inexplicably called timeout while facing a second-and-12 at their own 27-yard line.
On the next play safety Charles Godfrey forced the ball out of Tatum Bell's hands and Tyler Brayton recovered. The Panthers ran one play with Jake Delhomme kneeling in the middle of the field to set up John Kasay's 44-yard field goal giving Carolina a 20-10 lead to close out the half.
When asked why he called the timeout, Denver coach Mike Shanahan replied, "Because we've done it before. All of a sudden you get 40 or 50 yards. You've got a couple of timeouts left. You call a timeout and get a couple of slant routes, and you go for the field goal. We thought we'd get outside, and we did. Unfortunately, we didn't hold onto the ball."
--The Panthers' goal on defense was to take Brandon Marshall out of the game and for the most part they succeeded.
He was limited to 48 yards on six catches. His longest reception went for 19 yards.
"We did a good job taking away what they wanted to do," said defensive end Julius Peppers. "The secondary cut down on mistakes and played tighter coverage. When you take Marshall out of the game it's hard for them to get rolling."
--It's amazing how the Panthers come up with the tough interceptions but seem to struggle with the easy ones.
Chris Gamble made an interception off a ball that tipped off six hands before coming to rest in his arms. But Gamble, Charles Godfrey and Charles Johnson all had easy opportunities to pick Jay Cutler but failed to come up with the ball.
"I should have had that one, no excuses," Gamble said.
Strategy and Personnel
PLAYER NOTES
--RB DeAngelo Williams got dinged up on Sunday but did return late in the game and should be fine for the Giants game. If he were injured worse or had a concussion, the PR staff wouldn't have allowed him to talk to reporters after the game.
--RG Keydrick Vincent injured his groin and his status for this week is up in the air. If he doesn't start, Jeremy Bridges or Geoff Hangartner will.
--RG Jeremy Bridges filled in for Keydrick Vincent on Sunday and could wind up starting this week.
--DT Maake Kemoeatu injured his ankle on Sunday and his status will be updated later in the week.
--WR Steve Smith has 70 receptions for 1,240 yards and six TDs, but there is still a chance he doesn't make the Pro Bowl.
--John Kasay should be a lock for the Pro Bowl. His only miss this season is from 54 yards.
REPORT CARD VS. BRONCOS
PASSING OFFENSE: B-plus -- The Panthers quickly moved to a hurry-up offense on the first drive after seeing the Broncos come out with four linebackers. QB Jake Delhomme moved the team 74 yards in six plays for a touchdown, completing three passes for 66 yards and a TD to Steve Smith. Delhomme finished with 253 yards passing and a touchdown, while Smith had 165 yards and a score. Muhsin Muhammad came up with four big grabs for 70 yards, and the offensive line didn't allow a sack for the fourth time this season. "We had a big third-down completion to Steve (Smith) and then we were able to kind of get rolling," Delhomme said. "That was nice. We know how high powered they are offensively. We knew we needed to try to put up some points today. That was a given. We were able to do that. We would like to have more, but we got enough."
RUSHING OFFENSE: A -- Despite the fact the Broncos stacked the box with eight defenders, the Panthers still managed to run for 147 yards on 30 carries and scored twice on the ground. DeAngelo Williams carried 12 times for 88 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown run. He now has five touchdown runs of longer than 30 yards. Jonathan Stewart, who got the bulk of his carries after Williams left the game in the third quarter after he got dinged, ran for 52 yards on 16 carries and scored his ninth touchdown of the season.
PASS DEFENSE: B-plus -- Jay Cutler was limited to 79 yards passing and no touchdowns after the first quarter. Cutler would finish with just 172 yards passing and was picked off once. He should have been intercepted at least three more times, but Carolina defenders dropped the ball. Brandon Marshall was pretty much a non-factor, limited to 48 yards on five catches. Jay Cutler had been sacked only eight times coming into the game, but the Panthers got to him three times on Sunday. "We knew that coming in," safety Charles Godfrey said. "We didn't think that we played up to our potential the last couple of games. That was a chip on our shoulder coming in. We knew we had to come out and play a great game. We didn't want those guys to score that 10, but we knew that after that they weren't getting nothing else."
RUSH DEFENSE: B -- The Broncos ran for 121 yards on 23 carries, which is 5.3 yards per carry. But let's put that in perspective. Of those 121 yards, nearly half of them (58) came on Denver's final drive when the Panthers were protecting a 20-point lead and not giving up the deep pass. For some reason, Mike Shanahan decided to run the ball over and over again despite being down 20. Basically he had given up. The Panthers did force a big fumble just before halftime leading to a field goal and making it a 20-10 game.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A -- If John Kasay doesn't go to the Pro Bowl, then something is wrong. Kasay added three more field goals, meaning he's now 24-for-25 on the season with his only miss coming from 54 yards. Kasay hit from 39, 44 and 42 yards on Sunday and he's now 9-for-9 from between 40 and 49 yards away. Jason Baker was solid as were Carolina's coverage units outside of one 39-yard kickoff return by Eddie Royal.
COACHING: A -- The Broncos tried to throw something new at the Panthers by going with four linebackers, but Carolina quickly adjusted and moved into a no-huddle offense. That quick thinking resulted in an early touchdown, tying the game at 7-7. This could have easily been a trap game for the Panthers, but coach John Fox kept his team focused all week. Now it's on to New York for a huge Sunday night game with the Giants to determine home-field advantage in the NFC.
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