I must say it has been a tough week to be a Panther Fan.
I think I will back up a ways first.
When the 2007 season ended I was disappointed that we did miss an obscure shot at getting into the play-offs and finishing 7-9. I could console that with the fact that we did so with practically no QB and a demoralized Defense. So a lively off-season began and things began looking up. So with what seemed to be a better than average draft, I went into the season like any other Panther Fan thinking..."This will be a good Season"
And it was.
In fact the season turned out so well, a debate even emerged that this 2008 Carolina Panther team may be the best Panther Team ever fielded. I avoided this debate and just tried to keep hope up for the ultimate prize, the Lombardi Trophy. I held my tounge early and midway through the season thinking, "We are on the right track and I hope we keep up the momentum." "This can happen" "This could be our year"
Then came Monday Night Football and things really began to get out of hand. You see by this point another question emerged.
Is the NFC South the best Division in the League?
It was a valid question. The NFC East was having issues on every team. TO starting conflicts in the kowboi locker room and Wade Phillips seemed to lose control of the herd. Donovan McNabb was being benched. Jim Zorn and Clinton Portis were clashing. Plaxico Buress was demonstrating poor judgement as well as Marksmenship. Meanwhile the NFC South was just building on win after win. Tampa was frightening opponents with their Defense. Atlanta was changing the Football landscape at the Georgia Dome with Matt Ryan and Michael Turner and New Orleans was finding ways to survive.
Carolina was just starting to gain offensive momentum. On the night of December 8, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart turned that momentum into a running firestorm and BOA turned into a Roman Colliseum craving more blood as we took control of the NFC South. We had the lead of the division and all there was to do was keep on pounding.
It was the general feeling that we still had a tough schedule and Tampa had a softer schedule so we had to keep up our tempo to get to the playoffs. Tampa was expected to stay on our backs with hot breath down our necks for the race to the playoffs.
But a weird thing happened.
Tampa lost every game since that one. Every one! NO ONE expected that.
So the race turned out to be with Atlanta.
And in the end it turned out to be New Orleans in our way.
So John Kasay accomplished three big achievements with a single kick.
1. NFC South division Championship
2. The NFC South Curse was Broken. (HaHa JayJ6)
3. A NFC South Team was Beaten at Home by another NFC South Team!
We had gone toe to toe with the New York Giants on a National Stage and took it all the way to Overtime missing a key Defensive Lineman. So now everybody knew without any doubt that the Carolina Panthers were back with a Vengance sitting pretty at 12-4 and we had a Super Bowl on our minds.
Everything seemed to be in place for just that.
As we went into the bye week of the playoffs with a feeling of...."This has got to be our time. This is our chance" At least that is the way I felt. We were always sucessful in the playoffs. We had all the pieces in place. We had all the experience in place to do it. After all, Arizona had to come to Charlotte and NO ONE had beaten this team in Charlotte.
Last Saturday Night I watched the most disapointing Panther Game I have ever watched. At least in Super Bowl XXXVIII we put up a fight.
So here we are.
Understand, this is just my perspactive as a Panther Fan.
I am not ready to say fire Jake just yet but I will say this. I feel robbed. I watched a magnificent season just collapse in the course of about three hours and cannot walk away from it with thinking there could have been so much more. Especially knowing we had the better team and just threw it away like that. It will take me a while to have the faith in Delhomme that I once had.
Last night the word finally came that Julius Peppers no longer wished to be a Carolina Panther.
So in one weeks time after this stunning season the Carolina Panthers have had, this is what I am thinking.
This era is over and it is time to start all over again.
I realize that sounds final and it has a mortal tone to it but I do not mean it that way. But I saw something during that game that stuck with me. I was watching Steve Smith on the sidelines and he was sitting on the bench calmly looking around. At my board in the chat someone had asked the question, "Does he even care?" I think he did but at that point I think he felt like it was out of reach. But all the other body language I saw, there was a finality to it I will not forget.
As far as the Peppers situation goes, this was not really a suprise. I hate to see him go but a lot of Panther Fans are not truly suprised. But it is what I call a pregnant issue.
It just seems to me that when a Star Player like Peppers is willing to leave a team that had a 12-4 season after a mind numbing playoff loss, there are other issues at play. To me Peppers is gone and I wish him well but I wonder what is left behind. Today, storys emerge that he is not happy with our defensive scheme. Am I supposed to take that as there will or should be changes in the Defensive coaching?
Matt McCoy, the QB coach is packing for Denver and Tim Lewis, the secondary coach, is also an open issue.
Do you see what I am asking?
Why are people leaving a 12-4 team like this?
Now before you hit me with the "Any Given Sunday" and "Business as Usual" cliches just consider that we did not get shaken after a 9-7 2007 Season like we seem to be headed for after a 12-4 2008 Season.
The tone just sems so different. Maybe I am wrong but I think these storys are blanketing other changes that are coming. At the very least I think they are pointing at some issues that need to be taken care of.
It is like the last week has set us back several years. That is just the way I feel right now. Robbed of a great season.
I just feel like the window has shut on us and I hope someone will open it again. I think it can happen, I just hope they realize it.
As badly as I hated to see the season end the way it did I think this photo is worth the attention of every Panther Fan.
Thanks for a terrific 2008 Season Panthers.
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