Sep 14 2004
Packers 24, Panthers 14
Click here for final game stats from NFL.com.
Well, that could have been better…
Carolina turnovers: 2. Green Bay points off turnovers: 14.
Ahman Green: 33 carries, 119 yards, 2 touchdowns. Stephen Davis & DeShaun Foster: 12 carries, 38 yards.
Those two stats pretty much tell the story. The Panthers offense just never got into a rhythm in this game, while Green Bay took advantage of some bad Carolina mistakes. Oh, and to add insult to injury, Carolina receiver Steve Smith got his ankle rolled late in the 4th quarter and had to be carted away. No word on his status yet.
Next week, Carolina travels to Kansas City to play the Chiefs. Somebody’s going to be 0-2 after that game. Let’s see how this offense does against a team with no defense…
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I have to think that Carolina will be the big 0-2 after the trip to Kansas City. Both of those two teams underachieved in terms of defense on their first game, but Kansas proved they’re willing to blitz a crapload against Denver, and unless Fox reawakens the offensive line’s ability to block the blitz, I have to believe that the Chiefs defense will benefit from some costly turnovers.
And interestingly enough, it wasn’t the Panthers secondary that let them down so much as the front seven. Perhaps they met a superior offensive line yesterday. Or Ahman Green is coming into his own even more than last year. But the good thing is that everyone but Jacksonville lost in the division, so Carolina’s not down that much.
Interesting first week.
Paul, who has to believe that ESPN’s Sunday night Miami/Cinncinnati will be boring and one-sided beyond belief
Just a quick correction — you’re thinking of the AFC South, where Jacksonville and Tennessee both won their openers. Carolina is in the NFC South, where only Atlanta won, and they squeaked by a really lame 49ers team. The NFC South seems a lot weaker this year than it did last year. If Carolina can get over their post-Super Bowl hangover faster than the Raiders did last season, they can still take this division. Hell, 9-7 might take this division.
As for that Sunday night game, if Cincinnati’s weak defense can take advantage of Miami’s weaker offense, then yes, it’ll be one-sided. The Dolphins still have a little talent on D, though, so it might be closer than either of us suspect. But yeah, I’m going dancing that night…