Dave’s Football Blog

John Clayton:

DeShaun Foster runs well when he’s angry and he was angry Sunday. So were his Carolina Panthers teammates. On Monday night, the Panthers admit they stunk it up in a 24-14 home loss to the Packers. Jake Delhomme called the performance “pitiful.”

Amid a sea of red-clad Kansas City Chiefs fans, Foster wanted to silence critics who say he’s a fumbler. Sure, he fumbled at UCLA. And during the preseason, he fumbled twice against the Patriots and Panthers coaches began to look at him with a skeptical eye.

Everything changed on Thursday night. Stephen Davis grew tired of a knee that was swelling and had surgery to fix it. With Davis expected to be out 2-5 weeks, Foster finally had the responsibility of being the team’s workhorse back. He wrapped his arms around the football as if he were a fireman carrying a baby to safety. Pity any Chief in his way or any defender trying to strip the ball.