Dave’s Football Blog

After watching Jake Delhomme shit the bed against the Eagles in Week 1 this year, I fully expected the Carolina Panthers to have a very long and very ugly season. So I tuned out and focused on my Steelers, who then proceeded to shit the bed twice against the Bengals — which was no fun to watch, but didn’t make me think Pittsburgh’s playoff hopes were anywhere close to being dashed like the Panthers’ playoff dreams. Hey, the Steelers won a Super Bowl as a six-seed. Just get ‘em in the door, right?

Regarding the Panthers, however, there was one thing that I didn’t count on — the NFC’s extraordinary ability to suck.

Yes, even at 4-5, the Carolina Panthers are only one game behind all the Wild Card contenders in the NFC, and they fought their way into that position by running the ball, playing good defense, and generally ignoring Steve Smith’s incessant bitching that he’s not getting the ball enough.

What, exactly, does Smith expect? When your biggest liability is your overpaid quarterback and your top two running backs are gaining 4.98 yards a carry, you run the damn ball. Is Smith volunteering to line up in the backfield? The man has proven incapable of enjoying success when his numbers are down — although really, that just makes him a typical wide receiver, doesn’t it?

Either way, the Panthers have inexplicably found their way into the playoff race, and they can pull one step closer to being a contender — at least, as much as any mediocre team can be a contender in a conference that the Saints and Vikings are utterly dominating — with a win tonight over the Miami Dolphins. (8:00 PM, NFL Network) I’m not sure even the most ardent Panthers fans could have predicted that this scenario, especially with Thomas Davis and Jordan Gross out of the lineup with major injuries.

Meanwhile, the great irony of this game is that Dan Henning, who was fired by the Panthers for being the most boring play caller ever, is now being hailed as a creative genius for building the Wildcat formation in Miami. Where was that creativity when you were in Charlotte, Dan? Oh, right, you didn’t have Ronnie Brown… wait, you won’t have Ronnie Brown tonight, either. I guess you’ll have to put something together with Ricky Williams and Pat White. How many fascinating and innovative ways can run the ball off-tackle tonight, Dan? Show us that sparkling offensive creativity now, Dan.

Of course, all this mockery of Dan Henning — which, to be honest, is fun — becomes worthless if Jake starts tossing pick sixes again like they’re going out of style. Let’s just hope this Panthers team builds off that win against Atlanta last Sunday and does all the right things tonight. I suspect the NFL Network is thinking the same thing. The last thing they want to be known for is showing spectacular quarterback implosions every week.