Posted: Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008
In what is rapidly evolving into a storybook season, the Panthers followed up a spectacular Monday night win over Tampa Bay with a 30-10 thumping of the Denver Broncos.
This one had all the markings of being a trap game, but the Panthers refused to let up in their quest to win the championship Richardson has been eyeing since the franchise began playing in 1995.
It was way back in ’96 when Carolina last went 8-0 at home in the regular season.
Not known for exorbitant praise, coach John Fox declared it a big accomplishment and tipped his hat to his players.
“We’ve got a unique bunch,” he said. “I think it was something they put on their list of goals and we were able to accomplish it. I think it’s been done one other time here in this organization. It’s not easy to do anywhere, so those guys are to be commended.”
There’s hardly any way to measure how much it meant to Richardson, who is awaiting a heart transplant.
He didn’t visit the players in the locker room, but took his customary seat in his box behind the West end zone. Later in the game, he sat draped in a Panthers’ blanket.
“I think the best medicine for him right now is us winning,” said quarterback Jake Delhomme.
Carolina improved to 11-3, two games ahead of NFC South rivals Tampa Bay and Atlanta after the Falcons’ dramatic overtime win over the Buccaneers Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
The Panthers can clinch the division title with a win either next Sunday night against the New York Giants or the following Sunday (Dec. 28) at New Orleans.
The Giants game carries even more significance because homefield advantage throughout the playoffs also will be at stake.
Because Sunday’s game against Denver was sandwiched between the big win over Tampa Bay and the game against the Giants, Fox tried to make sure the Panthers didn’t overlook the Broncos or become overconfident because of the praise they received for beating the Buccaneers convincingly. “It was a very emotional game (against the Bucs),” he said. “Our fans were jacked up. It was against a division rival. … I thought our guys handled it really, really well.”
Defensive end Julius Peppers said the Panthers were – and are -- determined not to let their play lapse.
“All these things that are happening, all this positive energy that’s coming is good,” he said. “But we’re not going to fall into that trap of thinking we’re better than what we are right now.”
The Broncos had to leave thinking the Panthers were mighty good.
Denver had beaten all three other teams in the NFC South and took a 7-0 lead over the Panthers, but didn’t do much after that.
Defensively, the Broncos used what was essentially a 4-4 defense – four defensive linemen backed by four linebackers – in an attempt to shut down a Carolina running game that had a franchise 299 yards rushing against Tampa Bay.
That left only three defenders in pass coverage, including a deep safety.
Delhomme said the Panthers had not seen that on film and didn’t prepare to play against it. However, offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson and quarterbacks coach Mike McCoy quickly made adjustments.
After only two plays against the defense, they instructed Delhomme to go to a no-huddle offense, hoping to take advantage of the mismatches in the passing game left open by the Broncos’ extra attention to the run.
“You’ve got to go back to basics when you see some of those things and I think we did that,” said Delhomme. “I think we kind of caught them (off guard) a little bit. Guys made some plays. That was a good by our coaches.”
The strategy took advantage of the extraordinary open-field skills of Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith and the absence of Denver cornerback Champ Bailey, who missed the game with a groin injury.
Delhomme completed three passes to Smith once the Panthers went no-huddle – for 24, 27 and 15 yards, the latter for a touchdown.
“They were susceptible to some big plays and luckily we were able to connect on them,” Fox said of the Broncos. “We’ve had teams earlier this season play similar types of (defense) and we didn’t connect as well.
“That’s something the players and coaches have worked very, very hard on and I thought you saw some results today.”
Smith went on to catch nine passes for 165 yards.
The Panthers built a 20-10 halftime lead and put the Broncos away on an dazzling run by DeAngelo Williams on the first play of the third quarter.
Williams took a handoff from Delhomme and headed to his left, only to see that the Broncos’ defense had a wall of players in his way.
At that point, the called play was toast and he had to freelance. He turned back to his right, saw center Ryan Kalil move over to block the middle, and then cut back inside and broke free for a 56-yard touchdown run that essentially put the game away.
“Cutting back across the field is something we as running backs try not to do,” said Williams. “We try to stay with the integrity of the play. But sometimes you have to improvise. I think the improvisation we took today worked in our favor.”
Indeed.
“It was a really, really good run,” said Fox. “It’s not the way you draw them up. It’s not the way it looks in the playbook. It’s just a player being a player, and luckily he’s an outstanding one.”
After gaining only 17 yards in the first half, Williams finished with 88 yards on 12 carries to run his season total to 1,229.
Carolina now has 2,045 rushing yards as a team, just 43 yards shy of its single-season record, set in 2003, the only year the Panthers went to the Super Bowl.
That’s the precise destination this team wants to reach, and the Panthers seem to be peaking at just the right time.
“It’s awesome to be a part of it,” said wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad. “It’s awesome to watch it all come together.
“I just think everybody is buying into what we’re preaching around here, and what the coach is preaching.”