Nothing can be finer than to be in Carolina.  The Carolina Panthers showed their resilience, Sunday, scoring 21 3rd quarter points to top the Arizona Cardinals 27, 23 and improve their record to 6-2.  Though the defense didn’t have the best of games, they made play’s when they needed too, and were backed by and offense that exploded in the second half, erasing a 14 point Cardinal lead in under a minute.

Looking back at the game, the one thing that clearly stands out is Cardinal’s lack of balance on offense.  Kurt Warner had a whopping 381 yards in the air, but the Cardinals basically abandoned the run in the second half, which really hurt them.  Because the Panthers were able to run the ball effectively, they were able to control the line of scrimmage, eventually winning the game for the Panthers on that final drive, keeping the ball for over five minutes, denying Kurt Warner the opportunity to get the ball back.  By the way, Dwayne Jarrett came up with the catch of the day on that drive, going up and grabbing a ball, in traffic, then getting clocked, but keeping control of the football for a first down.  That first down was huge, and Jarrett definitely eared some respect after that catch.

Key Stats

2: Number of turnovers forced by the Panthers- The key difference maker in that game was the two turnovers by the Cardinals.  The fumble forced by Charles Johnson- who had a great game with two sacks- and the interception by Jon Beason, gave the Panthers 10 2nd half points.  That interception by Beason also came on the Panthers own 10 yard line, robbing the Cardinals of a chance to take the lead.

7/12: Panthers 3rd down conversions- The Panthers converted 58% of their 3rd downs, two of which came on the final drive of the game to help keep the ball away from the Cardinals.  The offense did struggle a little bit in the first half, but they really got it going in the second, picking up positive yards on first and second down, making their 3rd downs a lot more manageable.

391: Passing yards by the Cardinals- The Cardinals showed that they are one of the most potent offenses in the league, but they did it not with the big, down field plays, but with short, 5-10 yard pass plays, eating up yardage in small chunks.  One of the reasons was the front four didn’t really get enough pressure.  I know they did have two sacks, but they gave Kurt Warner way to much time to throw the ball, and he ate that secondary up.  That’s what happens to your pass defense when your front four doesn’t get pressure consistently.

3: Number of Penalties Committed by the Panthers- It seems the Panthers have managed to fix the penalty problems that plagued them earlier in the season.  You just can’t go out and expect to win on a consistent basis while commiting 8, 9, 10 penalties a game.

With this win the Panthers head into their by 6-2, sitting alone atop the NFC South.  This gives the Panthers a chance to get Ryan Kalil and Jeff Otah healthy, as well as all the other guys with some nagging injuries.

I’ve also got to give some credit to the fans who were at the game.  There were a lot of empty seats, but the crowd was no less noisy, even starting an upper and lower deck waves, though with only a one point lead they were a little ridiculous.

Tags: carolina panthers, kurt warner, panthers