In what was hyped as the biggest regular season game in franchise history, the Carolina Panthers did not disappoint.  The game featured multiple record performances on the part of the Carolina Panthers, with the Panthers rushing for a monstrous 299 yards, a team record, (really should have been over 300 had it not been for two Jake Delhomme kneel downs), and DeAngelo Williams also setting the franchise record with 186 rushing yards.  The most important part of those statistics is that all of those yards came against the Tampa Bay defense, not the Detroit Lions.

With the game tied at 10 halfway through the 3rd quarter, it looked as if both of Jake Delhomme’s turnovers were going to come back and bite the Panthers.  But as they say, in order to be a good quarterback in this league you have to have a short memory.  Delhomme had just thrown a costly interception that gave the Bucs great field positions and an easy touchdown, but much like he’s done all season, Delhomme found the big play, hitting Steve Smith for a 38 yard touchdown to give the Panthers a seven point lead.  The Bucs would storm back however, and tie the game up with a Carnell Williams touchdown.

After the Panthers had again scored a touchdown, the defense was faced with a key 3rd and eight on the Tampa Bay 45.  Julius Peppers delivered, coming up with a huge sack that forced the Bucs to punt and give the ball back to the Panthers.  With 90 yards to go to essentially put away the game, the Panthers turned to their rushing attack, which came up with the most impressive dirve of the season.  Four plays, 90 yards, one touchdown, all on the ground; 41 yards from D. Wills, 30 from J. Stew, then a 16 yard touchdown dash from Williams .  So, in a game that saw only four punts, the Panthers were able to claim sole possession of first in the NFC South, and are in control of their own destiny as far as home field advantage goes.

Key Stats

8/10: Third Down Conversions- Third downs have really been the achillies heel for this Carolina team, but is was one of the main reasons they were able to top the Bucs on Monday.  As much as Steve Young want’s to complain about the lack of timing and artistry in the passing game, I thought Jake Delhomme played very well, converting a number of third downs, something he hasn’t done in recent weeks.  If Delhomme and company can have the same success into January the Panthers will be a tough team to beat.

75%: Red Zone efficiency-One of the huge differences between this team and the teams of the last couple of years is the incredible efficiency by the offense in the red zone.  Both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are strong power backs, and that really comes through when the team gets into the red zone, grinding out yardage and punching the ball into the end zone, getting sevens instead of threes.  The Panthers red zone offense won them the game last week in Green Bay and it won the game Monday night at home against Tampa.  For the Panthers to score three rushing touchdowns on the Bucs in the red zone, who had only allowed one rushing touchdown all season, was huge.

4: Number of Sacks by the Panthers- With Julius Peppers back to form with 12.5 sacks on the year, it is safe to say the Panthers pass rush is back.  After finishing 31st in the league in sacks last year the Panthers are now 9th in the league with 29 sacks, and that was was a big part in stopping Jeff Garcia last night.

8.1: Average gain per rush- The Panthers were so good rushing the ball Monday you might have thought their rushing numbers were actually passing numbers.  When you can get your running game to bust out 8.1 a pop, you are never going to be beat, of course I’m not saying the Panthers are going to do that though.

All in all this was a huge win for the Panthers, but by no means does it secure the division.  The Panthers will most likely be fighting tooth and nail their next three games to try and lock up the division.  And, this win by Carolina has their matchup against the Giants in two weeks looming large. Oh, and I guess they did something right because the matchup has already been moved to prime time on Sunday night.

Tags: buccaneers, carolina panthers, panthers