Watching the Carolina Panthers has never been something for the weak-hearted, as the Panther’s thrilling 35-31 victory Sunday over the Green Bay Packers Sunday, again left 2 million fans breathless.  They don’t call them the Cardiac Cats for nothing.

After blowing a 21-10 lead and giving up 18 unanswered points, it looked like the Panthers were on their way to yet another disappointing road loss.  Down seven points with under twelve minutes to play, Jake Delhomme and the offense were faced with a crucial 3rd and 10.  The Panthers never blinked.

After quickly glancing down field Delhomme stepped up and lobbed a perfect pass to Steve Smith for 36 yards to put the ball on the one yard line.  Following a Williams touchdown and Rhys Lloyd kickoff the Packers again got the ball and started to move down the field in a drive that ate 9:13 seconds off play clock.  But the defense held when it needed to, stopping the Packers twice on the one yard line to force a field goal and give the offense a chance to get the ball back.  The Panthers had 1:57 seconds on the play clock but only needed 27. A huge 45 yard return my Mark Jones gave the Panthers fantastic field position on their own 45.  Then on the first play of the drive Delhomme dropped backed, and threw a bomb 52 yards down the field to Steve Smith, who made one of the best catches of his career in between two defenders, setting up the game winning punch in on 1st and goal from the one.

The win proved pivotal as it kept Carolina tied for first place and in perfect position for the monstrous Monday night game next week when Tampa comes to Charlotte.  So let’s get down to the nitty gritty and take a look at some key stats from the game.

Game Ball- As much as I want to give this to Travelle Wharton, who had a great game with numerous good blocks and a down field fumble recovery, Mark Jones absolutely deserves the game ball, coming up with two crucial kickoff returns of 50 and 45 yards, both of which led to Steve Smith catches and DeAngelo Williams touchdowns.

5-5: Panther’s red zone efficiency- Nothing says power rushing like five one yard touchdown runs, four from DeAngelo Williams and one from Jake Delhomme.  It was the Panthers perfect redzone possessions that gave them the edge against Green Bay, who settled for two field goals after getting stopped by the Panthers in the redzone.  The redzone is where the running game really becomes important, pounding out valuable yardage, and Williams delivered.

4/10: Panther’s 3rd down conversions- Over the course of the season it has become apparent that 3rd downs have proven to be an achilles heel for this team.  In each of the team’s three losses the Panthers averaged a dismal 29% on third down conversions.  One of the key’s to success for this team will be converting third downs, which they did last Sunday.

4.8: Average yards per rush- It is so refreshing to finally see the Panthers have legitamite success with the running game, which ranks 7th in the NFL.  I think DeAngelo Williams really shocked a lot of people with the type of season he’s been having, and has had a huge hand in the Panthers getting to 9-3.  What’s more is that Williams is getting most of these yards going right at the defense and literally running over guys on defense, certainly not the style people expected out of the 5-9, 217 pound running back.

Defensively there may be concern, with multiple miscues in the secondary, one in particular leading to a Packers touchdown.  Whatever the problem is though, I’m sure it will be worked out this week, besides, the important thing you have to look at is that the defense did it’s job when it needed too- bend but not break; not all that different from the defense that took the Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2003.

Tags: delhomme, packers, panthers