Ask any football fan, : Can you imagine John Fox in a situation when the Panthers are down 10-6 in a big game, calling for an onside kick to open the second half ? If u can, then well imagination is the only way you will see it. But according to some, maybe once in a while Fox should play it a bit safer.

The Saints, as you saw, put up a real show. Their upset win over Indianapolis was filled with aggression. They caught out Peyton Manning habitually, and ultimately it was Manning interception that was run back for a touchdown to seal the tie 31-17, in Sunday’s Super Bowl.

After beating Minnesota and advancing in the Super Bowl XLIV, Drew Brees, Saints quarterback said “I definitely believe in destiny,”

Like everybody I do search Google by typing New Orleans plus destiny and have seen 4,440,000 games and now it has incremented to 4,440,001.

Due to none existence of destiny the team of destiny may have some problems also.

Destiny can be well fitted to those who remarks others success on it or own lose blaming their fate. But it is not in our hand to win or to lose.

No one has ever thought that The Saints could win as they are the debutantes and from the city they have come is totally destroyed by Katrina and still recovering.

It was not their destiny to lose as there was no hard luck story behind for Indianapolis, if not taking in account Indianapolis Pacers or an average Indiana Hoosier basketball.

On the other hand Saints have great quarterback, good range of receivers and running backs, rock solid offence line, timeserving defensive backs, a coach with lots of creativity and huge supports from their fans.

It is really appreciable but not enough.

Carolina Panthers’ fans knows how difficult a wide receiver will be coming by.

However, Colts found Pierre Garcon. He caught 16 passes in 2 playoff games for 185 yards, in 6th round of 2008 draft, 24 picks after the Panthers took lineman Nick Hayden.

Austin Collie, wide receiver, caught eleven passes in 2 playoff games for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns. Colts found him in 4th round of the ’09 draft, 34 picks after the Panthers took lineman Corvey Irvin.

This was a season that started for the Panthers with 3 consecutive losses and then a meltdown by quarterback Jake Delhomme. There was also inconsistent play and many injuries in the team.

And of course the same formula worked to produce the ending victory against the Saints.

Matt Moore didn’t throw an interception. He was the player who started the last 5 games at QB in place of the injured Delhomme and gone 4-1. He completed 14 of 23 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown.

Jonathan Stewart had rushed for 125 yards on 16 carries. He came off a franchise record 206 rushing yards against the New York Giants. Stewart’s 67-yard touchdown scamper on the second play of the game gave Carolina Panthers a 7-0 lead.

Well, though they may be the team that streaked to a 13-0 start, but the Carolina Panthers know they played that one quite well.

Even though it was the one that slouched to 2 straight losses, but the Carolina Panthers believes that the Saints is having something to prove.

The New Orleans have already clinched the home-field advantage till they are in the NFC playoffs. On the other hand the Carolina Panthers knows that the Saints would love to play better football than they did when they lost to Dallas and Tampa Bay.

In other words, the prudent play may be to keep starters safe, but Sean Payton, the coach of Saints, said that he at least would start his regulars.

The Payton said, “If someone tried to draw an analogy to the preseason, the reason it’s different is that you’re not sitting with a preseason roster of 75 or 65 guys.”

He also added further, “We are going to play all of our starters. We are going to be smart about those guys that are nicked up.”

The game did start a little slow for the Panthers. With the Saints leading 7-3 in the second quarter, and John Fox determined to get an ineffective running game going, things weren’t looking to good in Charlotte.  All that changed however on a huge forced fumble by Julius Peppers, who had a monstrous game.  That fumble gave the Panthers the ball on the New Orleans 40 yard line, where Jake Delhomme led the Panthers into the red zone, where the drive was capped on a Jonathan Stewart touchdown run.  Everything seemed to go the Panthers way after that, with the defense absolutely suffocating a potent Saints offense, and the Panthers offense doing a great job of capitalizing on turnovers and good field position.

Key Stats

It’s actually a little surprising when you look at the team stats, and the score of the game. For example the stats don’t show that incredible grab by Steve Smith in the endzone between two defenders to put the Panther up 20-7 in the 3rd quarter.

Really both the Saints and the Panthers are about equal in most of the categories.  The one major difference would have to be in starting field position.  Aided by two turnovers as well as some good returns, the Panthers were able to have short field to work with, making scoring a lot easier.

4: Number of times the Saints either turned the ball over or didn’t convert on 4th down- Obviously the forced fumble by Julius Peppers, and the interception by Ken Lucas were big momentum changers, but how about the defense coming up big twice on 4th and one, especially the one on the goal line denying the Saints a score (Julius Peppers was the one who made the tackle on that play by the way).  The game ball has to go to the defense, which was able to hold in check the second ranked offense in the league.

3: Number of Penalties committed by the Panthers-The Panthers committed only three penalties the entire game, and guess what? none of them were false starts!  Nock on wood, but it looks like the Panthers were able to work out the false start problems which had been plaguing them earlier in the season, which is great news.

The only other thing I want to point out is the way the Panthers were able to work out of the shadow of their own endzone and move the ball all the way down to the Saints 14 yard line.  What a huge difference a week makes, last week, in the same position, the Panthers barely got two yards, resulting in the Bucs getting the ball in Carolina territory on the next possession.

The biggest thing for the Panthers now is to keep a cool head next week against the Cardnials. Hopefully this victory won’t result in the Panthers comming out and laying an egg like they did last week.  One other note, it seems the Panthers have gotten rid of their home jitters, sporting a 4-0 record at home.

There is no doubt that the Saints have one of the best offenses in the NFL, ranking 1st in passing offense, and second in total offense. What will be interesting is how well Drew Brees plays against the Panthers defense, which ranks 2nd in the NFL against the pass, and 3rd in total defense.  Somethings gotta give, but as they say, defense wins championships.  When you look at matchups where you’ve got a good defense squaring off against a good offense, the team with the defense usually comes out on top; just look at the Super Bowl last year.

The major issue with New Orleans is not scoring points, its making sure the other team doesn’t.  It really doesn’t matter how many points your offense puts on the board if your defense give up just as many.  Look for Jake Delhomme and the offense to come out firing on all cylinders.

Keys to the Game

1. Pressure Drew Brees- I can’t state how important it is for Julius Peppers and company to get pressure on Drew Brees.  Brees, is has the highest passer rating in the NFC, will have a field day if he is given time in the pocket.  The front four getting pressure makes the secondary’s job a whole lot easier.  Both Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey are expected to play Sunday, which means the defense will have to be on its game.

2. Get the Ball to Steve Smith- After the game Smitty had last week dropping some balls, one a definite touchdown, expect him to come out pumped and motivated.  As I said before the problem with the Saints have been their defense.  The Saint’s secondary has given up 21 plays of 20 yards or more this season, worst in the NFL.  Forget trying to establish the run, Delhomme and Smith need to come into the game looking to exploit that secondary.

3. Get the Ball to DeAngelo in the Flat- The Panthers tried in vain last week to establish a running game.  Obviously New Orleans isn’t as stout against the run, ranking 14th in the league, but with Ryan Kalil and Jeff Otah still doubtful, running between the tackles may prove to be difficult.  DeAngelo Williams is the kind of back that works best out in space, so if the Panthers can get the ball to him on some screen plays or outside runs, Williams will have a better chance of breaking off a big run.

4. Special Teams- Much of last week’s loss to Tampa Bay had to do with the Panther’s special teams play.  The Panthers had horrible field position for much of the game, at one point even backed up on their own one yard line.   Also, the Panthers coverage team needs to be on its game when Reggie Bush is returning the ball.  Bush showed his elusiveness twice last week, running two punts back for touchdowns against the Vikings.  So far the Panthers have been pretty solid in limiting returns, and that can’t change Sunday.

Injuries

WR D. J. Hackett is out with a knee injury, which means Dwayne Jarrett may see some playing time.  Ryan Kalil and Jeff Otah are still doubtful, which means the Panthers will most likely have the same starting lineup as last week as far as the offensive line goes.  Jonathan Stewart is questionable with an illness.

The Panthers, who are undefeated at home, will face a tough test Sunday.  As bad as last week’s loss was, it was only one game, and the Panthers should be able to bounce back Sunday.

Panthers 27, Saints 24