Archives for October 26, 2009

‘Are you thinking playoffs for the Bills after Sunday’s 20-9 upset win at Carolina? Here’s the schedule for the second half of the season: at Tennessee, at Jacksonville, home against Miami, vs. the New York Jets in Toronto, at Kansas City, home against New England, at Atlanta, and home against Indianapolis in a game the Colts probably won’t need to make the playoffs. Are you thinking playoffs? Or a fourth straight 7-9?’

‘Can Ryan Fitzpatrick lead a second straight victory and perhaps make a bid to take Trent Edwards’ job? Fitzpatrick wasn’t great, but he managed the game pretty well and delivered a victory. When the Buffalo defense gave him field position with interceptions, he capitalized with a pair of TDs. He definitely deserves another start.’

‘For just the second time in his tenure, Dick Jauron has seen his team win back-to-back road games, and despite all the second-tier players he’s being forced to use because of his injuries, the effort has been noteworthy. On defense, Perry Fewell’s guys are giving up gobs of yardage, but they’ve allowed just 28 points the last three weeks. On offense, Alex Van Pelt still has plenty of work to do because this offense is not clicking, no matter who is at quarterback.’

Crushing Panthers’ loss leaves Jake ‘almost numb’ (Charlotte Observer)

A tough end to Smith’s rough week (Charlotte Observer)

Slow, painful and void of hope (Charlotte Observer)

Moore’s fumble ‘worst moment of my life’ (Charlotte Observer)

Key Moments (Charlotte Observer)

Kasay’s rare off day hurts Panthers (Charlotte Observer)

Taking blame not a problem (Charlotte Observer)

Panthers Report Card (Charlotte Observer)

Photo gallery (Charlotte Observer)

Down and out? Delhomme’s picks prove decisive in 20-9 loss to Bills (Gaston Gazette)

Plenty of blame to go around for Panthers (Gaston Gazette)

Smith saddened by loss of father figure (Gaston Gazette)

Fox will evaluate Delhomme before making decision on next week’s starter (Gaston Gazette)

Gastonia’s Fewell helps shut down Panthers (Gaston Gazette)

Grading the Panthers (Gaston Gazette)

Delhomme left to wonder about job as Panthers fall to 2-4 (Rock Hill Herald)

Dismal day for Jake leads to Panthers loss (Rock Hill Herald)

Moore goes from fantastic to fumbling (Rock Hill Herald)

Defense not happy despite solid performance (Rock Hill Herald)

Panthers looking up from ditch (Greenville News)

Panthers fall flat in loss to Bills (Raleigh News and Observer)

All hope has been abandoned here (Greensboro News Record)

Panthers run — and pass — into more trouble (Burlington Times News)

Photo gallery (AP)

Panthers give it away (Panthers.com)

Greater loss hits Smith (Panthers.com)

Panthers-Bills Postgame Notes (Panthers.com)

Photo gallery (Panthers.com)

‘Buffalo won despite being outgained 425-167. Carolina led in first downs 20-9 and held the ball for nearly 35 minutes. But Jake Delhomme was intercepted three times, Kenny Moore fumbled a punt, John Kasay missed two field goal attempts, and the Panthers (2-4) saw their two-game winning streak snapped.’

‘Fitzpatrick, who was making his first start in a Buffalo uniform in place of an injured Trent Edwards, connected on 11-of-22 passes for 123 yards for the Bills (3-4), who were coming off a 16-13 overtime win against the Jets last Sunday. Lee Evans caught five passes for 75 yards and a score. Marshawn Lynch rushed for 40 yards and a TD on 17 carries.’

‘The Panther defense held Buffalo on the next possession, but failed to get the abll back thanks to a special teams blunder. Derek Fine recovered a muffed punt return by the Kenny Moore to give the Bills the ball at the Carolina 20-yard line. With two-minutes to go in the game Lindell added the capper, a -yard field goal to up the lead to 20-9. That is how the game would end.’

‘The discussion this week regarding quarterbacks is going to be a good one. Let’s pretend Trent Edwards is healthy and ready for next week against Houston. Do you want him back in there because he completes more passes, or do you want to stick with the guy who is 2-0 this year? I imagine we’ll see some vintage NFL deception this week from the Bills coaching staff. Even if Edwards is ready, I suspect they’d give him another two weeks off from getting hit in the head by whoever Demetrius Bell is supposed to be blocking.’

‘After losing ugly two weeks in a row and winning ugly last week the Bills beat a bad Panthers team but they really played much better in the second half and found a way to put it away as they have become road warriors of sorts. The bottom line is the world was caving in two weeks ago when the walked off the field at Ralph Wilson Stadium the last time. They will now be returning with a chance of getting back in the playoff race. What a roller coaster ride the NFL is.’

‘Dick Jauron has his group playing hard. They also were smarter and more disciplined as they only had three penalties. Alex Van Pelt had a curious game plan of putting the ball in the air a lot early despite the Panthers being very good against the Pass and weak against the run. They threw three times in a row on the first possession of the third quarter after Lynch had just put it past midfield with an eight yard run. They also needed to build up some time of possession and passing and not executing was putting Perry Fewell’s defense in a rough spot. The gutsy call to throw it deep while protecting a lead showed a little aggressieness. Bobby April had his unit playing well as they were flying around in coverage units. Grade B+: That’s two straight wins.’