| Paul Ryan Hirsch. 11th August, 2005 - 4:28 pm
 If there were only one team last year that exemplified the example of “A Team with Heart”, the Carolina Panthers were that team. Yes, other teams have heart and other teams showed they had heart; however no team did it more than the Panthers.
After starting the season 1 and 7, most teams would’ve given up. Most teams could’ve probably pulled off maybe 2 or 3 more wins and went into the post season waiting for their newly acquired early draft pick. Not the Panthers. They put together one of the best endings to a football season that most teams would dream of. They rolled up an additional 6 of 8 games to finish a very respectable 7 and 9 and one game shy of the playoffs. As a Panther fan, I was never more proud of my team…and they went to the Super bowl the year before. Fans want to see their team win every year but that is next to impossible, so when our team loses, we at least want to see them fight and scratch there way through to show that there’s hope for the future. The Panthers did that and then some.
Nobody likes to give excuses of how and/or why there team got to a losing record. However the Panthers were destroyed by injuries on both sides of the ball. The Panthers lost all of their starting and backup Running Backs (Stephan Davis, DeShaun Foster, Rod Smart and Joey Harris), their starting Wide Receiver (Steve Smith) and arguably the best Defensive Tackle in the league (Kris Jenkins) to name a few. They were a “Run” and “Stop the Run” team with their best runners and their best weapon against the run on injured reserve. To prevent total disaster the Panthers had to reestablish themselves as something besides a running team. They had a Quarterback who had only started one season for them (Jake Delhomme), albeit a Super bowl season, one Wide Receiver that most said was on his way down hill (Muhsin Muhammad), another waiting for retirement (Ricky Proehl) and lastly…the Rookie (Keary Colbert). On the surface there season was all but over. All this and we haven’t even talked about their Offensive Line woes, which have been well documented.
Relying on this bunch to pull our season through was not something I was to sure of. Luckily I, like many others, waited patiently a watched some of the biggest question marks in the NFL turn a team around and do so in style. Jake showed he was not a one year wonder (3886 Passing yards and 30 total Touchdowns). Moose not only showed that he was not washed up, he led the league in reception yards (1405) and Touchdown catches (16), earning him another trip to Hawaii. Colbert made a strong push for Offensive Rookie of the year with 754 yards and 5 Touchdown receptions. The Defense tied for the League lead in takeaways, Chris Gamble tied for the NFC lead in interceptions and Mark Fields’ return from cancer was the NFL’s version of “The Lance Armstrong Story”. Let us not forget about our backup Full Back that took over our rushing duties and seemed like he has been doing it for years. Not bad for a bunch of question marks.
This year the question marks are still looming. Is Steve Smith fully recovered from his leg injury? Can Kris Jenkins become the force he was before his injury? Can DeShaun stay healthy as the starter at Running Back? Is Stephan Davis fully recovered from micro-fracture surgery? Will the “Sophomore Slump” affect Keary Colbert? Where will the Panthers use Thomas Davis? Can Dan Morgan have an injury free year? With all these questions and more, there is very good reason to watch every move the Panthers make. One thing we know for sure is that after the 2004 season, the Carolina Panthers are “A Team with Heart”.
Good luck boys. |
