Mike Rucker gets a Sack - Panthers Still Lose
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by FatMan
If one thing defines the Panthers season thus far, look at the following sequence of events:
- With 4:46 left in the 3rd quarter of a 10-10 game against the bottom-dwelling Falcons, Mike Rucker forced Joey Harrington to crumple to the ground resulting in a 5 yard loss. This event is called a sack. From the ensuing celebration, I thought maybe it had been reclassified as a dance contest. Rucker went on a 10 second exultation that called to mind the late Fred Lane, who once celebrated a TD by doing the dolphin in the back of the end zone. The problem was his TD cut the score to 27-7.
- After the sack, the announcers talked glowingly about how Rucker was looking forward to getting his first of the year and he was just living in the moment.
- After the game, Rucker was asked how he felt about the famed Panthers D being on pace to set the futility mark for least sacks in a year since the stat started to be tallied in 1982. Rucker replied, "Stats are for losers". Odd comment considering that he just spent a great deal of time achieving and then celebrating a sack.
Simply put, these Panthers are a sinking ship. Their star WR, Steve Smith, hasn't had a deep ball thrown to him in weeks. When he made a spectactular catch, he had the ball knocked out of his hands and fumbled out of the end zone resulting in a touchback. The team has no heart. They are winless at home. Two of those losses have been to the Texans and Falcons. Julius Peppers was named team captain in the preseason. He's gone out and tallied 2 sacks so far, and anchors a line set to produce less than 15 sacks all year. It isn't so much that these Panthers aren't good. It is that they are bad, yet think they are good, and they still act as if they are good. The most reserved Panther is Vinny Testaverde. Perhaps the rest of the group can take a page out of history and learn from him.
Will it get any better? That's doubtful. David Carr is now telling reporters that he has suffered two concussions this year. Dan Morgan is once again lost for the season. The running game has done absolutely nothing. Kerry Colbert might be shelved, and Dwayne Garrett their second round choice has been active for three games and has been called out on the carpet by Steve Smith for laziness and general malaise. John Fox is defending questionable playcalls and time management errors. Bill Cowher's chin is almost reaching Charlotte from his home in Raleigh.........
It's hard not to be pessimistic. It's also hard to pull for these guys. Antics like Mike Rucker's makes that an easy choice for fans. There might be a reason Carolina is winless at home and only has 1 loss on the road. If I know that, they should too.
The FatMan covers the Panthers beat for armchairgm.com two times a week and never on Sunday.
