Panthers vs. Eagles (Pre-Season)

Not much to get excited.....or discouraged about in this game. The weather was terrible causing a delay, also causing bad playing conditions for the teams.

First off, Carolina was short 6 offensive weapons. WR's Smith, Jarrett, Hackett, Robinson, and TE's Rosario, and Barnidge sat out the entire game. Plus defensively, we had Gamble, Lucas, and Harris sitting out, which is pretty much our entire secondary. Marshall and Colcough were our starters at corner. Marshall did pretty decent and so did Colcough. I say they did decent because they were backups and they were going up against starters. Colcough lacks coverage skills. He is an excellent tackler and even caused a few incompletions. One of them was a dropped interception, which would have been a touchdown if pulled in. With that being said, Carolina shut the Eagles out the first three quarters. The Eagles WR Reggie Brown received an injury believed to be related to his Achilles injury prior to the game. They still had Kevin Curtis, Hank Baskett, Greg Lewis, and rookie DeSean Jackson at WR. After that backups filled the positions. The Eagles kept Baskett, Lewis, and Jackson in the game in the fourth quarter, who all except for Jackson receive pretty good playing time in real season games. They were matched up against third or fourth string defensive players. So all in all, Carolina did great on defense against the Eagles starting offense. However, they did not do that great on offense. They put up no points except for two field goals. The touchdown came on a 78 yard return by Richard Marshall. A fake field goal gone terribly wrong, it was like they handed it off to Marshall. Jon Stewart, Carolina's first round pick, didnt show a spark on his four carries. Nothing was open and he was nursing an injured toe. The Eagles racked up 24 points in the fourth quarter. It was real close with less than two minutes to go in regulation. Matt Moore's pass was tipped and intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Roland. Putting the game out of reach.

NFL Division Leader Predictions

NFC North: Vikings. They have AP and we all know you hold your breath when he gets the ball, and there defense is excellent especially against the run. Plus, Green Bay's play is uncertain since Rodgers will be at the helm with the retirement of Brett. Chicago still has GrossMan on the team, enough said. They also dropped Berrian and Muhammad. The Lions will be a very close second. They are a great team, but just got rid of Rogers and will come up short on the defensive side.

NFC South: Panthers. They have had the talent to take it all the way for a few years, but has came up short. They finally got soome recievers to complement Smitty and cause some real damage to opposing teams. The Bucs will be second followed by the Saints and the lowly Falcons.

NFC East: Dallas. I think after losing in the playoffs Dallas will come back strong. I don't see the Giants winning the division. The Redskins are not gonna be able to win out the other teams. Look for the Eagles to be back in the playoffs this year with the addition of Samuel at CB. I believe he is an excellent addition and will change the momentum in many of their games.

NFC West.: Seahawks. They have many plenty of runnning backs to carry the load and a weak division. Rams are gonna come back and be better this year, but not make the playoffs. Arizona will be second, they could even steal the division from Seattle but I wouldn't get my hopes up. 49ers are going nowhere even with the addition of Bryant Johnson they just can't seem to get it done from year to year.

AFC North: Browns. Did great last year and will come back even stronger with an extra target in Stallworth to stretch the field. He will help free up Edwards and Winslow. Steelers will be second to the Browns. Bengals have way too many problems, especially with an unhappy Chad Johnson. The Ravens will again have one of the top defenses, but will lack a potent offense.

AFC South: Colts. Peyton and Co. will win it again. Jacksonville will be second behind the strong running of Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor, and their defense will soon take their place in the top defenses. Texans will be last, good team just an excellent division. Titans will miss again, but again only because they are in the AFC South.

AFC East: The Patriots will win, no one to really contend. Miami will be better than last year, but that's not really saying much. Bills will not make playoffs, not enough talent. Jets won't make playoffs either, but will be second in division.

AFC West: Chargers. LT, enough said. Broncos picked up Colbert, enough said. Raiders are gonna be better with a top 5 D, but not gonna make the playoffs. The Chiefs will also do good with a top D, but will fall short of playoffs because they are in the AFC.