I thought I would give an account of what I took away from the Panthers 20-10 preseason victory over the Giants from 513 of the upper deck. Overall I'm very happy with the victory and the fact the defense only surrendered 3 points. The offense also showed an ability to move the ball in big chucks and in certain situations come away with the 7 points. Most surprising was seeing the return game come to life. There was plenty to like from this game for Panther fans but there was also room for improvement.

QB Jimmy Clausen

Putting the obvious mistake aside, the pick 6, I thought he did a pretty good job of sensing the pressure and stepping away from it. It didn't help that Paul-Pierre was abusing LT Jordan Gross. Clausen also showed his propensity to throw the ball away. Yet his first complation to LaFell and the TD to Olsen are throws he wasn't making last season. So verall I saw improvement in the Jimmy.

QB Cam Newton

Newton made some nice throws but overall I was disappointed. Not because he didn't play well but because he never ran the ball. I mean, if I'm going to drive all that way I want to see the raw Newtonium in action. He never ran the ball even ONCE and for that I am pissed. Seriously, he seemed to show some poise and wasn't afraid to make the tight throws. He had some ugly ones of course but overall we enough to show the Panthers made a good pick with this kid. He just needs time under center.

LB James Anderson

Though he left the game fairly earlier he left quite an impression. Very glad the Panthers borught him back as he was all over the field.

More analysis and a visit to the medical clinic...after the jump.

Other starters that looked good were RB DeAngelo Williams and WR Brandon LaFell. Both players looked ready for the season.

TE Greg Olsen

This dude is just a stud. He's going to be a top 10 TE this season easily, if not higher. He had two brilliant catches on his way to good day's production in a single quarter of action.

WR Armanti Edwards

Edwards electrified the crowd with his two punt returns and also hauled in a 30+ yd strike from Newton. The kid looks like a play maker after an offseason working on his punt return ability.

LB Thomas Williams

I had the grab my program the first time he made a play to find out who #46 was. I know now. The kid was all over the place. Reminds me of last years LB darling who's name escapes me but he ended up on the Vikings practice squad I think. 

CB Robert McClain 

He and RJ Standford had good nights as they made life miserable for the Giant passing game in the 2nd half.

RB Mike Goodson

Putting the ball on the turf is the one thing this kid had better correct or hge won't touch the ball much more. 

RB Jonathan Stewart

Did he not just totally stiff arm #24 or was it more of complete toss aside? Stewie looks ready to rumble. 

Overall I thought the defense was stellar, special teams much improved and the offense improved. It woul dbe nice to see more of our starters on the field for the next game.

The sidebar adventure of the evening was a trip to the medical clinic. Cyberjag had a plan, unbeknownst to me, to smuggle a beer into the stadium, a feat none have every accomplished. His plan was to take a tumble at the turnstile going into the stadium, cut his nose and then get escorted into the stadium medical clinic using his massive nose bleed as cover. See, then he wouldn't be patted down. He and I would then enjoy our victory beer walking up the ramps to the upper deck.

He executed his plan flawlessly. A victory beer we did enjoy. lol...