Colts Run Past Panthers 31-7

by Jaxon on Oct 28, 2007 4:52 PM EDT in News Comment 1 comment

The Panthers shot out of the gate with a clock-milking drive to take an early lead on the Colts. It was all Colts from there. The defense started strong too forcing a 3-and-out. But then Ryne Robinson took all the wind out of the Panthers with a fumble that gave the Colts a short field. The defense stood up the rest of the half but let the Colts take the lead at the half 10-7.

In the end I don’t think the Panthers would have beaten the Colts without the turnovers. They needed to play a perfect game and they came up way short. I know when I look at the tape I’m going to wonder why we stopped throwing it to Steve Smith. Why didn’t Carr ever take a shot downfield?

Here were some key plays and players:
• Joe Addai put up three TD’s as he kicked it in high gear in the second half
• Reggie Wayne got loose for 100+ yards and a long TD on Ken Lucas
• Dallas Clark was again hard to cover and provided several key 3rd down conversions
• The Colts defense tackled very well and contained Steve Smith. They also prevented the big plays from the Panther passing game.
• The Colt offensive line did not give up a sack and only allowed Peyton Manning to get hit a few times

On the positive side for the Panthers:

• Jeff King had a nice day with 8 receptions for 63 yards
• Mike Rucker led the Panther defense with 7 tackles
• Jon Beason started at MLB and played well in coverage tipping several passes over the middle
• Na’il Diggs had a forced fumble and almost recovered another (but it was ruled an incomplete pass)
Other notes:
• Vinny Testaverde (12 FOR 20, 82 YDS, int) went out with a foot injury and David Carr (11 FOR 18, 68 YDS) replaced them. He didn’t fair any better than Vinny
• DeShaun Foster started at RB (19 carries, 62 yds) and averaged a little over 3 yds per carry.
• DeAngelo Williams was contained and only got 5 carries for 14 yds. He had 4 receptions for a single yard, showing how intent the Colts were focused on stopping the plays out of the backfield
• After catching two passes on the first drive Steve Smith was shut out

I was hoping we would hang with the Colts for most of the game and we did until the 3rd quarter. In the end it was a miserable performance for the Panthers and didn't provide much to build on going forward.

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play calling

I gotta say that the play calling was horrible. I don't understand all the screen passes to D-Will on third and long. If nothing else, throw a screen to Steve Smith, or let him run a reverse or something. There is one thing that could've made the play calling a lot better. It's called blocking. D-Will had no room to run on the screen passes, and 3 yards a carry for Foster was not indicative of a lack of effort or skill on his part. David Carr's passing stats don't look much better than Vinny, but Vinny's interception in the end zone was huge, and Carr picked up a couple first downs with his legs, so I would say Carr actually had a much better game based on those two factors.

Also, getting two sacks against weaker opponents is not too impressive. It's games like this where I expect someone like Peppers to step up and make plays.

by usana_gaines on Oct 29, 2007 9:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs