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The Carolina Panthers won impressively Sunday, beating division rival Atlanta, 28-19, and pushing their 2009 record to 4-5.
But was it all for naught? Is their season already over?
Of course not.
Despite a number of opinions to the contrary, a team that has won four of its past six games is not finished. Especially when its next three opponents all have losing records.
It is time to turn to that late, great sage John Belushi, who inspired his fellow fraternity brothers in "Animal House" with this memorable piece of movie dialogue 30 years ago.
Bluto (played by Belushi): "Over? Did you say 'over'? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? ---- No!" Otto: "Germans?"
Boon: "Forget it, he's rolling."
Bluto: "And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the going gets tough…. (he thinks hard)…. The tough get going! Who's with me? Let's go!"
I was thinking of that clip Sunday as the Panthers made one big play after another in the fourth quarter to seal a game they were in serious danger of losing late. Jake Delhomme played like the Delhomme of 2008 (the pre-Arizona variety), especially since the Panther coaches smartly allowed him to operate out of a "no-huddle" offense for much of the game. Delhomme now hasn't thrown an interception for three straight games, and has put enough distance between his current state and his horrendous start in 2009 that he can joke about it.
"Every time pretty much I was touching it, I was turning it over," Delhomme said of the season's early weeks.
The "Double Trouble" nickname fit the running backs again Sunday.
Punter Jason Baker actually slung a dangerous punt returner out of bounds. The defensive backs caught the possible interceptions they too often drop. Bottom line: On a summery November afternoon, the Panthers made all their fans in Bank of America stadium wipe off the sweat and feel like they were enjoying an unscheduled day at the beach.
"We're not that far off from that (12-5) team of 2008," linebacker Jon Beason said after the game. "We just need to finish fourth quarters like we did today."
The Panthers have finished successfully in two of their past three games now, defeating good opponents in Arizona and Atlanta. Although the Panthers dropped themselves down an 0-3 well at the beginning of the season, they might have found a rope.
In fact, I heard the word "playoffs" uttered for the first time in the locker room in the postgame, by wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad.
Playoff?! Playoffs?!
Well, Moose is eternally optimistic, so take that with a lot of salt. But he did have a point: The Panthers have a decent shot at the No.5 or No.6 seeds in the NFC if they keep winning.
That would only make them a wild-card team, of course, but that's far better than the alternative. New Orleans (9-0) has this division all but cinched, which means that the Panthers are just hoping to stay hot and grab a wild-card spot.
In the muddled NFL, you can't totally dismiss a team from the playoff race until it has lost at least eight games. The Panthers have given themselves little margin for error, but they certainly aren't done.
My great friend and colleague Tom Sorensen said otherwise in Sunday's Observer, saying the fat lady already sang for Carolina after its loss to New Orleans. "This season feels over," he wrote.
Tom is not alone in that sentiment. I've heard many Panther fans offer similar theories. Some e-mail me to tell me that would even like the Panthers to lose the next seven in a row and finish 4-12, with the idea that would hasten the departure of coach John Fox, general manager Marty Hurney and Delhomme.
The Panthers aren't going to lose seven straight, though.
They're not that bad. Nor are they that great.
But they are good enough to stick around to make their December games have some meaning – particularly if they can beat Miami Thursday night in Charlotte.
If that happens, the Panthers will be 5-5 with six games to go. And they'll be following Bluto out of that Delta house door, headed toward an uncertain but entertaining future.
Scott Fowler: 704-358-5140; sfowler@charlotteobserver.com.
