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TAMPA, Fla. – Anyone seen the Carolina Panthers?
The team that showed up wearing their uniforms at Raymond James Stadium Sunday bore little resemblance to the group that powered its way to first place in the NFC South during the season’s first five weeks.
Perhaps those were imposters out there Sunday. Maybe the Bucs are simply much better than anyone realized. A viable argument can be made that Carolina got intoxicated with an overblown self-image after last week’s blowout win over Kansas City.
Whatever the cause for the meltdown in a 27-3 loss to the Bucs, there is now a three-way tie atop the NFC South and the Panthers look a lot less like one of the league’s best teams.
“Pretty much pathetic,” was how quarterback Jake Delhomme described his team’s performance.
The Panthers gave up a blocked punt for a touchdown, failed to score a TD, lost three interceptions by Delhomme, had a bad case of dropped passes, allowed an opposing back to rush for more than 100 yards for the first time this season (Warrick Dunn with 115 yards), and managed 40 yards rushing on 20 carries.
Though coach John Fox likes to say “stats are for losers,” those kinds of statistics won’t win anything other than an ugly contest. “We didn’t have our `A’ game today, they did, and you see the results,” said Fox.
Tampa Bay and Atlanta, which beat Chicago Sunday, joined the Panthers at 4-2 in the NFC South logjam. New Orleans, which plays at Carolina next week, is one game back at 3-3 after drubbing Oakland.
Carolina missed an opportunity to keep sole possession of first place, and began doing so on the game’s fifth play – an attempted punt.
Tampa Bay’s Geno Hayes rushed through the line without being blocked and smacked down Jason Baker’s punt as soon as it came off of his foot, then scooped up the ball and scored on a 22-yard touchdown return.
“We called a little blitz stunt and I had a one-on-one with the tackle,” said Hayes. “He took a step too far to the outside, so I got to the punter and took it to the house.”
Hayes rushed from the inside. The Panthers had two other punts blocked this year on an outside rush and a dropped snap by Baker. That was just the beginning of a long, hot day for Carolina.
Later in the first quarter, Delhomme threw the first of three interceptions. Tight end Dante Rosario reached to try to catch the pass, but the ball hit his hands and bounded into the grasp of Bucs’ safety Tanard Jackson.
“I was in the right place at the right time,” said Jackson.
The interception gave Tampa possession at the Carolina 26 and the Bucs scored five plays later on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Garcia to Alex Smith.
The score ended the Panthers’ defensive streak of nine consecutive quarters without allowing a TD.
“Before we broke a sweat, it was 14-0,” said Fox.
And it never got any better.
Delhomme’s 38.6 passer rating was his third worst in 70 regular-season games with the Panthers. He completed 20 of 39 passes for 242 yards. One of his interceptions happened in the end zone when he was trying to complete a TD pass to Muhsin Muhammad.
“It didn’t start out good and it didn’t get any better,” said Delhomme.
Every time Carolina seemed to have a chance to score, something backfired.
In the first half, Steve Smith was wide open on a deep pass play, but lost sight of the ball in the sun and fell down catching a 48-yard pass that might otherwise have resulted in a score.
Carolina made it to the Tampa Bay 1-yard once, but the legs of Delhomme and running back Jonathan Stewart got tangled on the handoff, causing Stewart to trip and fall for a 1-yard loss. The Panthers settled for a field goal on that drive.
Late in the game, long after the outcome was decided, Smith was wide open over the middle for what looked like a TD, but he dropped the ball.
“No excuses,” said Smith. “Perfectly thrown ball, great route, terrible finish.”
He was not alone. On the previous play, Rosario dropped an on-target pass from Delhomme. Earlier, Dwayne Jarrett dropped a quick-out pass that landed right in his mitts.
“It’s hard to find positives right now, there’s no doubt,” said Delhomme. “But after we watch the film tomorrow, you let it sting and then you have to move on.”
Fox and the Panthers made it clear they’ll treat it as one game in a 16-game season. Their hope is that it was an aberration. “We can’t allow this to define us,” said defensive tackle Damione Lewis.
