Reich will try to beat Panthers Sunday, but once he was their first NFL quarterback
While a lot of attention will be focused on Will Grier Sunday as the 18th and most recent addition to the Carolina Panthers’ roster of starting quarterbacks, the very first name on that list will be on the opposite sideline.
Frank Reich, the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, started the first three games in Panthers history at quarterback in Carolina’s 1995 expansion season.
Reich nearly led the Panthers to a victory in their very first game, extending Atlanta to overtime while throwing for 329 yards. But Carolina lost that one, 23-20, when , in OT, Reich was sacked for the ninth time and fumbled the ball away. That very first game helped set two dubious longtime traditions for the Panthers: losing on the road in Atlanta and fielding an offensive line that had lots of problems.
The next two Panthers’ games in 1995 were far worse than that. With Carolina 0-3 and the Observer writing one story that speculated as to whether the team might finish 0-16, the Panthers benched Reich in favor of rookie first-round draft choice Kerry Collins and never looked back.
Reich has had an interesting career for a player who was mostly a backup, including two fantastic comeback wins. He engineered what is commonly thought of as the greatest comeback in NFL history, leading Buffalo (down 35-3 in the third quarter to Houston) to a 41-38 victory in the 1992 playoffs. In college, he rallied Maryland to a 42-40 win over Miami, despite the Terrapins once trailing 31-0.
Deeply religious, Reich also became the president of the Charlotte campus of the Reformed Theological Seminary for several years after his football career ended and before his NFL coaching career began in 2006 (he also once worked as an interim pastor). This game will be the first time Reich has faced Carolina as a head coach.
▪ Here’s some interesting Panthers QB trivia. In order of the number of regular-season wins they’ve had as a Panthers quarterback, here’s the list of the 12 previous men who have started at the position for Carolina and who have won at least one game:
Cam Newton (68 wins), Jake Delhomme (53), Steve Beuerlein (23), Kerry Collins (22), Rodney Peete (8), Matt Moore (7), Kyle Allen (6), Vinny Testaverde (2), Chris Weinke (2), Derek Anderson (2), David Carr (1) and Jimmy Clausen (1).
And here are the five men who started at least one game for Carolina at QB but won zero times: Matt Lytle, Randy Fasani, Brian St. Pierre, Taylor Heinicke and Reich.
▪ Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, who made the Pro Bowl for a team-record seventh time this week, said he is looking forward to sharing Bank of America Stadium with Charlotte’s Major League Soccer team starting in 2021.
Said Kuechly, whose father was a collegiate soccer player: “I think it will be cool — another team in Charlotte to pay attention to and go to games. Everyone I’ve talked to about soccer games talks about the energy within the game and how different the fan base is, the chants and how they play.”
▪ Prediction time. I’m 10-4 picking Panthers’ games this season after forecasting last week’s loss to Seattle.
The safe play is to pick the Panthers — 5-9 and losers of six straight games — to lose for the rest of the season. But for some reason, I’m feeling like something weird will happen Sunday. The Colts (6-8) aren’t exactly world-beaters themselves.
My pick: Carolina 24, Indianapolis 23.
