FanHouse BradHoover

The Carolina Panthers got flat out pummeled by the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday night. Take out the first possession from each team and it was one-sided the entire way. Let's put it this way: if Edgerrin James has more rushing attempts than DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart combined, you can be pretty certain that the Panthers gameplan crumbled.

And Brad Hoover, P-Cats fullback and Davidson County (woot, woot, etc) native, thinks they probably abandoned the run a touch early. Well, duh.

"Our plan was to try to run the ball on them. That's what we've hung our hat on all year, being successful in the running game, and I still think we could have done it," Hoover said. "Not to question things but, when you start putting yourself in a hole, and we did pretty fast, it's hard to just run the ball when you've put yourself in pass situations."

And, hey, not to question a coaching staff for giving Jake Delhomme more throws or anything, but the game kind of unfolded like a Madden mismatch (me = Lions, my brother = Patriots) where one team just doesn't have the kind of firepower/gameplan to play catch-up and just ends up making more mistakes.

Notes from the press box at Bank of America Stadium for Panthers - Cardinals.

Five plays. Fifty yards. Three-oh-four on the clock. Those are the stats for Carolina's first drive tonight and they're telling because the Arizona Cardinals don't exactly look fresh right now.

After holding the Cats to a quick long-and-third, the Buzzsaw coughed up a 10-yard gain to Brad Hoover. That was immediately followed by a 31-yard DeAngelo Williams rip that appeared housebound. Jonathan Stewart then played the mop-up duty roll, walking untouched into the end zone from nine yards out.

Someone needs to tell Jordan Gross that sitting and staring at his phone isn't going to make it ring.

Yes, the offensive tackle is eager to get a long-term deal from the Carolina Panthers, and by all accounts, Carolina wants to give him one, but it appears they're using that franchise tag as a crutch and focusing on other deals for the time being. One way or another, Gross will be a well-paid tackle for the Panthers in 2008, but he's clearly bothered by Marty Hurney's pace on this deal.

Of course, Hurney is juggling a lot of deals right now. His focus appears to be on bringing back Mike Rucker and Brad Hoover, though the availability of Alge Crumpler may be complicating Hoover's deal. The Panthers would seem set at tight end with youngsters Jeff King and Dante Rosario, but if the team brings in Crumpler, John Fox could move Rosario to fullback, which would mean less playing time for Hoover, who has a lot more mileage on him.

Plus, while Crumpler might be an upgrade at tight end, signing him wouldn't give Caroilna any real inside knowledge of the Falcons coaching tendencies. (Arkansas won't be on the Panthers' schedule this year.) The perfect player for that? Sammy Knight, who started at safety for the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. Former Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Smith is now the Falcons' head coach. Then again, the Panthers still don't care who their other safety is, do they?

I was certain the Saints were going to win this one in the second quarter, even though the score was just 10-3. At that point, Olindo Mare had just sent a 46-yard field goal through the uprights. Earlier in the game, Jason David successfully defensed a pass in the end zone. That's like Haley's Comet flying over Wrigley during a Cubs' World Series championship. When both rarities occur in the same game, hey, it's gotta be your day.

That is to say: It was fun to watch my Saints end their two-game losing streak by beating the Panthers today. I don't, however, take any pride in it. I am not impressed.

Maybe I think more highly of the Saints than I should given that, you know, they recently lost back-to-back games to St. Louis and Houston. Maybe I shouldn't take any team, even one led by David Carr (at left, showing jazz hands), for granted. But let's be honest: the Saints just won a game they should have. Beating the Panthers, especially after struggling for the first half, is not a sign that they are ready to make noise in the NFC (yet). It's just a sign that they haven't completely buried themselves, as much as they've tried.