FanHouse SmashandDash

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

John Fox and Marty Hurney headed into 2008 with their jobs on the line after an underwhelming 2007 that featured a whole lot of Mittens and not a lot of excitement in Charlotte. They decided to throw caution to the wind and play for "now" by trading their 2009 first-round pick for a chance to pick up both Jeff Otah and Jonathan Stewart in the first round of the draft.

With a healthy Jake Delhomme, Julius Peppers finally deciding to care, a road-grading offensive line and a rejuvenated Smash and Dash running game that featured DeAngelo Williams and Stewart, the Panthers surprised some people by winning the NFC South and looking like a Super Bowl-caliber squad.

The Smash and Dash war between Lendale White/Chris Johnson and DeAngelo Williams/Jonathan Stewart hasn't maxed out yet. If there's one thing you watch today, make sure it's the below clip of three of the four (Johnson was away preparing for the Pro Bowl, a fact that LenDale pointed out in a humorous fashion) on Best Damn Sports Show Period last night. Also, "swaggerjack," as I have previously mentioned, is the greatest word ever. I have no clue why the Titans don't just call themselves that.



AA via ShareBro Maj

As Ryan has already pointed out, this game, despite the "Homefield Throughout" nature in which it will be played, isn't the most "important" of the season, since both teams are all but playoff locked (if the Panthers lose out and the Bucs, Falcons and Cowboys win out ... well, then I'm a jackass).

But there's still puh-lenty at stake here. Namely: home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and the likelihood of being favored to rep the NFC in the Super Bowl. The last one of course, is really just a semantical bonus for those that like to gamble.

Make no mistake though -- HFA is a huge deal to both of these teams, considering that they're a combined 14-1 this season at home. So, yeah, it's kind of important.

And as such, this should be a great game, even if it's kind of odd to see the seasonal arc that each team is taking. The Giants were, just a few weeks ago, already being penciled in to rep the NFC in Tampa. However, in just the course of two losses to the Eagles and the Cowboys, people have started to wonder how they can perform when they're not a full strength.

But, as Giants early season roll has slowed, the Panthers have only picked up the pace, moving from a tough team that looked like a contender to a powerhouse that rumbled over Tampa Bay for 300+ rushing yards in a Monday night blowout. Of course, there's the whole matter of DeAngelo Williams being secretly hurt -- yeah, it's weird. It also seems unlikely; he was, after all, tutored by Vinny Testaverde and that goes a long way towards maintaining health. But still, a shoddy performance or an early exit from "Dash" would make this a pretty big deal going forward.

Keyshawn Johnson says a lot of things that are relatively unimportant. But as far as ESPN Sunday morning analysts go, he's not that bad. Still, it's probably a bit aggressive to dog Jake Delhomme the way he did this morning, considering that he was on the Panthers for all of, oh, one year.

I don't trust Jake [Delhomme]. I've played with him. He's a good guy and everything, but in this situation he'll try to do too much if they put the ball in his hands, try to throw hand grenades like in Green Bay.

Well, obviously Key missed that whole "Smash and Dash" thing -- you know, where the Panthers run the ball about 40 times to wear the defense down and let Jake do his thing on third down if he has to, while picking spots to hit Steve Smith downfield.

Additionally, it's not like Jake hasn't taken a Panthers team to the Super Bowl or performed at an All-Pro level -- he has. And to further the point, if the Panthers put the ball in Jake's hand tonight, well, that's just plain stupidity on the coaching staff's part; the plan, as far as anyone should be concerned, is nothing more than a heavy dose of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.

LenDale White is not going to let the whole "Smash and Dash" thing go. In case you missed it the first time around, he called out DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart for hijacking his and Chris Johnson's nickname and called them out publicly.

The Panthers' running backs kind of shrugged the business off and went back to not collapsing at the end of the season. LenDale, on the other hand, decided he wanted to really let them know who the real owners of the name were. By sending them a little care package.

Inside were two blue T-shirts featuring photos of White and teammate Charles (sic) Johnson that read: "Tennessee's Smash and Dash."

"These are nice," Williams said with a laugh as he held up a very large shirt. "I like them. But I wish LenDale had sent me one in my size instead of his."

Get it? Because he's fat. Which is a way more humorous insult than trying to grift an unoriginal nickname. The smart thing for White to do would probably be focusing on the Steelers game this weekend instead of trying to rile up a team that plays in another conference.

Not that it should matter much to Williams -- he knows darn well he just got snubbed for the Pro Bowl (he's the first backup) and you can most certainly expect he and Stewart to both run hard against the Giants Sunday night in what amounts to easily the most important game of the season for the NFC.

Tip of the cap to the O-Bubble

Fat men are generally funny and that stereotype (just roll with it, okay?) appears to apply to LenDale White as well, if you hear what he was spouting off at a recent press conference.

See, White was asked what he thought about DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart being nicknamed "Smash and Dash" for their on-field running prowess. And, since White claims he already has proprietary rights on that name, he was none too pleased.

"If they want a nickname, I can nickname them: 'Identity and Theft,'" said White, who's successfully paired with the speedy rookie Chris Johnson this season. "...I was upset because I made that phrase up myself. I mean I made it up. I don't know about NFL Network and all those other guys. I heard somebody say, 'Batman and Robin,' that's like cute, that's for them. If they want that name they can have it. The 'Smash and Dash' is something I made up."

"We've got a copyright and everything for it, I'll make sure I show the documents," White said. "It's well trademarked and it's copy written. I don't know if we're going to take legal action or not."

He also went on to say that he had been "swacced", which apparently means "swagger-jacked", and is definitely my new favorite term.

Now, while I would personally prefer the Stewart - Williams combo (I think they're collectively much more talented than White and Johnson, although I do love the speedy ECU grab), the nickname "Smash and Dash" is vastly more applicable to the Tennessee tandem, in terms of running style. So, I'm willing to concede it to him. Besides, at least he didn't call them weak a ... er, nevermind.

Via Deadspin