MVN - Most Valuable Network

WR DJ Hackett Back on the Field for the Panthers

With Steve Smith out for the first 2 weeks and Ryne Robinson injured, the team was happy to see Hackett return to the field. He could see some action Sunday at San Diego.

I don’t know if you could be too excited though. This guy has been in the league only 4 years and he’s had a hip injury in ‘04, a knee injury in ‘05, an ankle injury in ‘07, and a toe injury in ‘08. And the toe injury came just by him taking off in his stance!

The good news is that there’s no more body parts below his toe that he could injure being that he’s injured everything from the waist down. The bad news is that we’ve been through this before with Dan Morgan, and I don’t know how much more tolerance the Panthers are willing to have with injury prone players.

And thats the bottom line

No Surprise Cuts in Carolina

As the Cats trimmed thier roster to 53 last weekend, there were no huge surprises. The journeyman kept on journeying. The team already cleaned house during the offseason, so there was no need on doing anything major right before the season.

However something that intrigued me the most was when the team decide to release DE Stanley McClover in order to keep Rookie DE Hilee Taylor. A former All-SEC player, McClover wasn’t a guy who was on his way to the hall of fame, but he was a solid performer. You knew what you were going to get with him. He had good strength, and you didn’t hear his name too much. Which isn’t a bad thing. Taylor however is much more of a project. His speed is not there yet, and niether is his strength. The Panthers say he has alot of potential, but I’m not so sure about this guy. I would much rather stay with a safe guy like McClover than to take a gamble with Taylor.

The Panthers plan to use Taylor as a pass rusher coming off the end……….I hope they know what they are doing.

Panthers fall to Steelers in Thriller!

Steelers kicker Jeff Reed hit a 43 yard field in the final seconds to give the Steelers a 19-16 victory as the Panthers finished 2-2. And boy was it a Thriller!

No, not action thriller……….a horror thriller! I fell asleep 3 times watching this game. It seemed as if it were never going to end!  The Stock Market Channel has more excitement than this game had last night.

For starters……….wait, there were no starters! John Fox started out with his 2nd string unit on both sides of the ball. Then the 3rd,4th, and 5th guys came in hoping to add to thier highlight reel to show to other teams after they get cut.

The Panthers gained 67 total yards on the ground with thier reserve backs. None showing any flash.

But I’m not so sure you can find a jewel amongst trash when you have a bunch of backups in a game. How good would Jake Delhomme be if he played with a second string unit? You’re basically asking these guys to go out and make chicken salad out of chicken $#!+%.

When Jonathan Stewart played with the 2nd string unit 2 weeks ago in Philly, he had 4 yards on 3 carries. The next week he goes out with the starters, he has a 100 yard game. So I would say its a little unfair, but life is unfair and that is the nature of the game.

So as you can see, this game needs no analysis because it is mainly for the coaches to look at so they can trim the roster. But as for a fan, you would have been better off going to a JV high school football game.

And thats the bottom line

ESPN picks Panthers to finish 3rd in NFC South

So the experts down at ESPN got together and wrote where they thought the Panthers would finish. One picked them to finish 1st, a few said 2nd, and MAJORITY said 3rd.

Am I surprised? No way. The Panthers weren’t even picked to win the division when they actually did win the division! On paper, the Panthers never look sexy, and they never put together good years consecutively. This team is like a game of darts……..some years they hit the bullseye, but other years they are all over the place.

So I’m not suprised. But do I disagree? Yes. I said it before and I’ll say it again. This is the best team John Fox has put out during his era. This team is better than the Super Bowl Panthers. Yes I said it. And they are.

During the offseason, this team had the potential to be good if they stayed healthy. But injuries during the first two preseason games hurt them. But when they came out last Saturday 98% healthy, it was as if I was watching a brand new team.

If they are at least 99% healthy, this team will not and can not finish lower than 2nd in this division. And if I have to eat my words, I have the napkin tucked inside my shirt, with the knife in my left hand, and a fork in the other.

When the Panthers were picked to finish near the bottom in ‘03, they went to the Super Bowl. When they were picked to finish high in ‘04, they missed the playoffs. When they were picked low in ‘05, they went to the NFC Championship.  And when they were picked high in ‘06, they missed the playoffs.

The Panthers are one of the hardest teams to predict because they are so low key in everything they do. Thier biggest offseason acquisition was signing a veteran WR!  If the Panthers finish 3rd they will miss the playoffs because the NFC East usually hogs all the playoff spotlight……………..and knowing the Panthers inside and out, (unlike most of the ESPN writers) this is a playoff caliber team. 

******* I have been a Panther fan since 1999. This is the first time that I have EVER said before a season that a Panther team had playoff material.

And thats the bottom line