December 30, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams (34) runs for a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the second half of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Panthers defeated the Saints 44-38. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Again Carolina won despite Cam throwing an interception. In addition to the pick Cam managed to throw for 248 yards on just 16 completions. Certainly not his best game, but he did spread the ball around to several receivers. His accuracy is still his biggest weakness and this is due to his incredible arm strength. He is so strong he often times is able to throw the ball where he wants without setting his feet. On the touch passes he needs to have his feet set to accurately place the ball. Aside from the accuracy issues he did play okay. The importance of his role was overshadowed by the play of #34 DeAngelo Williams.

Williams had the game of his pro career today. He ran the ball 21 times for 210 yards. It was his biggest rushing day ever in the NFL. He was basically unstoppable today. The offensive game plan called for lots of  play run from the traditional “I” formation. The running attack featured several off tackle and inside runs. The Saints defense simply could not stop this running attack. I think offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski called a great game. He finally realized Williams is a traditional “tailback” and is best suited running from traditional formations. The infamous “read option” was ran today in certain spots with limited success but it did keep the defense guessing.  Down on the goal line, fullback Mike Tolbert was incredibly effective. He was able to punch it in from the one yard line on 3 different occasions.

Dec 30, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Carolina Panthers fullback Mike Tolbert (35) celebrates his touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during second quarter of their game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

The offensive line played fairly well today. The the group did give up some pressures against the Saints but the Saints only managed to sack Cam once the entire day. The offensive line really showed its strength in the run game. They allowed Williams to get into the 2nd level of defense all day, and once he got there he made the Saints linebackers and secondary look really pathetic. Greg Olsen set the Panthers record for yards receiving in a season by a tight end in the game today. He broke the record set by Panthers great, Wesley Walls. Congratulations to Olsen on one really incredible receiving year. Another record to go down today was the record for most yards passing by a quarterback in the 1st two years of their career. Cam broke this record which had been held by Peyton Manning. With the success of Andrew Luck and RGIII we’ll see how long Cam is able to hold this record. With all the success by the offense today, the Panthers defense had a less successful day then what we have become accustomed in the last few weeks.

Brees lit up the secondary today. He is certainly one of the best quarterbacks in the league and I am stupefied as to why he was not invited to Hawaii for the pro bowl this year. Bress exploited the Panthers to the tune of 29/43 for 396 yards and 4 touchdowns. He did throw an interception but otherwise he had a fantastic day. The main reason for his success was the lack of a pass rush. Clearly the Panthers missed Greg Hardy, because without him they managed only 2 sacks, and really only pressured Brees a hand full of times. Again Luke Kuechly led the team with 13 tackles. This is another player whom I am befuddled as to why he did not make the pro bowl, at least as an alternate. Well it should be a lock for him to win DROY for 2012. This young man is a gifted athlete and has the makings of a future hall of famer, in my opinion.

The secondary has issues and must be addressed in the off season. Both Jimmy Graham and Lance Moore managed to gain over 100 yards receiving today. Graham with 115 and Moore with a whopping 121 on just 4 receptions. I think we have a found a starter at corner in Josh Thomas and a possible starter at safety in DJ Campbell. But this group is easily te biggest weakness on this team. The strength of the unit is clearly in its front seven. With the return of injured players like Jon Beason, and Chris Gamble (if we don’t lose him in a salary cap move), I like the way this defense has come together. The Saints are a potent offense and capable of explosive plays and putting points up in bunches, so giving up 441 yards is not anything to be ashamed of.

Dec 30, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera paces the sidelines against the New Orleans Saints during second quarter of their game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

I think Ron Rivera has done a marvelous job with this team. Today’s win was his 1st as head coach when trailing by double digits. Back when we were 1-6 I too was calling for his head. But he and the team have kept the faith and continued to work toward success and we have begun to see the fruits of their labor. The offense is clicking and the defense was ranked 11th after today’s game. I believe if this team was going into the playoffs, there is not a team in the NFL that would want us as an opponent. I really wish we could have another shot at the Giants and the Broncos. The team we have playing now is a much different and much better team than the one both of those teams met.

The off season will bring some big changes to the organization. I only hope whomever the GM is will see the development of Rivera and his coordinators these last 2 years and see that he has earned a 3rd year as coach. If this team continues to progress the way it has these last several weeks and can finish on the winning side of games decided by 6 points or less then the Carolina Panthers will be making a deep playoff run in 2013.

God Bless!

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Dec 9, 2012; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) signals first down as wide receiver Louis Murphy (83) looks on in the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

After winning the coin toss, the Panthers proceeded to march right down the field and score on the opening drive. Cam looked god and hit Greg Olsen with a 25 yard laser down the seam to open the scoring. This was the pattern for the entire 1st half. It truly seemed like Carolina could do no wrong offensively and the offense sustained many long drives thus keeping the Falcons and their highly potent offense on the sideline.The number of plays on Carolina scoring drives in the 1st half were as follows: 11 plays, 17 plays, and 13 plays. The last 2 drives only yielding field goals. Thankfully those 2 drives didn’t come back to hurt us later in the game.

Cam looked really focused today. The only issues were when the team got down close to the endzone the offense seemed to bog down. The run game was not very good but it was effective in keeping the Falcons defense honest. The offense ran for only 79 yards on 23 carries between Williams, Tolbert and 1 carry by receiver Joe Adams on a reverse play. That is only good for an average of 3.4 yards per carry. Thankfully Cam was able to break loose for 116 yards on 9 carries. The receiving corps were very good today catching everything that Cam put on target. There were a few throws Cam really missed on. 2 to Smitty down in the endzone which were really the result of pressure as much as Cam throws being off. Then one to Louis Murphy in which he had badly beaten Donta Robinson down the sideline, Cam just flat out missed that one, had they connected Murphy would have easily strolled into the endzone. Carolina also finally scored in the last 2 minutes of either half this season on a Gano field goal with 3 seconds left in the 1st half. Total yards for teams in 1st half, Carolina: 270 yards and Atlanta: 35 yards. Easily the best half of football for Carolina this season.

Dec 9, 2012; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Thomas Davis (58) celebrates with cornerback Captain Munnerlyn (41) after intercepting a pass during the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers defeated the Falcons 30-20. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

The 2nd half started with more of the same. Cam opened up the scoring in the 2nd half with a 72 yard scamper to pay dirt. Just a great decision by Cam to pull the ball down and take advantage of a blitz by the Falcons. Steve Smith provided a big downfield block that allowed Cam to vault into the endzone. That was the last big play for Carolina until later in the 4th quarter. The Falcons decided to go into a hurry up offense and began to move the ball quickly and efficiently.

Atlanta scored on two 80 yard drives, 1 in the 3rd quarter and another in the 4th quarter. I, along with many Panther fans began to think, here we go again. Suddenly the Panthers were not able to generate any pressure on Ryan and with time Matty Ice was able to get the dirty birds back into the game. With the score 23-13 and Atlanta marching toward another score, the Panthers defense came up with a huge play on 4th and 8. Thomas Davis made a diving interception on a weak pass from Matt Ryan that was intended for Tony Gonzalez. After the change of possession, Cam Newton and company came up with another big play. Cam got the ball to DeAngelo Williams on a screen and the savvy veteran took over from there. With Silatolu and Garry Williams out front, DeAngelo Williams let his blockers set up and he took it 53 yards for another Panther score. That made it 30-13 Carolina. Atlanta did score again late in the 4th but thanks to some tough defense down on their own goal line, the Panthers made it difficult for the Falcons to punch it in and time essentially ran out for any late game heroics by Matt Ryan and company.

After Jordan Senn recovered the onside kick attempt by Atlanta, it sure was nice to see the Panthers lineup in the victory formation. This win was especially sweet since learning about the way Matt Ryan disrespected the Panthers in the Falcons come from behind win earlier this year when he told Carolina to get the f*#! off my field. Carolina played a complete game today and showed they do know how to close out a game. Things seem to be trending upward for this team. There still are things we need to work on but I am seeing improvement. And that is giving me hope for our future.

God Bless!
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Oct 21, 2012; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) tries to avoid the tackle by Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker Anthony Spencer (93) during the third quarter at Bank of America Stadium. The Cowboys defeated the Panthers 19-14. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-US PRESSWIRE

Panthers looked like the same predictable and ineffectual offense in the 1st quarter. Dallas held the ball for the majority of the 1st quarter but only scored 3 points. This was mostly due to the poor starting field position as opposed to anything our defense did. We battled and kept it close in the 1st quarter but we could not get anything going on offense.

Cam was the main reason we developed some semblance of consistency in the 2nd quarter. He was able to effectively move the ball using his legs when the Cowboys were in man defense. The down side of that was our offensive line doing a mediocre job of pass blocking for Cam. Cam’s success running the ball did allow for the passing game to open. He forced the Cowboys into zone coverage and this allowed Cam to make some really nice throws and we did move the ball down field. Cam did throw a pick in the endzone but in his defense I must say Cam had a Cowboy defender’s shoulder pad hit him in his gut in the middle of throwing the ball so that was the reason for it. Defensively the Panthers could not get any pressure on Romo. This in turn put tremendous pressure on our secondary and they were forced to cover receivers for extended periods of time. Witten was consistently looked to. We were able to move the ball down field during one drive and found the endzone.

Second half was different from the 1st. Cam was not able to or just didn’t look to run the ball. He seemed content to sit in the pocket and try to find the open man. This was not a bad strategy but we hurt ourselves throughout the game, but especially in the 2nd half, with dumb penalties and dropped passes. The penalties really stand out because they could not have come at worse possible times. And to go along with the penalties it seemed like the drops were on 3rd down passes that would have gotten us a 1st down. Despite all that, the offense was able to put together one drive that ended up scoring a touchdown. It was a hard fought short yardage run by Mike Tolbert which was preceded by a defensive holding call in the endzone. The offensive line didn’t have a good game but it wasn’t awful either. The one positive was we did have some solid run blocking but again the achilles heel is pass blocking. The Cowboys were able to apply good pressure with just their front four.

Oct 21, 2012; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Thomas Davis (58) forces a fumble by Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin (19) in the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

Our front four on the other hand may have as well have stayed in the locker room. Romo had plenty of time to pick and choose where he wanted to go to with the ball. The defense didn’t play a bad game they were just not put into situations that favored them. We really didn’t bring much pressure and when we did it was not effective. I have to question McDermott’s play calling. I have never liked him as our defensive coordinator but I am now calling for his immediate and unconditional release. Rivera needs to be the man calling defensive plays, that is what he does best anyway.

In the end, the game could have been completely different had just a few things occurred  differently. We played well enough to win this game, it would have been an ugly win, but a win never the less. That is the problem with this team. For the last season and a half we played well enough win several games but we have only won 7. I wonder what our problem is? We have a Pro-Bowl quarterback, 2 top level running backs, a highly prized free agent fullback, an All-Pro wide receiver, a top tight end, and a solid yet still developing offensive line. Where does our problem lie then?

God Bless

Follow me on Twitter @JoeRiollano