NFC WILD CARD
Panthers 29
Cowboys 10
CHARLOTTE – One after another, the Panthers exited from their joyous locker room to party some more, returning to the field at Ericsson Stadium, dancing on the grass, taking victory laps, saluting their towel-waving fans who waited seven long years to celebrate like this.
Why not? The Panthers, 1-15 just two years ago, are in the playoffs, and last night’s thorough and dominating 29-10 thrashing of Bill Parcells and the Cowboys in an NFC first-round game was a statement if ever there was one.
“It was expressed to me that was a tradition here,” said coach John Fox of the impromptu postgame festivities. “It came from the football team’s heart.”
There were leaps into the stands and mad dashes up and down the field.
“I tell you what, it’s dream come true, to go out and celebrate with the fans after seven long hard years I’ve had here,” safety Mike Minter said.
“To go out and see the joy on their faces after all those tough years, that’s what it’s all about. I was savoring every second, every minute of it.”
With good reason. The Panthers (12-5) move on to face the Rams on Saturday afternoon in an NFC divisional game in St. Louis, and to advance, Carolina completely outplayed a Parcells team, which is a rarity this time of year.
The Cowboys (10-7) came in with the league’s top-rated defense, but the Panthers – never confused with an offensive juggernaut – ripped apart the ‘Boys, with Jake Delhomme (275 passing yards) in his playoff debut playing pitch-and-catch with Steve Smith (135 receiving yards) and Mushin Muhammad (103).
Meanwhile, running back Stephen Davis did his usual damage with 104 rushing yards, and John Kasay kicked five field goals as the Panthers led 16-3 halftime and 26-3 early in the fourth quarter.
“All season long I’m not sure this team put together a complete game,” said Fox, the former Giant defensive coordinator who inherited a 1-15 team two years ago. “This was as complete a game as we’ve had all season. We picked a good time to start clicking.”
The Panthers quietly seethed at the memory of a 24-20 loss to the Cowboys in Dallas in late November, a game in which Carolina never owned the lead and heard afterward how the Cowboys whipped them good.
“Last time we played we gave them a lot of credit for having a good scheme,” defensive tackle Brentson Buckner said. “[Cowboy tackle] Flozell Adams got in the newspaper talking how each one of their players manhandled us one-on-one, they did this to us and they did that. We said, ‘All right, this is our chance now, let’s see can you do it again.’ That was our motivation all week.”
The Panthers, much to the delight of the crowd of 73,014, dominated the first half and came away with a 16-3 lead. It was 13-0 after Davis, with 6:10 left in the second quarter, used a devastating block by fullback Brad Hoover – who leveled linebacker Dat Nguyen – and a slip by cornerback Mario Edwards to rumble 23 yards for the game’s first touchdown.
Not only was Carolina good, it also was lucky. In the closing seconds of the first half Delhomme hit an embarrassingly open Muhammad – there was no defender within 15 yards of him – for a 57-yard gain with 14 seconds to go. Muhammad was caught from behind by Roy Williams, who forced a fumble that teammate Al Singleton should have recovered.
Muhammad, though, managed to steal the ball from Singleton while flat on the grass and the Panthers had the ball on the Dallas 2-yard line to set up another field goal.