Tom Talks

Not too good

    To sum up the Panthers performance: Terrible play by the offensive line, terrible play by the quarterback,  terrible performance by the secondary, and a terrible start to the season.

Will Dwayne Jarrett be enough?

    When the Panthers need a big play, to whom do they go? Dwayne Jarrett, 21 yards on third down. Guy is a great practice player. This would be a good time, on the turf in which he grew up, to do it in a game.

Panthers can, too, score an offensive touchdown

   Bizarre first half. Just when you get to the point where you think the Panthers will not score an offensive touchdown in 2010, they move 50 yards in 30 seconds. They began the drive at midfield because Mike Goodson returned Lawrence Tyne's kickoff 45 yards.

   Moore completed four passes, the last of which was 19 yards to Steve Smith for their first touchdown of the season.

   Moore was off early; he finished the half 7-14 for 82 yards with an interception and the touchdown.

    But the Panthers intercepted Eli Manning twice. The Giants were unable to run. Every time they looked as if they might do something they made a mistake.

    Be interesting to see if Moore shook off whatever was impeding him by leading the late touchdown drive.

   

 

 

Greetings from New Jersey

    Rain is falling off and on in East Rutherford, the air cold enough to make you wish you'd worn a jacket. New York fans ignore it. They tailgate from one end of the parking lot to the other. I open the window of our car, and the smells from a nearby grill are so good I want to pull over and stop.

    The New Meadowlands Stadium doesn't blow you away from the outside or the inside. It's functional rather than flashy, although the four end zone boards offer the clarity your flat screen does.

     But you know what the best thing about the stadium is? It will host a game that counts.

    Every NFL exhibition season seems longer than the one that preceeded it. The idea of a real game, with starters on offense and defense and a score that matters, offers so many possibilities, among them a football game we can enjoy.

    Enjoy it.  

   

Charlotte is in great shape, SGMA says so

   According to SGMA, Charlotte is the second fittest city in the U.S. I don't what SGMA stands for, but it apparently doesn't stand for SAGma. Next time I'm in a buffet line, I'll check.

    I am surrounded by people that talk and write about going to the gym. There's no question that Charlotte is good at talking about being fit.  

    There are cities in which everybody seems to be running, walking and riding a bike. These cities tend to be in the West. One of them is San Diego, which SGMA ranked No. 1.

     How do you measure fit? Is it the percentage of the population that buys a road or mountain bike, running or workout shoes and a gym membership?

     At the gym I use, many members work out as if they get paid by the word. They talk so much that they actually put on weight there. They'd burn more calories shopping for cookies at Harris-Teeter because they'd have to move.

    The trick to working out is to do it quietly. You don't have to tell people you work out. If you get it right, they'll tell you.

   

Richardson is No. 3, Yahoo says

   Yahoo's Michael Silver, a good writer with deep roots and sources in the NFL, ranked the league's owners in a two-part series that concluded Friday.

    At the bottom is Al Davis, and next to the bottom is Mike Brown of Cincinnati. But you knew that going in.

    At the top are Jerry Jones of Dallas and Robert Kraft of New England, who tied for first.

    Carolina's Jerry Richardson is third.

    Ratings are subjective. They're also an effective way get people talking before the season begins.

    I'm biased, but I would put Richardson at, or near, the top. 

Bad for Moore, bad for Guy, bad for Wilson, great for Carter

   I thought cornerback C.J. Wilson would make the Carolina Panthers. I hoped wide receiver Kenny Moore would. Moore can play in the NFL, I assure you. Trent Guy would have had a shot, and a good one, if it weren't for recurring hamstring issues. So both Charlotte guys, Moore of Butler and Guy of West Charlotte, are gone.

    Glad that kicker Todd Carter made the roster. Carter was living with his parents in Michigan, doing odd jobs for spending  money, borrowing the car when he needed a ride. Reminds me of one of my kids. And then he made the Panthers, which means he'll collect the $320,000 rookie minimum.

    So if you look at your kid, who moves home and doesn't work, he's not necessarily a slacker. He's a kicker.

    Carter has a big leg and is a good guy. Congratulations, Todd.

Houshmandzadeh to Panthers is a great fit

   The Panthers might have a No. 2 receiver, a complement to Steve Smith, simmering somewhere on the roster, but I haven't see him. Receivers have had moments in camp and in exhibitions, but nobody has jumped up and established that he is a bonifide NFL No. 2.

  Seattle's T.J. Houshmandzadeh is.

    Seattle apparenly is trying to dump Houshmandzadeh so it can sign San Diego holdout Vincent Jackson. Jackson is better than T.J., but T.J. would greatly enhance Carolina's receiving corp.

    Housh is 6-2 and 32 years old, a year older than Steve Smith. Although he's not a sprinter, he is a superior route-runner. He has six straight seasons with at lease 904 yards in receptions. In most of those seasons, he complemented Ochocinco in Cincinnati. Let him line up next to Smith in Charlotte.

    Although he will make $7 million this season, the Seahawks will be responsible for almost all of it. He could cost his next employer as little as $850,000, the veteran minimum. He certainly won't cost htem $7 mill.

    Why not Carolina?

    Act now, and start him in eight days against the New York Giants.

     If Seattle can't find a trade partner, it might cut him. So trade, Panthers, trade. Give your fans, and your quarterbacks, something to get excited about. You gambled in the draft, as is your custom. Gamble now, before somebody else jumps on him.

 

 

 

 

 

A short list of all the good things to come out of Pittsburgh

    This was a ragged out game. But is there anything good you can take away from the Pittsburgh experience? Yes there is.

    Tony Pike moved pretty well for a guy 6-6.

     On Pittsburgh's first play, rookie defensive end Greg Hardy grabbed quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and dragged him down. Two plays later Derek Landri sacked him. We knew going into camp that the line would be outstanding. But we thought it would be the defensive line.

    The Panthers let Armani Edwards line up at quarterback.

    The press box food was really good. And there were vegetables and everything. So you fill up your plate with vegetables. And then there's a carving station. What are you going to do? You get another plate.

    Head coach John Fox was at his candid best. Asked if the performance of any of his players will help them, he said, "I'm not going to banter with that. We'll look at the tape and make those evaluations and choose the team in due time."

  The weather was great.

    The preseason has ended.

     

   

Is defensive line as good as it looks?

   Nice third-down pass from Hunter Cantwell to Dante Rosario. Rosario took the ball away from Troy Polamalu, which is saying something.

    What if the Panther defensive line is as good as it looks? The line fills holes against runners and the rush has been stunning. Rookie Greg Hardy grabbed Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger on the game's first play, flinging him to the ground (Roethlisberger picked up a yard) and then tackle Derek Landri sacked him. Anybody remember Hardy playing basketball for Mississippi as a freshman? Love to see his game.