Game Recap: Carolina Panthers, Sat Aug 22nd

As promised, here are my thoughts on the three main things I was watching, as described in my preview. I've also included a couple tweets from last night.

Quarterbacks: It was an above average night for the signal callers and the most important thing is that they didn't turn the ball over. They did chip in two nice touchdown passes though. Chad Pennington showed why he is most certainly the present as he methodically moved the ball and led the offense to 10 points in his three drives. Chad Henne also looked pretty good. He was at the helm for 17 2nd half points, although he didn't get the ball down the field as much. We didn't see much of Pat White, but in his one drive his passes could have been a bit more accurate and lead to larger gains. Again, he showed more promise running the ball, even though it wasn't from the wildcat formation.

Cornerbacks: It was a big night for Vontae Davis as he was trying to bounce back from a shaky opener. He played a lot of the game due to the absences of Sean Smith and Jason Allen and did very well. He showed his excellence in run support and stopping short pass plays. I didn't notice him much in coverage, which is usually a good thing. None of the three fringe players really stood out to me, in fact Joey Thomas made an impression on the wrong side as several passes were completed in his direction.

8:46 PM: I'm glad I wasn't buying the hype with Chris Wiliams, he makes a lot of mistakes.

Special Teams: A muffed punt for a second consecutive game and this one was costly, as it allowed Carolina to take the lead before the half. He also hasn't flashed as much brilliance as people seem to think. Simply put, he's probably already done enough in the wrong direction to seal his ticket out of here. If Ted Ginn had done what Williams has in the last two games, people would be calling him the worst player ever, but because he is an undrafted player, the fans will always love his potential. Neither kicker flinched in the kicking battle, although both players kickoffs could be better. Carpenter does have the slightly stronger leg, so I imagine he will retain his job.

8:42 PM: How are fumble recoveries not reviewable? That was CLEARY Dolphins football!

This was just strange, but if it was a real game it would have been infuriating. A Panthers punt returner fumbles the ball and a pile ensues. The player who comes out of the pile with the ball is a Dolphin. Ball awarded to Carolina. Okay, let's see a replay. Replay clearly shows the Dolphin player possess the ball on the ground and be touched down before the pile ensues. Okay, we will challenge and get the call right. What's that? You can't challenge fumble recoveries? The competition committee will have to look at that one, because it was pretty clear and obvious that the call was wrong and could have easily been fixed. That's why we have replay, right?