Ipimpcrazydave
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Coaching them up
As has been the case the past few seasons, there are an abundance of legitimate coach of the year candidates for 2004. Bill Belichick. Andy Reid. Bill Cowher. Jim Mora. Marty Schottenheimer. But the man who is perhaps doing the best coaching job in the league at this moment, John Fox of Carolina, certainly deserves a shout-out.
Fox won't win the award. Heck, his team might not even make the playoffs, not after a 1-7 start marred by so many injuries. But the fact that the prideful Panthers and their coach didn't long ago throw in the towel on this season -- and, Lord knows, they had justification for doing so -- truly is remarkable.
Fox suggested, following Sunday's 33-21 victory at New Orleans, that the Panthers have "become a new football team." We hate to disagree with a guy whom we are lauding but, in winning for the fourth straight time and remaining on the fringes of playoff contention, Carolina has persevered because it hasn't changed its MO very much at all. Indeed, at a time when some teams are just chameleons, the Panthers retain the same formula that drove them to a Super Bowl berth only a year ago. The difference is that they are making plays now.
Quarterback Jake Delhomme, so error prone just a month ago (seven touchdown passes offset by eight interceptions during an ugly six-game losing skein), has thrown for eight scores and just two pickoffs in the four wins. Nick Goings, basically the team's No. 4 tailback, has strung together three straight 100-yard outings, including an impressive 36-carry, 122-yard game on Sunday afternoon. Aging wideout Muhsin Muhammad (10 catches for 179 yards on Sunday) has resurrected his career. Defensive end Julius Peppers has become both a force and a leader.
But it all starts with Fox, a sort of human rudder for the Panthers, and he certainly has righted the ship. The Panthers still play sound football, run the ball, count on winning close games. And, oh, yeah, they still count on kicker John Kasay, too, who hammered home six field goals in the Superdome.
This is a team that, because of 14 injuries and the loss of its top two tailbacks, most explosive wide receiver and best defensive tackle in the league, lost its already skinny margin for error. But it has persevered and, for that, Fox deserves a nod
As has been the case the past few seasons, there are an abundance of legitimate coach of the year candidates for 2004. Bill Belichick. Andy Reid. Bill Cowher. Jim Mora. Marty Schottenheimer. But the man who is perhaps doing the best coaching job in the league at this moment, John Fox of Carolina, certainly deserves a shout-out.
Fox won't win the award. Heck, his team might not even make the playoffs, not after a 1-7 start marred by so many injuries. But the fact that the prideful Panthers and their coach didn't long ago throw in the towel on this season -- and, Lord knows, they had justification for doing so -- truly is remarkable.
Fox suggested, following Sunday's 33-21 victory at New Orleans, that the Panthers have "become a new football team." We hate to disagree with a guy whom we are lauding but, in winning for the fourth straight time and remaining on the fringes of playoff contention, Carolina has persevered because it hasn't changed its MO very much at all. Indeed, at a time when some teams are just chameleons, the Panthers retain the same formula that drove them to a Super Bowl berth only a year ago. The difference is that they are making plays now.
Quarterback Jake Delhomme, so error prone just a month ago (seven touchdown passes offset by eight interceptions during an ugly six-game losing skein), has thrown for eight scores and just two pickoffs in the four wins. Nick Goings, basically the team's No. 4 tailback, has strung together three straight 100-yard outings, including an impressive 36-carry, 122-yard game on Sunday afternoon. Aging wideout Muhsin Muhammad (10 catches for 179 yards on Sunday) has resurrected his career. Defensive end Julius Peppers has become both a force and a leader.
But it all starts with Fox, a sort of human rudder for the Panthers, and he certainly has righted the ship. The Panthers still play sound football, run the ball, count on winning close games. And, oh, yeah, they still count on kicker John Kasay, too, who hammered home six field goals in the Superdome.
This is a team that, because of 14 injuries and the loss of its top two tailbacks, most explosive wide receiver and best defensive tackle in the league, lost its already skinny margin for error. But it has persevered and, for that, Fox deserves a nod
