Things That Nobody But Me Cares About

What the hell is wrong with the Carolina Panthers? They’re supposed to be really good this year, but they’ve already lost two games. And one of those was to Miami, of all teams.

Yes, Kris Jenkins is hurt and that weakened the interior of the defensive line; but one guy doesn’t make that much of a difference. Kris was there when they lost the opener to New Orleans.

On the surface, the problem is that Carolina is turning the ball over too much. Jake Delhomme has thrown three interceptions and lost a fumble. Steve Smith fumbled yesterday. But turnovers don’t tell the whole story. Why are opposing offenses able to coast down the field? Where is this vaunted defense that the media keeps saying is so great? Why do opposing teams seem to make third-and-long conversions so easily?

It’s still early, but so far the Panthers appear to be an average team at best.

At least Ohio State has rebounded well after the loss to Texas. The play calling was much better in the Iowa game, and Antonio Pittman finally got a full game to show what he can do, which seems to be a lot. Santonio Holmes continues to impress and Ted Ginn…well, he still seems to be overrated. OSU’s defense might be better than Carolina’s.

Not really, I just meant that in a hyperbolic way.

Here’s an update on the much-anticipated showdown of undefeated teams in the RSeven fantasy league:

The Kregen Scorpions, led by primary running back Edgerrin James’ 18 points combined with good games from receiver Jimmy Smith (10) and tight end Jason Witten (14), had a 65-58 edge going into last night’s Chargers-Giants game. Worthington had decent showings from quarterback Donovan McNabb (20) and running back Julius Jones (20), but received a total of two points from their entire receiving corps.

The game came down to Kregen quarterback Eli Manning versus Cardinal running back LaDainian Tomlinson. Manning put up good numbers –the best of his career, in fact – and scored a 23 on the fantasy scoring scale; but LT was unstoppable and ended up with a whopping 42 fantasy points, propelling both San Diego and Worthington to blowout victories. Final score: Worthington 100, Kregen 88.