About Last Night.

I was very disappointed in last night’s outcome. But I can’t say I was surprised. Frankly, I’ve been expecting the Panthers to get blown out eventually. They’re just not as good as they seem.

It comes from being one-dimensional on offense. The only consistent playmaker is Steve Smith, who is also the only Panther (besides, perhaps, Ken Lucas) who is not overrated. If anything, Steve is still underrated.

I used to think the reason Smith always got so many yards was because Jake Delhomme simply had tunnel vision for Smith, but that’s not the case. Last night’s debacle wasn’t Jake’s fault; he tried to get the other receivers involved. On the first series, from third and six, he threw the ball to tight end Kris Mangum. Sure, the pass was a little behind him, and Kris had to stretch back, but the ball hit him in the hands, and then continued right through them. Fourth down. Punt.

Next series: third down again. Jake fires a wide receiver screen to Drew Carter, who starts running before he has the ball. Incomplete. Punt.

Third series. Third and nine. Jake finds the normally reliable Ricky Proehl for a nice gain. Ricky drops it. Punt.

It was inevitable at that point that Jake would start forcing passes to the quadruple-covered Smith. Result: two quick interceptions leading to ten points and, combined with the touchdown that Seattle had actually earned, a 17 point deficit that sealed the game in the second quarter.

Again, I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I’m not sure how Carolina made it as far as they did. The offense (aside from Smith) has been underwhelming the entire year. Stephen Davis ended up on IR. Again. Deshaun Foster had a crappy year up until the end when, just as he seemed ready to become the star he has always been purported to be, he broke his ankle and went on IR. Again. Keary Colbert was a no-show for the second season in a row.

There are some bright spots for the future. Drew Carter has shown flashes of potential – certainly more than Colbert has shown up to this point is his career – but he was injury prone in college and has continued to be so in the pros. The defense, after years of being overrated, finally seems to be almost as good as the press always thinks they are. That has a lot to do with the fact that middle linebacker Dan Morgan almost managed to stay healthy this year. He only missed a third of the season this time.

The window is not closed on this team, not for a few more years. But they are missing some integral parts. I only hope they find those parts before age and free agency forces another long period of “rebuilding”. God knows I don’t want to go through that again.