CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Carolina Panthers let their perfect start to the season quickly slip away against the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans converted four fumbles into scores, while Steve McNair threw for one touchdown and ran for another, and Tennessee handed Carolina its first loss, 37-17 Sunday.
Keith Bullock scored on a 35-yard fumble recovery, Gary Anderson kicked field goals of 32, 34 and 40 yards, and Tennessee (5-2) got another TD with a 50-yard pass from Billy Volek to Eddie Berlin on a fake punt.
It all added up to a lopsided loss for the Panthers (5-1), who found themselves in an early hole and playing to a chorus of boos before halftime.
The game also exposed many of Carolina's weaknesses.
The Panthers' vaunted defense struggled to stop the pass, allowing McNair to go 12-of-22 for 190 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown pass to Drew Bennett. It also had difficulty containing a mobile quarterback: McNair scrambled for 30 yards, with a 7-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
Also glaringly evident is that when Carolina's running game doesn't work — and it never did against Tennessee — the Panthers have little to fall back on.
Stephen Davis, who entered the game with 641 yards rushing and four 100-yard games, was held to just 20 yards on 11 carries. Carolina, which came in averaging 172 yards on the ground, finished with 44.
That meant Jake Delhomme had to pass, and he struggled to find time against the Titans' stifling defense. Although he finished with two touchdown passes and a career-high 362 yards, much of it came with the game long decided. His 67-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith in the fourth quarter made it 30-10.
Delhomme was also sacked four times and had two fumbles, both of which led to field goals by Anderson.
DeShaun Foster had Carolina's final fumble, which Bullock scooped up and returned for a 37-10 lead with eight minutes left.
Tennessee earned its first victory of the season over a team with a winning record by taking advantage of miscues right from the start.
Carolina's Brad Hoover fumbled away the opening kickoff, and Tennessee recovered at the Panthers 30. McNair got the Titans rolling with a 21-yard pass to Bennett, then ran the ball in to make it 7-0 a little more than two minutes into the game.
Carolina went three-and-out on its next possession. But at least the Panthers then forced the Titans to punt, too — or so it seemed. Instead, backup quarterback Volek took the snap and tossed a perfect pass to Berlin, who scampered down the sideline for a 14-0 lead after fewer than seven minutes.
The Titans never let up, and when McNair threw a 22-yard TD pass to Bennett 11 seconds before halftime, the score was 27-3, and the home fans were jeering the Panthers.
:::>^..^<::: ~*~The Journey is more important than the end or the start~*~ :::>^..^<:::
Sorry to hear Larke that you had a rough football day over all. If you're a Favre fan you know he played decently, but the rest of his team isn't carrying the weight! The coach needs to go!
The panthers must have been distracted this week, they're too good of a team to lose that badly! Don't worry Larke, both your teams have a winning combination!
Please pardon my pseudo-intellectuaphilisophicalismysiticality.
Man what a game, who would have though it. That's okay though we'll get the next one. And man did you see that in the 4th quarter, I think it was goings got knocked out. That was bad. At least he's okay. Tha Titans were paying rough.
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, diet coke in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
Inside me lives a skinny woman crying to get out. But I can usually shut her up with cookies.
A friend is someone who thinks you're a good egg, even though you're slightly cracked.
10-19-2003 11:20 PM
