Carolina Clobbered 31-10, Panthers Fall To 1-12

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - The Atlanta Falcons still aren't very flashy. They certainly didn't wow anybody playing the NFL's worst team Sunday.

All they do, seemingly, is win.
Michael Turner ran for 112 yards and three touchdowns, Matt Ryan threw for another and the Atlanta Falcons maintained their grasp on the best record in the NFC with a 31-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
The Falcons (11-2) built a 17-0 halftime lead, survived a brief hiccup to start the third quarter, and cruised to their seventh straight win. John Abraham and Kroy Biermann each had two sacks, Mike Peterson picked off Jimmy Clausen and the Falcons became the latest team to shut down the league's worst offense.

Jonathan Stewart rushed for a season-best 133 yards, but lost a fumble on Carolina's first play from scrimmage to set up Atlanta's first TD. Things didn't get much better for the Panthers (1-12), who dropped their seventh straight stayed on track to get the top pick in the draft.

CARRY ON

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/gametracker/recap/NFL_20101212_ATL@CAR/falcons-31-panthers-10

Panthers Are Unrecognizable During Disastrous Season

"The climb to the penthouse is long and arduous. The slide to the outhouse is swift and sure."
-- former Falcons coach Norm Van Brocklin in the 1970s .

FLOWERY BRANCH -- When the colorful Van Brocklin came up with the aforementioned quote, he could have been talking about the current Carolina Panthers.

It seems only yesterday that Steve Smith was running away from defensive backs, Julius Peppers was tormenting quarterbacks and quarterback Jake Delhomme was tossing passes with pinpoint accuracy.

The Panthers were in the NFL's penthouse, the Super Bowl, as recently as 2004. Offseason decisions, however, have led to a swift slide to that proverbial outhouse.
The Panthers, who face the Falcons at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium, are 1-11 -- the worst record in the league.

CARRY ON

http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-falcons/panthers-unrecognizable-during-disastrous-771541.html

Richardson To PSL Owners / I Am Committed To Winning, I Take Full Responsibility For Our Shortfalls

The Carolina Panthers will enter play this weekend at 1-11 and securely in the NFC South basement. Apparently, team owner Jerry Richardson decided it was time to reach out to his beleaguered fan base.

The Gaston Gazette reported on Tuesday that Richardson recently sent out letters to all season ticket holders, imploring them to keep the faith in what has been a hugely disappointing season.

"I know how difficult the season has been for you," Richardson wrote. "As the person ultimately responsible for putting a team on the field, I take full responsibility for our shortfalls. It is agonizing that we have not performed at the level we had planned for and expected."

CARRY ON

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81cbb88f/article/panthers-owner-i-take-full-responsibility-for-our-shortfalls

Seattle Blitzes With A 21-Point Third Quarter SMACKING Carolina 31-14

SEATTLE (AP) — A trio of touchdowns from Marshawn Lynch and a nearly perfect third quarter made for one miserable half by the Seattle Seahawks.

Against hapless Carolina, that was more than enough.

Lynch scored on a pair of 1-yard runs in the third quarter, sandwiched around Lofa Tatupu's 26-yard interception return for a score, and the Seahawks rallied from a 14-0 deficit for a critical 31-14 win over the Panthers on Sunday.
Lynch added a 22-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter for the first three-touchdown day of his career as Seattle overcame injuries to their top two receivers and an awful first-half performance to stay even with St. Louis on top of the NFC West. Seattle (6-6) broke a two-game losing streak.

CARRY ON

http://www.latimes.com/sports/football/nfl/wire/sns-ap-fbn-panthers-seahawks,0,3572824.story

Panthers @ Seahawks / Playing For Little More Than Pride

RENTON — The last time the Carolina Panthers came to Qwest Field, they were playing for a Super Bowl berth. Almost five years later, pride is pretty much all that is at stake for the Panthers.
As far as the Seahawks have fallen from their 2005 Super Bowl season, things are even worse for the Panthers this year. Carolina is currently 1-10, good for the worst record in the league, and has scored fewer points and gained fewer yards than any team in the NFL.

“I think just youth,” Panthers coach John Fox said on a conference call. “We have a lot of youth in some critical positions — quarterback, wide-out — you know, we started young and then like everybody, you get the injury bug and that makes you even less effective because it’s not so much that you don’t have players that are qualified, it’s just that they aren’t as trained in your system or this league at the rate you have to be to play fast.”

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/dec/02/panthers-playing-for-little-more-than-pride/

Jonathan Stewart Returns To Seattle

The last time Jonathan Stewart played in Seattle, he ran for 251 yards and two touchdowns. Of course, he was playing for the Oregon Ducks, who shredded a hapless Huskies defense for 661 yards of total offense, including a school record 465 yards rushing.

Now the Lacey native returns to Seattle under vastly different circumstances with the Carolina Panthers. The team is 1-10 and Stewart missed two games with a concussion. He's rushed for just 306 yards on 81 carries this season.
With rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen learning on the fly, teams have been and will continue to load up the box and stop the run game first and force Clausen to beat them.

Here's the transcript from our conference call with Stewart...........................

CARRY ON

http://blog.thenewstribune.com/seahawks/2010/12/01/jonathan-stewart-returns-to-the-puget-sound/

Panthers @ Seahawks

The Carolina Panthers and the Seattle Seahawks face off in Week 13 of the NFL Season. For the Panthers, they come in having won just once this season and assume the roll of spoiler from here on out. For the Seahawks, despite a record that is under .500, they remain in a tie atop the NFC West division with the St. Louis Rams, as this clash with the Panthers will be a critical game for them to get a win.

The Seahawks dropped to Kansas City 42-24 this past week, as the Seattle defense gave up 503 yards of offense including 270 yards rushing. That is a frightening statistic that will have to improve this week if Seattle is to win this week against the Panthers.

CARRY ON

http://www.sportsbookgurus.com/news/seattle-seahawks-6-favored-over-carolina-panthers