Sorry for no posting over the weekend, but even bloggers have somewhat of a life…not much was happening until the season got into full swing yesterday anyways. Here’s a quick rundown of how former Panthers did in their games yesterday around the league, probably a more detailed follow-up on some of these later today.
Philadelphia 24
Houston 10
Charles Spencer started his first NFL regular-season game at left tackle. He did have a false start in the second quarter, but other than that no penalties. Houston only had 70 yards rushing and David Carr was sacked five times, not exactly good stats for an O-lineman to see. I’ll be looking around for some more information on how Spencer played later today.
New Orleans 19
Cleveland 14
Darnell Dinkins played special teams for Cleveland, but did not make a tackle.
Rob Petitti didn’t dress for the Saints.
Atlanta 20
Carolina 6
Nick Goings played special teams for the Panthers and recorded his only tackle covering a punt in the second quarter.
Baltimore 27
Tampa Bay 0
Torrie Cox also played on special teams for the Buccaneers. He finished with one tackle covering a punt in the first quarter. On a day Baltimore kicked off basically the entire game, Cox only had one kickoff come his way, but returned it for 26 yards. Maybe Baltimore was afraid and kicking away from Torrie.
New York Jets 23
Tennessee 16
Kevan Barlow made his Jets debut and scored on a one yard run in the second quarter. He was second on the team in carries with 11, but was only one yard behind Derrick Blaylock, who had 19 carries. Barlow ended up with 35 yards on his 11 carries for a 3.2 ypc average. Not too bad for a Jets team that didn’t seem like it could run the ball with anyone most of the day.
Cincinnati 23
Kansas City 10
Kris Wilson played sparingly for the Chiefs, and didn’t get any special teams tackles or receptions on offense. Maybe all that talk about three tight end sets in the preseason was just talk.
San Francisco 27
Arizona 34
Larry Fitzgerald is the headliner as far as Pitt alumni go in the league right now, and he didn’t disappoint on Sunday. He finished with 9 catches for 133 yards, but couldnt’ get into the end zone. Kurt Warner threw to Larry a total of 14 times and Larry dropped a few catchable balls, so he easily could have had 11 or 12 catches and gone over 200 yards if he had grabbed a few of those.
Gerald Hayes is the other starting Panther for the Cardinals, starting at middle linebacker. Hayes led the defense from the start and ended up with five tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery that he returned to the 49ers 5 yard line. Big game for Gerald’s starting debut.
For San Francisco, Shawntae Spencer was back from his injured hamstring to start at corner. He finished with 6 total tackles and a pass defensed. Can’t say it was a great day for him though as Kurt Warner pretty much threw the ball all over the field at will all day. I’m sure Shawntae’s receiver, whether it was Boldin or Fitzgerald, got their share of catches.
Antonio Bryant almost matchd Larry’s yardage total, with 4 catches for 114 yards including a 46 yarder. He also couldn’t get in the end zone though. He was thrown to five other times for incompletions, picked up a holding call on a running play, and was slapped with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taunting.
The final Panther in the game was punter Andy Lee. Usually punting for San Francisco is a pretty busy job, and Andy made the most of his opportunities on Saturday. He put three of his four punts inside the 20, including one downed at the 5 in teh second half. Andy also holds on all field goals and extra points for the 49ers.
