Pats have so much to prove vs. Panthers

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

It's gut-check time Patriots.

Do you guys have the stones to fight to the bitter end, or are you just happy to be collecting a paycheck?

No one is happy with the New England Patriots right now --players, coaches and especially the fans.

For a team that had Super Bowl aspirations to begin the season, it feels like the season is going down the toilet -- sort of like Charlie Weis' head job did at Notre Dame.

But the Patriots desperately need a victory, and the Carolina Panthers are coming to town and should be able to help out the wounded Pats.

Yes, I said should, but that doesn't mean it will happen.

See, every time you think the Pats should win, they let you down. Here's reality fans: The Pats haven't beaten a real good team (they have wins vs. Buffalo, Atlanta, Baltimore, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, Miami and N.Y. Jets), so they're feasting on the weak.

Well, the Panthers are the weak, especially with Matt Moore at quarterback.

Who? Matt Moore?

Yup, the backup to starter Jake Delhomme, whose nursing a broken finger and will be out of action on Sunday.

There's now way Moore can pick apart the Pats' secondary, can he? Well, I thought that last week against Miami, and Chad Henne (over 300 yards passing) looked like Joe Montana.

So Moore can expose the Pats, but don't bet on it.

Carolina coach John Fox is captain conservative so don't expect to see Moore air it out like Henne did. But when they do throw, WR Steve Smith better be double-covered on every play. He's too explosive to be covered by any sub-par corner from the Pats, so expect to see a safety over the top of him to prevent big plays down the field. They better focus on taking Smith away or he'll burn them and burn them bad.

What the Panthers do well -- and better than most teams in the league -- is run the football. You would figure DeAngelo Williams should be back from an ankle injury that kept him out last week's Tampa Bay game, and the other part of the two-headed monster is Jonathan Stewart. They both can pound between the tackles and break away from defenders on the outside.

The Pats better stop the run or they're in big, big trouble. They not only will get gashed by the run, but then Moore might actually have success throwing the ball, even to Smith.

Offensively, the Pats need to put the pedal to the medal from the first quarter all the way until the final whistle in the fourth quarter. They always leave way too many points on the field.

This unit also needs that killer instinct. That goes for everyone, from Tom Brady to Wes Welker to Randy Moss. And those three better get the job done, even though Carolina's best strength is against the pass. The Panthers, led by ball-hawking cornerbacks Chris Gamble and Richard Marshall, have 17 INTs on the year, but Moss and Welker are extremely tough matchups.

But the Pats need to commit a bit more to the run with Laurence Maroney, who has done a very good job in my book, Sammy Morris and third-down specialist Kevin Faulk. But committing and being productive are two different things. If you run on two straight plays for 2-3 yards, the advantage is on the defense as far as down and distance on third down and they know you're going to throw.

So they need to produce both with the run and pass, but the biggest thing is moving the chains and putting points on the board.

The play-calling needs to improve, too. It's frustrating watching the Pats be too predictable. They throw and throw and throw to get a lead, and when they do they take the air out of the football and run on first and second down, and then have to throw on third-and-long and the defense is prepared for it. How about a screen pass? Remember when that was a staple in the playbook? Open up the playbook coaches, now is the time to be creative because the same old plays are getting stale -- long to Moss and short to Welker, with a few runs sprinkled in.

Chad's Take: The Patriots have so much to prove this week. I think we're going to see what kind of team they really are. Are they fighters with a passion to win, or are they pretenders that might sneak into the playoffs and then get hammered in the first round?

I think this is still a playoff team, but one that has so many issues, offensively and defensively, along with chemistry concerns between the players and coaching staff.

Carolina will give the Pats fits. Williams and Stewart will pound away at the Pats' run defense, chew up the clock and keep the Pats' offense on the sidelines. The Pats will be frustrated by the Panthers, but they have too much power on offense to be completely held down. Not to mention the Panthers struggle throwing the ball so they won't light up the scoreboard.

The Pats get it done, but still leave their fans wondering if they'll ever play a complete game.

Prediction: Patriots, 23-14