Re-match in theory only

by John Watson 

The sun is high in the sky, the sweat glistens on the forehead and butterflies in the stomach mean that the regular season is almost here. The long wait from the Super Bowl to opening day is nearly over; all we have to do is survive the preseason. Sure, the preseason is just a tease to hold you over, but one of the four games carries some weight and that game is upon us.

The preseason affords us the opportunity to see our teams in action, but doesn’t fully disclose what lies ahead. Three of the four games are merely meaningless scrimmages, but the third game will be the most telling. No, it doesn’t count, there’s still no game planning and the offenses will be horrifically boring, but we’ll see most of the starters for three full quarters and what will most closely resemble a regular season match up.

Match up to watch? The Panthers’ offense against the Patriots’ Defense. As everyone knows, Offensive Coordinator Dan Henning was excused from his duties in Carolina at the conclusion of last season’s disappointing 8-8 finish. The offense was woeful and the “powers that be” decided something had to change. In comes Jeff Davidson, former offensive lineman, o-line coach, TE coach and Bill Belichick disciple. So what? Davidson’s offense, which will feature tight ends (yes, they’re allowed to catch the ball too), screen passes and a balanced attack, will be a familiar sight for the future Hall of Famer.

As such, Panther fans should be anxious to see how this “new” offense is able to function against a defense that is not only very good, but is familiar with the schemes they’ll be facing. Davidson learned his trade from Charlie Weis. Weis is the Head Coach at Notre Dame, but won three Super Bowl rings while serving as the New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator. Davidson has taken several pages from the Weis playbook, thus providing the Patriots with a solid blueprint for shutting down the Panthers’ offense.

The Zone Blocking Scheme (ZBS) isn’t something that has been run in New England, so look for the Panthers’ “Big Uglies” to try to establish the run early on, while providing Jake Delhomme with the time he needs to make his reads. There are several questions in play with the Carolina offense, such as who the starting five offensive linemen will be. Who will be the starting wide receiver opposite of Steve Smith and how will they do against a very formidable secondary?

Quarterback Jake Delhomme may very well be the biggest question mark as he tries to rebound from a shaky performance last week in Philadelphia where saw one of his passes go for a touchdown…in the wrong end zone, courtesy of corner back Lito Sheppard. The Patriots are sure to mix up their schemes and blitz packages, how well Jake goes through his progressions and works through those defensive sets could be the key. If Jake tries to throw a half side arm pass off his back foot into a space that doesn’t exist, as opposed to throwing it out of bounds, we could all be in for a very long night. However, if Delhomme can identify and deliver to his check down options then the offense should be able to more pretty effectively.
Both running backs have played pretty well in limited action this preseason, establishing a solid ground game will set the pace for the offense as everyone knows that running the ball is Coach John Fox’s mantra. The ZBS suits both DeShaun Foster and DeAngelo Williams with their cutback abilities, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some straight ahead runs called to help keep the Patriots solid defensive line on their toes. How Jeff Davidson chooses to handle 3rd and short situations is something many of us will be anxious to see, as that was a major problem last year. Whether Eric Shelton, Alex Haynes, Stephen Jackson, Billy Lasko…or anyone else gets the call in that situation will be very telling. The Panthers still need to identify a reliable short yardage and goal line back.

In closing, this will sure be referred to by some as a rematch of the very exciting Super Bowl from 2003 that crushed our hearts, but the reality is that this is a very different team in several key areas, most notably is the man calling the shots on offense. It should prove to be a very physical and exciting game once again.