1st Quarter
RECAP: No surprise here as Vinny Testaverde gets the start at QB for Carolina. On defense, everyone has been waiting for Carolina’s sack attack to arrive and it finally has. The Panthers, who had just two sacks all season, got two in the first quarter with maligned DE Julius Peppers having a hand in both.
BIG PLAY: Peppers’ second sack resulted in a fumble that he recovered, setting up a 33-yard John Kasay field goal. Peppers also knocked out QB Kurt Warner on the play, sending him to the locker room with a left elbow sprain.
BIG MISTAKE: On a third-and-1 at the Arizona 15, RB DeShaun Foster dropped a simple pass in the flat that would have went for a first down and kept the drive alive. Instead, the Panthers settle for a field goal.
COMMENT: It’s all even. With Warner out of the game, both teams are playing a quarterback they just signed this week – Testaverde for Carolina and Tim Rattay for Arizona. Now this is what the fans came to see. Carolina has two sacks and two turnovers already.
SCORE: Carolina 3, Arizona 0
2nd Quarter
RECAP: The Panthers add another Kasay field goal before the Cardinals take the lead 7-6 with a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive.
BIG PLAY: WR Larry Fitzgerald made a great one-handed catch near the sidelines on third down to keep Arizona’s touchdown drive alive. John Fox challenged the play, but it was ruled Carolina FS Deke Cooper forced him out of bounds.
BIG MISTAKE: CB Chris Gamble failed to make a tackle when Arizona’s Edgerrin James rambled through the middle of the line for a 23-yard touchdown run.
COMMENT: The Panthers running game is abysmal. Up until the final carry to run out the clock, Carolina RBs DeShaun Foster and DeAngelo Williams had 15 yards on seven carries. Man, I could be watching Dallas vs. New England.
SCORE: Arizona 7, Carolina 6
3rd Quarter
RECAP: Carolina takes a 9-7 lead on Kasay’s third field goal of the game with 5:44 left in the third. The Cardinals answer with a 50-yarder by Neil Rackers. The Panthers can’t complain about the field position they’ve had in this game. They simply haven’t taken advantage of it. They’re really struggling in the red zone.
BIG PLAY: Again, Fitzgerald came up with a 36-yard gain with a leaping grab over Chris Gamble. Gamble later had a shot at an interception but the ball came loose and Jerheme Urban battled for it on the ground.
BIG MISTAKE: This one goes to the back judge, who failed to call a defensive holding penalty on Cardinals LB Monty Beisel, who grabbed WR Drew Carter as he ran a slant route in the end zone. Beisel clearly grabbed Carter’s arm, impeding his ability to make the catch.
COMMENT: Testaverde hasn’t been great, but he’s not done anything to hurt his team at this point in the way of turnovers.
SCORE: Arizona 10, Carolina 9
4th Quarter
RECAP: The Panthers picked off Rattay two more times in the fourth quarter in the fourth quarter and got a huge play from Testaverde and Steve Smith, who hooked up on a 65-yard touchdown strike.
BIG PLAY: The 65-yard bomb from Testaverde to Smith was a thing of beauty as Smith beat Arizona’s Rod Hood, who inexplicably seemed to stop running on the play. Afterward, Smith told Testaverde, “I told you that you can’t overthrow me.”
BIG MISTAKE: Kasay, who had been a perfect 3-for-3 on the day, misses a 45-yard field goal wide right with 13:29 left in the game, a kick that would have given the Panthers the lead. But he comes back a few minutes later and nails it from the same spot on the field to give his team an 18-10 lead.
COMMENT: Testaverde didn’t put up huge numbers, but he came through when the Panthers needed him and didn’t make any huge mistakes that hurt his team. Basically, he did exactly what the Panthers wanted, managing the game well.
SCORE: Carolina 25, Arizona 10