This Sunday’s game ball goes to the Pride of Breaux Bridge, Jake Delhomme.

What a great way to start a new season with a win on the road against an explosive team like the St Louis Rams.

Panther nation has to pleased with the first outing of the new season. There were flashes of optimisim in the pre-season win against the Giants but after three straight losses there was still a lot of head scratching going on. Many questions remained unanswered, how was the new OC going to compare with the old. How different was the offense going to look. What about the O line, what about the Secondary, what about Dan Morgan. Not all the questions were answered but I think we’ll all agree that many were.

The offense look balanced. When was the last time Drew Carter caught two TD passes? It seemed like Kerry Colbert was stealing all the thunder during pre-season with hardly a peep from Drew. Congratulations Drew on an excellent start to the new season.

 There were six different receivers on the other end of Jake’s passes and wasn’t it great to see TE, Jeff King with five receptions for 35 yards.

The running game looked excellent. DeShaun carried 17 times for 94 yards and DeAngleo pitched in with 15 carries for 62 yards.  DeShaun broke two team records in the process. His effort made him the Panthers' career record holder in both yards gained (2,554) and carries (621). He passed Tshimanga Biakabatuka in both categories.

Dan Morgan was in charge, from his MLB spot you could see him taking charge on the field. I don’t think you can discount the value he brings when he’s in the line-up. When the game is in hand, I would like to see him on the bench sooner rather than later.

The defense looked solid. Steven Jackson was held to a mere 58 yards on 18 carries and was shut out in the Red Zone. This guy was a top round pick in many Fantasy drafts. In  the 2006 season he finished with a career high 1,528 yards rushing (third in the NFC, fifth in the NFL) on 346 carries with 13 touchdowns…he led all NFL running backs with 90 receptions. Keep an eye on new edition, Otis Grigsby. Did you notice he was getting around the strong side regularly and barely missed sacks on several occasions. By the second half he was being double teamed.

It might be a little early to tell about the secondary but overall it was a sold effort. The good news was that a strong armed Bulger who has two great receivers in Isaac Bruce & Tory Holt was only good for 167 yards in the air.

Jake looked great in his 1^st game. He seemed calm and poised, he wasn't rushed into throwing into double coverage and came out with no Int’s. That’s the way we like it Jake. He was moving in the pocket and rolling out when he needed to. It was exciting to see him connect with number 89, in the first game with a 68 yard TD bomb! Welcome back Super Man. Congratulations Jake on your 1^st game ball of the season!

As for The 18^th Amendment it’s a step up from Kitty O’Shays. There’s easy access from a couple of different Metro stops, Eastern Market  on the Orange line is less than a block. There appears to be plenty of free parking for a Sunday.The place is larger and wide open. There’s a huge 52 inch Plasma and lot’s of leather sofas for reclining.There’s an excellent menu and great prices on the pub grub.

Let's enjoy being on top of the NFC South for the first week of the season! 

Wear your colors and we’ll look forward to seeing you Sunday when the Cat’s host the Texans!

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Jon Lastra: