Viewpoints: A daring call by Seifert
Tom Sorensen - Knight Ridder Newspapers
Monday, September 20, 1999
Charlotte -- There's 1:55 remaining, the Jacksonville Jaguars have the ball on
the Carolina Panthers 44, and the Panthers have only two timeouts. If the
Jaguars, who lead 15-14, pick up a single first down, time expires. If they
hand the ball off three times, and quarterback Mark Brunell drops to one
knee, time will come close to expiring. If they have to punt, the Panthers get
terrible field position and almost no time.
The Panthers have to get the ball back.
How?
By making the most daring call in franchise history. It is more daring than
their other daring call.
Brunell hands the ball to running back James Stewart, Stewart predictably
runs up the middle and nobody is there to greet him. The Panthers come
wide with a seven-man blitz.
Yes, you've seen this defense before. It looks like the one the Panthers
used Oct. 4, 1998, when the Falcons scorched them for 51 points.
As defenders fling themselves at the outside, Stewart runs through a hole
the size of Nate Newton for a 44-yard touchdown. Only one Panthers
defender gets close enough to Stewart to tell him to hurry.
Not only is Carolina's call daring, it's effective. The run takes only seven
seconds, and the extra point pushes Jacksonville's lead only to 22-14.
Now the Panthers have the ball and 1:48 with which to score the touchdown
and 2-point conversion that will send the game to overtime.
The Panthers get the touchdown, but the conversion fails, and Jacksonville
wins 22-20. Because the Panthers at least put themselves in position to
win, the strategy was brilliant.
Jacksonville coach Tom Coughlin begs to differ. Coughlin bristles when
asked if the Panthers allowed his man to score. But Coughlin would bristle if
you asked him to show you pictures of his kids.
The Panthers also contend they didn't get out of Stewart's way.
''No, that happened on its own,'' safety Mike Minter said. ''We were in an
all-out blitz. Either we were going to get him or he was going to score a
touchdown.''
So coach George Seifert didn't tell you to get out of the way?
''He never comes and talks to us,'' Minter said.
Did you realize the significance of Stewart's touchdown?
One senses he did.
''We gave the offense a chance to go down and score, get a two-point
conversion and tie the game up and go into overtime,'' Minter said.
By now, he is trying to suppress a smile. He's failing. But he suppresses
his longer than defensive end Ernest Jones does.
''No, no, no,'' Jones said when asked if the defense allowed Stewart to
score. ''I was crushed.''
For the record, he is smiling broader than any crushed man I have ever
seen.
Allowing an opponent to score is not new to Charlotte, of course. Fans of
the Panthers witnessed the ploy almost nightly back in the team's Motion
Offense Era.
The coaching staff of the Panthers denied they purposely allowed opponents
to score.
Will Seifert?
''In that situation, everybody looked around and said, 'That's probably the
best thing that could have happened to us,' '' Seifert says of the touchdown.
So you did let Stewart score?
''I didn't say we let him,'' Seifert said.
Allow fans to believe you did. They need a reason to get excited, a reason
to believe these Panthers are different than the Panthers of the past. I
promise you, Coach, nobody has ever called the Panthers daring before. |
