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February 1, 2004
Bring It On
Panthers have become sentimental favorites, but bookies like Pats
By Joe Menzer | JOURNAL REPORTER
The game plans have been installed by Coach John Fox of the Carolina Panthers and Coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots. The practices are over. The kickoff for Super Bowl XXXVIII, at long last, will come at 6:25 p.m. today.
A funny thing appears to have happened in Houston, this city of seemingly endless miles of concrete highways and big Texas dreams. Slowly, over the course of the past week, the Carolina Panthers seem to have emerged as Houston's team of destiny.
In Las Vegas and other places where sports odds are laid, the Panthers remain a seven-point underdog to the Patriots. In the heart of Houston, however, signs everywhere indicate that the NFC champion Panthers not only have a solid chance to defeat the AFC champion Patriots, but that a growing number of people believe that they will.
It has been reminiscent somewhat of Sen. John Edwards' late surge in Iowa, where he rode late momentum to a surprising second-place finish in the recent Democratic presidential caucuses there. But in today's game, a strong second-place finish won't do.
As fullback Brad Hoover of the Panthers said: "No one remembers the loser of this game after a while. But everybody always remembers the winner."
Hall of Famer Dan Marino has come out in favor of the Panthers, predicting a 20-17 Carolina win. And wide receiver Steve Smith of the Panthers already has beaten his counterpart from the Patriots, Troy Brown, in a videogame simulation of today's game on a Sony Playstation2.
Then there is the unlikely duo of Warren Sapp and Anthony McFarland, defensive linemen for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who twice played and lost to the Panthers this year. Sapp said that the Panthers' defensive line against the Patriots' offensive line is a "mismatch," and McFarland went even further.
"I like the Panthers by 14," McFarland said. "New England has match-up problems up and down the line on both sides of the ball. And I'll tell you one more thing: if the Patriots try to come out in that five-wide (receiver) set like they did in the AFC Championship game against Indianapolis, they're gonna get killed."
Sapp and McFarland contend that the Patriots simply will not be able to block the Panthers' defensive linemen, especially if they try to put extra wide receivers on the field and spread their offense. Dom Capers, the former Panthers' coach who is head coach of the Houston Texans, does not disagree.
"I think there is validity to that," Capers said. "I think most offensive lines would have a problem with the Panthers' defensive line. They're talented, they're young - and one of the things they've been able to do is get pressure on the opposing quarterback. So I think that could be the case. I think you're talking about maybe one of the strengths of Carolina, and as I look at the Patriots, I wouldn't say that that's a strength."
Capers' Texans faced both teams during the regular season, beating the Panthers 14-10 on Nov. 2 and losing in overtime to the Patriots three weeks later 23-20. But he said that the Panthers are playing much better now than they were then, that their running game is superior and that linebacker Dan Morgan, who missed the Nov. 2 game in Houston, is making a big difference in the middle of their defense.
Not that Capers thinks it will be easy for either team. He said that the Panthers must weather the first 10 minutes, when the sheer enormity of playing in their first Super Bowl could overwhelm them mentally and lead to costly mistakes.
"It's going to be a physical, hard-fought football game. Anytime you've got two defensive-minded coaches like these two who believe in field-position football, it's going to be like that," Capers said.
No one seems to think it will be a high-scoring affair. But the players expect to be ready and focused. Jeff Mitchell, the Panthers' center, for instance, said that he learned his lesson the last time he played in a Super Bowl for the Baltimore Ravens.
He got so caught up in all the pre-game hype - which today will include performances by artists Aerosmith, Toby Keith, Willie Nelson and others - that he almost missed the kickoff.
"I kind of forgot there was a football game that was going to be happening," Mitchell said. "There were all these fireworks and people running around with flags and these huge ball things and a band playing.
"I was starving, too. It had been about four hours since pre-game meal and my stomach was just rumbling, so I grabbed a nutritional bar. I was eating it and drinking a Gatorade and just looking around, taking it all in. Next thing I know, the ball is being kicked off. I almost missed it. It's a great show, but you've got to remember that you're here to play a game."
The Patriots were underdogs on paper and won the Super Bowl two years ago, defeating the St. Louis Rams. They say that is keeping them from being overconfident coming into today's game.
But the Panthers seem to be in a good place. They're healthy, happy and playing for a cause: Mark Fields and Sam Mills.
Fields, a linebacker who probably was the team's top defensive player last year, was found to have Hodgkin's disease during training camp last August. Twelve days later Mills, his linebackers coach and probably the most popular Panther of all time, was found to have cancer of the small intestines.
Both will be on the sideline today, as they have been for many of the Panthers' games this year. It is added motivation. Is it yet another sign that this team was destined all along to give them a gift in return for the inspirational lift they have given the team all year?
The world is about to find out, according to Panthers linebacker Dan Morgan.
"We're going to go out there and win this thing for them," Morgan insisted.
• Joe Menzer can be reached at jmenzer@wsjournal.com