|
|
January 27, 2004
Bring It On: Muhammad expects to revel in Pats' rough stuff
By John Delong | JOURNAL REPORTER
HOUSTON - It's a football game.
But the way that Muhsin Muhammad is approaching Super Bowl XXXVIII, it's going to have elements of a heavyweight title fight, too.
Muhammad, the Carolina Panthers' veteran wide receiver, will be going up against a New England secondary that prides itself on its physical play. The Patriots have already promised to rough the Panthers' receivers up as often as possible.
Muhammad has been known to mix it up a little, himself - so this "battle" should turn out to be one of the more-interesting matchups of the game.
"This is going to be a physical ballgame," Muhammad said yesterday as the countdown to Sunday's 6:25 p.m. kickoff continued. "The techniques they use are aggressive-style techniques. But I'm not intimidated, and I don't think that they think I'm intimidated. We're both going to bring our styles to the table, and it's going to be a good game."
Muhammad was the Panthers' second-leading receiver during the regular season, catching 54 passes for 837 yards and three touchdowns. He has 11 catches for 212 yards in the Panthers' three playoff victories, including a 24-yard touchdown catch in the Panthers' 14-3 win at Philadel phia in the NFC championship game.
At 6-1 and 217 pounds, he's also the Panthers' biggest and most-durable wide receiver.
And over the past couple of seasons, since Coach John Fox took over and turned the Panthers into a ground-oriented, ball-control offense, he has become one of the best downfield blockers in the NFL.
He talked about taking pride in his blocking yesterday.
"When Coach Fox came to me and told me we were going to be a run-oriented offense, at first I didn't really like it," he said. "As a wide receiver, you want to catch a lot of balls.
"But more than anything, I want to win. I think that wound up being an easy adjustment, because I said, 'If I'm going to block, I'm going to be the best at it.' My goal is to go out and help this team win, and if my blocking is going to help boost the running game, I'll go out and block."
The Patriots, of course, have had plenty of success with their aggressive style in the secondary.
They thoroughly frustrated pass-happy Indianapolis in a 24-14 win in the AFC championship game, intercepting the Colts' Peyton Manning four times and holding Pro Bowl receiver Marvin Harrison to three catches for 19 yards.
Afterward, New England players talked about "mugging" the Colts' receivers, and promised more of the same for the Panthers.
Muhammad said he feels that the Panthers are adequately prepared, though.
"There have been a lot of teams out there who have tried to be physical with us," he said. "When we played the Redskins, they had corners that tried to come up and quick-jam you. And even Dallas, their corners tried to come up with their hands on you. Roy Williams and I butted a bunch of times down there. The Saints, they have a pretty physical style of defense, too. I mean, most of the teams you play are that way.
"But I think anytime you're facing a team that did what the Patriots did (to the Colts), a lot more attention is going to be paid to how they played those guys."
Muhammad wasn't giving away any game secrets yesterday.
The consensus is that the Panthers will try to establish the running game first and foremost, but against a defense as tough as New England's, it'll probably be imperative to open things up and throw deep in the early going, too.
That, of course, could vault Muhammad into the spotlight, especially if 5-8 Steve Smith has trouble getting off the line against New England's corners.
"I think the circumstances of the game will dictate which road we're going to take," Muhammad said. "It's like a choose-your-own adventure book or something. You know, those old books that you used to have when you were a kid and you never know where they're going to end up. So I'm not sure what we're going to do."
He's sure he'll be ready for the challenge, though.
"I think it's going to be a close game," he said. "I'm expecting it to be real physical, a defensive-type of game. We'll be ready. We're looking forward to it. This is probably the most gratifying moment of my career, being able to play in the Super Bowl. It would be even better if we'd go out and win this thing."
• John Delong can be reached at jdelong@wsjournal.com