And sweets grown common lose their dear delight.
Week 2: September 18, 2005
Patriots (1-1), 17
Panthers (1-1), 27
To be honest, I haven’t been paying attention to football closely. For the reason why, please see the current AL East standings.
That said, I hate not finishing what I started, so here’s a quick and dirty analysis of the Patriots’ second game of the season. It will be interesting to see if the metrics I singled out in the first game, a Patriots victory, hold true for their loss.
I decided to gauge halftime adjustments by noting the difference in between yards allowed and gained between the first and second halves of games. Patriots gained 171 yards in the first half and 85 in the second. Carolina’s split was 180/99. Last week, New England’s defense halved the Raiders’ production by half, much as the Panthers did to the Patriots. Advantage: Carolina.
As for turnover ratio, the Panthers came out on top. Tom Brady was intercepted by Will Witherspoon in the 2nd quarter, leading to a field goal. Mike Rucker sacked Brady in the 3rd quarter and forced the quarterback to fumble at the New England 27-yard line. Carolina would score a touchdown in the opening minutes of the 4th quarter as a result. The Patriots capitalized on a Mike Vrabel interception of Jake Delhomme for a touchdown in the 3rd quarter.
Both teams were efficient in the red zone, converting all of their respective opportunities. The Patriots were 1 for 1 while the Panthers went 3 for 3. Advantage: Carolina.
New England was unusually beset by penalties this game. They were assessed 86 yards on 12 infractions while the Panthers played cleaner with merely 6 penalities for 45 yards.
Finally, Carolina barely edged the Patriots in converting third downs: 5 for 14 or 36% compared to New England’s 29% (4 for 14).
So, the Panthers were 5 for 5 in the key statistics I’ve been tracking. The Patriots look to redeem themselves today against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are looking for revenge against the team that knocked them out of playoff contention last year.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled baseball season coverage.
Game Leaders
Passing
Tom Brady: 23/44, 270 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Jake Delhomme: 11/26, 154 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
Rushing
Corey Dillon: 14 carries, 36 yards, 0 TD, 14 yard longest gain
Stephen Davis: 25 carries, 77 yards, 3 TD, 11 yard longest gain
Receiving
Troy Brown: 3 receptions, 87 yards, 0 TD, 71 yard longest gain
Ricky Proehl: 3 receptions, 63 yards, 0 TD, 41 yard longest gain
Defense
Rodney Harrison: 7 tackles, 1 assist
Mike Vrabel: 3 tackles, 1 INT
Ken Lucas: 10 tackles
Chris Gamble: 6 tackles, 1 forced fumble
Will Witherspoon: 4 tackles, 1 INT
Mike Rucker: 3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble
