Panther defense picks on Warner

BY MIKE LONDON
SALISBURY POST

The heaver was St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner, who rose from obscurity to Super Bowl MVP status a year ago. Warner returned to the Rams’ lineup against Carolina at Ericsson Stadium after missing five games with a broken pinky finger on his throwing hand.

The quarterback’s celebrated comeback on a brutal, blustery day could hardly have been timed better as far as the Panthers (6-7) were concerned. Warner pegged the pigskin around like an Arena Leaguer — like someone who’s been eating way too much chunky beef soup.

The Panthers picked off the flinger with the crooked finger four times to key a surprising 16-3 win over the Rams (8-5), who have lost three straight after being hailed as the greatest offensive machine of all time less than two months ago.

“Our defense played about a good a game as it can play,” said a beaming George Seifert, coach of the Panthers.

Also beaming was former Concord High quarterback Jimmy Hitchcock, who now plays cornerback for Seifert and who came up with the biggest play of the game.

St. Louis led 3-0 and was driving late in the third quarter when Warner was a bit soft on a sideline route to Isaac Bruce. Hitchcock shot in front of Bruce, gathered the ball in and lugged it 88 yards for a score. The only person who had any shot at derailing Hitchcock was Warner, who had the angle. But Hitchcock, who’d already intercepted Warner once in the first half, motored by the MVP as if he were a blue and yellow water cooler.

“You can’t ever let a quarterback catch you,” laughed Hitchcock. “The guys won’t let you live that down.”

Instead, it was Warner who had to live down the game-turning pick.

“I’ll take all credit for the loss,” said Warner, pointing the finger of blame straight at his own chest. “When I throw it to somebody else, that’s my fault. It’s sure not anyone else’s fault.”

But actually, Warner, who had never served up more than two interceptions, had plenty of help from his friends. His teammates fumbled twice and muffed a punt. And on another occasion, former UNC star Dre Bly handed the Ram offense the ball on its 1 after royally fouling up a kickoff return.

In all, the Rams turned it over an incredible seven times, making the Panther defensive unit glow like it hasn’t since the glory days of Lamar Lathon and Sam Mills. Carolina stopped an impressive Rams’ streak of scoring 20-plus points in 28 straight games.

It was 3-0 Rams at the half, after Warner played a decent 30 minutes and after St. Louis defensive linemen Grant Wistrom and Kevin Carter turned Panther QB Steve Beuerlein into a punching bag.

But everything turned 360 degrees with Hitchcock’s heist.

“What can you say?” pleaded Warner. “It’s frustrating. Hitchcock just guessed right. He turned the game around.”

For sure, he turned Warner’s game around. Warner seemed to panic after that mishap. Chased by Reggie White, he badly overthrew Bruce and Eric Davis intercepted. That set up a short Joe Nedney field goal for a 10-3 Panther lead with 10:18 remaining.

Then after Bly’s blunder, Warner let fly a desperation missile from his own end zone that Doug Evans tugged away from former N.C. State hero Torry Holt. That led to another Nedney field goal and a 13-3 lead at 4:13. Nedney tacked on a third field goal at the 1:57 mark for the final tally.

“I don’t think we lost because Kurt was rusty,” said St. Louis coach Mike Martz, who saw his team lose for only the third time with Warner at the controls. “This is one that I just can’t explain.”

The Panthers will take it just the same. The upset keeps them alive — mathematically, at least —for a playoff berth, with games remaining at Kansas City, at home against lowly San Diego and at Oakland.

But at least there’s a glimmer of hope that wasn’t there a week ago. The Panthers own back-to-back victories for the first time, providing a weird exclamation point on a supernatural season during which they have twice managed to beat the defending Super Bowl champs and twice managed to lose to awful Atlanta.

n

NOTES: Beuerlein was picked off twice, but the Panther defense saved him both times. ... Panther tailback/folk hero Brad Hoover had 22 carries for 63 yards. Most importantly, on a day when most everyone was coughing it up, he didn’t fumble. ... Panther receiver Muhsin Muhammad had 10 catches for 95 yards. ... The Panthers now have 18 fumble recoveries, most in the NFC and the most in franchise history ... The Rams’ star back Marshall Faulk, who missed the first game with the Panthers, rushed for 94 yards. ... Seifert’s now 17-4 vs. the Rams.