Ira Cronin NewsChannel 36 Sports

The Panthers 27 - 23 win over the Cardinals certainly felt like a rollercoaster ride on Sunday. The first half was mostly filled with downs, as was the first Arizona drive in the 3rd quarter but then the Panthers roared to life.

The first spark was courtesy DeAngelo Williams' 15 yard touchdown run. A few plays later, Maake Kemoeatu knocked the ball lose from Edgerrin James, and Thomas Davis recovered. Next play of the game was to Steve Smith, an 18 yard touchdown and you could feel the momentum swing and the Panthers seemed destined to win.

The two plays that really impressed me the most in this game, were two 3rd down conversions late in the 4th quarter to seal the win for the Panthers. Not converting on either of these two plays puts the ball back in the hands of Kurt Warner and that explosive offense just in time for them to strike a potential dagger in what would have been a heart breaker of a loss. But convert the Panthers did.

First Dwayne Jarrett caught a pass over the middle for a 17 yard gain, and he took a big shot in the ribs in the process. Ever since training camp I have been impressed with the maturity the Jarrett has shown this year. After a very disappointing rookie season he could have sulked and felt sorry for himself coming into training camp. He didn't, he worked hard in the off season. Early this year, once Steve Smith was back, Jarrett was left off the game day 53 man roster a few times and again, could have sulked and felt sorry for himself, but he didn't. He worked hard, practiced hard and has remained ready until called on, and he was called on today to help ice this game and put it away.

The other big play came inside the last two minutes of the game, on 3rd and 13 the Panthers handed the ball to DeAngelo Williams, who broke through for 15 yards putting the game in the bag. Steve Smith said in the locker room that he challenged DeAngelo to pick up the first down. And DeAngelo told me that he and Smith always challenge each other to get things done and it's something they expect of one another.

Overall in the locker room Sunday after the game was a sense of short term accomplishment. Thanks to the Cowboys beating Tampa, the Panthers head into the bye week as the leaders in the NFC South. It's something they take pride in, but only to the point of knowing that it means nothing once they get back to work at Oakland. To a man most guys I talked to are looking forward to getting some time off, getting some rest, healing up those who are banged up, and getting back guys like Jeff Otah, Ryan Kalil, and D.J. Hackett who have been injured.

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