By Sonny Jones
The best player has been traded for draft choices, the head coach has been fired, the two high draft pick quarterbacks that were acquired by trades are injured and the fans have had enough of Charlotte’s NFL team.
So, the beleaguered Panthers rallied around their third-string quarterback, P.J. Walker, and interim coach, Steve Wilks, stunned Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday and now are only a game out of first place in the NFC South with a favorable schedule ahead.
Who’d a thunk it? Was Matt Rhule’s coaching style really the problem?
Tampa Bay and Atlanta are 3-4 while Carolina and New Orleans are 2-5. Not exactly the second coming of the NFC East where 3-4 Washington is comfortably in last place behind unbeaten Philadelphia, once-beaten New York Giants and twice-beaten Dallas, but the goal is to win the division and the Panthers, somehow, find themselves in the hunt.
Carolina plays at division rival Atlanta (3-4) on Sunday, then plays at Cincinnati (4-3) on Nov. 6 and hosts Atlanta on Thursday, Nov. 10. As we learned Sunday, no win is guaranteed in the NFL. Things happen. Hall-of-Famers-to-be struggle, both on and off the field, A downtrodden team gets a spark from change.
Walker will start Sunday as he should while high-priced QBs Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold near returns from injury and watch from the sideline, as they should. Maybe one will be Walker’s backup, but should only play if Walker is unable. He’s earned it during a season that, really, has gone off the rails, yet is still alive.
It was one Sunday in an unpredictable league, but, at least for one Sunday, Walker and the Panthers gave their fans hope for better times ahead. At this point, that’s all anyone can ask.
• Midway is the lone Southeastern Athletic Conference volleyball team remaining in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2-A playoffs. The unbeaten and East top-seeded Raiders host Pittsboro Seaforth on Tuesday in the second round. Waccamaw Conference champion Whiteville won its opener and will host Wallace-Rose Hill.
TUESDAY’S PICK TO CLICK
Devin Booker scores 40-plus as Phoenix knocks off Golden State in an early-season NBA showdown. The Suns were upset in the playoff by Dallas last season and didn’t get the expected Western Conference finals meeting with Golden State. They’ll be ready for the first meeting of a new season.
MONDAY’S PICK: Jesperi Kotkaniemi will score his first goal of the season as the Carolina Hurricanes cap their five-game western trip with a win at Vancouver. A victory would give the Hurricanes a 3-1-1 trip. RESULTS: Kotkaniemi didn’t score a goal, but did have a puck bounce off his face that Vancouver’s J.T. Miller collected and put into the net in the third period. Carolina won 3-2.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
• 2003 — Florida’s Josh Beckett throws a shutout to lead the Marlins to a 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees to win the World Series. Pitching on three days rest, Beckett allows five hits in Game 6 and captures MVP honors.
POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY
• NBA: Dallas at New Orleans, 7:30 p.m., TNT
• NHL: Colorado at NY Rangers, 8 p.m., ESPN
• NBA: Golden State at Phoenix, 10 p.m., TNT
• NHL: Vegas at San Jose, 10:30 p.m., ESPN
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com and follow on Twitter @FOSonnyJones.
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