In the Shadow of Giants (FOF 6.3 dynasty)

[Autumn]

It is only days after the Giants win the Superbowl, February of 1990, when I am approached by a man. It turns out he is the new owner of the Carolina Panthers, one of the four new expansion teams added by the NFL this year. He asks me to come to his house, hear him out, and I do.

It seems he likes the team we've built in New York and he's hoping to replicate our style in Carolina. Seeing as I was one of the architects of the team, the general manager for those Giants, he'd like to woo me away to take over as the first GM of the new franchise.

I knew that after our success against the Bills in the big game other teams would try to replicate our formula. I didn't expect this, however. But after a long week of thought I decide this is a great chance. My work in New York is done, there is talk that Parcells will be moving on, most of the team are veterans almost done with their tenure. The chance to build a team from scratch, I can't ignore it.

"I'll do it," I tell him the next day and soon the whirlwind adventure begins.

**************

The foundation of this franchise are going to be:

1. Defense. We will build a team that is at the top of the league in stopping teams. We will be hard hitting, tenacious and opportunistic.

2. Chemistry. This is not a team for primadonas or malcontents. I've watched Parcells send a complaining star packing and get real production from an overlooked nobody. This team will be more than a sum of their parts.

3. Special teams. We will address special teams as a full third of the game, making sure we get every advantage we can through our kicking and return teams.

4. Line play. On both sides of the ball we will start with dominating the line of scrimmage and proceed from there.

I won't be giving myself any stringent rules, but our priorities suggest how we will operate. We will be concentrating draft picks on defense, or offensive line, not superstar skill players. We will pay keen attention to interactions between our players and team leaders, and we will not shortchange the special teams.

***************

I'm surprised to find myself happy with the coaching and scouting staffs the owner had put together. There's nothing I can do about it if I don't like them, but they're actually a decent crew. The defensive coordinator is weak, but the head coach is very talented.

I take a look at the roster the staff had got together. 60 players on one year contracts, a mix of undrafted rookies and training camp veterans. I sit down and talk with the staff to see if there are any I should pay attention to.

Our best player is a rookie center who looks like he could start from day one. After him a serviceable left tackle, a five year veteran, gives us two linemen who could stick around. A rookie safety looks like he's worth taking a look at. The rest of the crew are nothing to brag about.

I sit down with the scouts though to see if anyone of them have potential. They talk highly of Dave Royster, a rookie middle linebacker who's raw but has shown signs in college. Indeed there's a dozen rookies would could turn into something. But not any time soon. And the preseason is beginning.

It will be amazing if we win a game with this roster. My first action will be to root out anyone having problems in the locker room. With a team like this there's no reason to bother with them. Then I'll see if I can make any improvements on the free agent market.

We release three players, one who costs me quite a bit seeing as he somehow had a five year contract. No matter, we'll make an example right from the start.

We purge the locker room and then make a few signings. There's no chance of performing with this roster so I'm just looking for guys with potential. I sign a more promising kicking crew and a special teams ace.

There's just not much of anything I can do coming in at this stage of the season. I wash my hands of it and decide we'll see if we find any diamonds in the rough as the year moves on.

******************

Of course our first preseason game would be in New York, facing my old team. Parcells is gone, but the team remains the same and they cream us, 44-3. Miami shuts us out next. But I sit down with the coaches and ask them why the hell they have all our promising rookies on the inactive roster. The only reason to play this season is to develop them. With rookie QB Steven Fulton in we actually win a game, beating the Ravens at home in preseason behind his 15/20, 200 yard, 2 TD game. Bobby Young also explodes at RB for 118 yards. We squeak out a 7-6 win against Pittsburgh in our last preseason game.

*******************

Releasing players before the season starts I realize I was wrong about the contract situation. A lot of these players are on long-term contracts. Not big money, but obscene for their talent level. I'm dropping our worst QB and find out it will cost me $1.5 next year, things like that. I just take the hits. No way I'm dragging those contracts around.

*********************

Week 1 : Philadelphia 22, Carolina 9

Mike Sinclair actually outperforms Cunningham but we can't stop Reggie White and his 3.5 sacks.

John Elway is OPotW with a near perfect 283 yard day. Reggie takes the defensive honors.

Week 2: Atlanta 20, Carolina 6

John Settle runs over us for 188 yards. Sacked 7 times, Sinclair fumbles three. OUr defense causes four though, we're good at that.

Elway takes PotW again, 316 yards, another 3 TDs. Bruce Smith takes DPotW with 3 sacks.

Week 3: Dallas 38, Carolina 14

Dallas creams us but we at least muster our first TDs of the season, though one was on a fumble return. Emmit Smith runs for 171 against us. We force another five fumbles at least.

Dan Marino is player of the week, despite the fact that Curt Warner ran for 200 yards. Rushing numbers are insane so far, with a number of guys over 150 every week. Vince Newsome gets 2 picks and DPotW.

Week 4: bye week

Boomer Esiason throws 4 TDs and gets PotW. Fredd Young at Indianapolis has a sack and an int for the same honors.

Week 5: Washington 24, Carolina 19

We actually come close to a win here, Jim Condon throwing for a TD in the fourth quarter to make it close. Bobby Young has a good running day, and Condon scrambles for 62 yards himself. We can't stop Rypien or Dupard though.

Week 6: Tampa Bay 31, Carolina 12

We give up 140 yards to Gary Anderson, 291 and 3 TDs to Chris Chandler. Condon and Fulton share QB duties but nobody gets it done, and the running game is abandoned early.

John Young throws for 354 yards for Jacksonville, and somehow Houston is 3-3. I feel unimpressive. Karl Mecklenburg has 2 interceptions and 3 defensed passes for Denver.

Week 7: Buffalo 37, Carolina 0

Wow. Kenneth Davis runs for 162 yards against us. What a run D we have!

Week 8: Arizona 13, Carolina 10

So close to our first win. Sixty yards passing is nothing to brag about though, even if we did pick up three interceptions on defense.

Eric Dickerson is player of the week with two rushing touchdowns to go along with 148 yards receiving and another two touchdowns. Chris Doleman has a 3.5 sack game.

We are not alone in being winless, being one of four winless teams, Jacksonville, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. New Orleans is 7-0 on top of our division, Tennessee being the only unbeaten team in the other conference. New Orleans is a surprise, led by Bobby Hebert and seeming to benefit from a good running game and a great turnover margin. Tennessee is led by Warren Moon's amazing pass attack.

Our middle linebacker, Billy Marshall, leads the league in tackle percentage and is tied for tackles.

Week 9: New Orleans 19, Carolina 3

Ho hum, we help them to 8-0.

Boomer gets player of the week. Ottis Anderson is ripping up the league in rushing this season.

Week 10: Atlanta 37, Carolina 24

Andre Rison tears us apart for 153 yards. Fulton meanwhile has a lackluster passing day but runs for two touchdowns. He's the scrambling sort i guess.

Jim Kelly and Warren Moon both crack 400 yards this week, Moon throwing 4 TDs.

Week 11: Miami 34, Carolina 17

Marino eats us up and wins OPotW for it. Ottis Anderson runs for 193 yards and 3 TDs against Atlanta.

Week 12: New Jersey 28, Carolina 6

One of our best chances to get a win, but no. Steven Fulton is kind of stinking it up at QB but I'd like him to get the reps in, he's our best potential at QB.

Week 13: Tampa Bay 30, Carolina 6

Chandler works us over again. We have a good running day at least.

Our promising rookie QB goes out with knee surgery until late next year. Time to work on plan B. We go out and sign Doug Flutie, just in time to face New England.

It's us and Baltimore still at 0-12. New Orleans, Cincinnati and Tennessee are the top dogs.

Week 14: New England 33, Carolina 7

Things fall apart here, our only score coming on a fumble return. Man this team is bad.

Steve Young throws 4 TDs for player of the week. Baltimore wins, leaving us at the bottom of the cellar.

Week 15: Minnesota 10, Carolina 3

Minnesota has emerged as a threat at 12-2. Herschel Walker beats us here, along with Gannon's third quarter TD pass. We have probably our first 100 yard receiver when Patrick Witt pulls in 102 yards.

Neal Anderson has a 216 yard rushing day for Chicago.

Week 16: New York 27, Carolina 6

I had hoped to pull off a win against my old team, but it's not happening. They show us how it's done with efficient passing, 105 yards and 2 TDs from Ottis Anderson and holding our QBs to an abysmal QB rating. Leonard Marshall lives in our backfield, and LT intercepts us. Forcing four fumbles is my only happiness.

Dan Marino has a 4 TD day, William Fuller has 2.5 sacks.

Week 17: Our last chance to get a win and of course it's against the Saints, the best team in the league (somehow). They're 14-1 and our only hope is if they rest all their starters.

And glory be, maybe they did as we pull out our first franchise win, 24-17.

Jim Condon has his best day at QB, going 31/42 for 329 yards and 2 TDs. Bobby Hebert is in there, no excuses. We have no running game today, and neither do the Saints. Our one interception, by my special teams pick up Boyd, makes a difference. He also gets a sack on the day. He's a keeper.

This leaves us at 1-15, tied with Jacksonville for worst record. It's nice to get the win anyhow, especially against the league's best.

Warren Moon takes the QB crown with a 104.7 rating, 4,473 yards and 31 TDs. Barry Word just barely beats out Ottis Anderson with 1,879 yards, Curt Warner with 16 TDs to lead the league. Art Monk has 88 catches but Rice has 1,567 yards. My Billy Marshall comes in 4th in tackles despite not starting the whole season. Chris Doleman takes the sack crown with 16.5. Wayne Haddix leads the league with 10 interceptions.

Wild Card Round

Oakland Raiders 27, Denver Broncos 7

Washington Redskins 33, Green Bay Packers 15

Cincinnati Bengals 21, Kansas City 6

San Francisco 16, St. Louis 13

Divisional Round

Cincinnati 37, Tennessee Titans 31

Oakland Raiders 19, New England Patriots 0

Minnesota 31, San Francisco 21

Washington 17, New Orleans 16

A lot of surprises here as three of the visiting teams won. Boomer outgunned Moon, 438 yards and 4 TDs. Bo Jackson ran for 139 yards against the Pats. Herschel Walker is unstoppable against the 49ers, 225 yards rushing and 51 yards receiving. Washington overcomes a great offensive game by the Saints, and three sacks by Jim Wilks and pull out the win on a Monk TD catch.

Championship Round

Boomer is a mere mortal this week, passing for 279 yards. That's not enough to stop Bo Jackson, who has 153 yards on the ground.

Oakland Raiders 23, Cincinnati Bengals 10

This time it's Washington's turn to fall short by a point. The Redskins hardly manage anything on offense but hang in the game. The Vikings turn it in for three scores in teh fourth quarter though and take the championship.

Minnesota Vikings 25, Washington Redskins 24

Super Bowl

It's a year for close games, and this one comes down to a point. This time it's the Raiders who pour it on at the finish, 14 points in the 4th. The last points are on a 24 yard interception return that gives the Raiders the championship. Bo Jackson has 100 yards, while Walker has 141. Both QBs struggle through the air, but Vince Evans hits two big plays, 67 and 62 yards to win it.

Oakland Raiders 28, Minnesota Vikings 27

Warren Moon is the MVP this season. Chris Doleman is defensive player of the year. Emmit Smith wins offensive rookie of the year, Byron Brandon taking defensive rookie, a huge win for the undrafted rookie on an expansion team, though I'm not sure exactly what they saw in the ILB. Tennessee's coach is coach of the year.

[Autumn]

Offseason

We hire Jasper Podzemny as defensive coach. He was not that impressive,but our contract was up and he was the best we could afford. He is excellent with defensive linemen, so we will emphasize the line play this year.

We luck out and get the #1 pick with the draft. . the top prospect is Brett Favre. Hard to pass up, but given my goals with this team we will be looking to defense first. It might even make sense to trade down a bit.

We sign the best 18 of last year's roster to a new contract. Only one for anything significantly above minimum. That leaves us $50 million to play wiht this year.

The prize free agent this season is Ronnie Lott, and frankly we go all out to get him. This is exactly the kind of defensive veteran leader we need, a hard hitting playmaker. He's still looking good in his 11th year, and I'm willing to throw a fair bit of our cap at having him for the next couple of years.

Igwebuike, Matt Millen, Tim Harris, Brian Hansen

At QB, Hostetler is one of the names out there but he is not eager to come to our team and I don't need any disruptions liek that. Mark Rypien is the biggest name out there but I like the looks of Chuck Long better and offer him a contract.

Roger Craig is the big name available at running back, and though I do like the idea of stripping SF bare, I'm not sure he's the guy I want. Reggie Dupard from the Redskins is well liked by my team captains. He's a pure runner, not like Craig and i decide to make a try at him.

Larry Kinnebrew is the best blocking back out there. Zeke Mowatt and Harper LeBel are tight ends that fit my team.

At WR, Lionel Manuel is available from the Giants, and is also a good fit chemistry-wise. In true Parcells fashion I'll go after him though he's not the most talented available.

Week 1

Signed

LeBel Harper, TE
Zeke Mowatt, TE
Willie Drewrey, WR
Al Toon, WR
Matt Millen, MLB

Lost Out

Deennis McKnight, G
Forrest Hutchinson, T
Keith Ferguson, DE
Fred Smerlas, DT

Week 2

Signed
Larry Kinnebrew, FB
Lionel Manuel, WR
Roy Foster, G
Donald Igwebuike, K
Mike Charles, DT
Eric Wright, CB

Lost
Lonzell Hill, WR
Reggie Dupard, RB
Les Miller, DE
Tim Harris, OLB

Week 3

Signed

Greg Bell, RB
Bubba Paris, T
Chris Hansen, P
James Ronald, S

Lost

Joe Morris, RB

A big test of my plan comes here, Chuck Long has been our QB target all along but his costs are rising. It now turns out that he does not get along well with Lionel Manuel, our new receivers leader, from the Giants. I decide to stick to my chemistry guns and drop the run after Long. We scramble around and decide to target Frank Reich instead, a lesser talent but one that fits with the team.

Week 4

Signed

Of course after that, Long signs with us anyway, Arizona must have dropped their offer.

Chuck Long, QB
Frank REich, QB
John Rienstra, G
Louis Cooper, OLB
Wayne Haddix, CB

Week 5

Signed

Mark Tunei, T
Doug Reed, DE
Ronnie Lott, S

Lost

Al Selmon, T

Finally Lott puts his name on the paper and helps define the new Carolina Panthers.

Week 6

Signed

Mike Quick, WR
Will Woolford, T
Jeff Donaldson, S

And that's it. While I lost some big names I was going after, I got some great defensive players, and my number one target, Ronnie Lott.

Our new signings:

Chuck Long, QB
Frank Reich, QB
Greg Bell, RB
Larry Kinnebrew, FB
LeBel Harper, TE
Zeke Mowatt, TE
Willie Drewrey, WR
Lionel Manuel, WR
Al Toon, WR
Mike Quick, WR
Bubba Paris, T
John Rienstra, G
Mark Tunei, T
Roy Foster, G
Will Woolford, T

Chris Hansen, P
Donald Igwebuike, K

Mike Charles, DT
Doug Reed, DE
Matt Millen, MLB
Louis Cooper, OLB
Eric Wright, CB
Wayne Haddix, CB
James Ronald, S
Ronnie Lott, S
Jeff Donaldson, S

Our secondary goes from nothing to something as we sign a solid, hard hitting, opportunistic fivesome there. Haddix led the league in picks last year, Wright is of a similar mold. Lott will be knocking guys out of their cleats.

I didn't do as well on the D-line as I had hoped, I got surprise outbid several times. Still some good upgrades there, and a super solid man in the middle with Millen. I've got a glut at MLB with several promising rookies, and I'm thinking of going OLB with one of my draft picks, so we should be good there. D line will have to be another draft priority.

I got the two kickers I wanted, both just about the best in the business. With special teams ace Boyd coming back I feel good there, I'll have to check the returner situation.

I'm not sure what I"ll do at QB, with the surprise signing of Long. I'll see how the chemistry situation works out. Bell was not my first choice at runner but he should be a decent back. He'll have great blockers as we got Mowatt, Kinnebrew and added an entire O-line worth of starters. Our WR crew are not superstars, but they're a solid bunch and will give us the workman like passing game I was hoping for. Basically we did well here and can concentrate on defense for the most part in the draft.

[Autumn]

We have the number one pick, with Brett Favre being the top prospect in the draft. As tempting as that is, we are determined to build defense first. Mike Jones, Leon Lett, Aeneas williams are the top defensive prospects, but I'm not sold on any of them as a 1.1 pick. We decide to trade down. Briefly tempted by some options (such as Philly's willingness to trade us Reggie White for the pick) we decide to maximize our options in the draft. Baltimore at 3 is not willing to give us what we're looking for, but Houston at 5 ships us their 1st rounder, 2nd rounder and next year's first for the chance to draft Favre. We pull the trigger.

1. Houston - Favre, Brett, QB, Southern Mississippi
2. Jacksonville - Watters, Ricky, RB, Notre Dame
3. Baltimore - Williams, Aeneas, CB, Southern University
4. Detroit - Pritchard, Mike, WR, Colorado

I'm surprised that Jones has not gone, and especially surprised by the reach by Detroit. That leaves us at #5 still with the option for Jones. We're looking at another guy, who we hope won't go until later, but you never know. I hit the phones to see what our options are, and give Jones another look.

The problem I see is that both Jones and Mo Lewis, the two guys I'm looking at, have conflicts wiht our defensive front leader. I have done a lot of work to create good chemistry adn I'm not sure it makes sense to bring a guy in that's going to have problems when our leader is a key part of the D.

There's not really a guy on the board that's jumping out to me as worth a top 10 pick, other than these two. Not that fits our team. I start thinking outside the box, talking to some teams about trading ussome talent for the pick. Most of the teams don't wnat to deal with the dead cap space but I talk to a couple about top notch young talents on low salaries.

We hammer out a deal in principle with Arizona. Ken Harvey is one of the best young linebacking prospects out there, and doesn't have a monster deal. Arizona's willing to give him to us for the #5 pick, plus swapping 2nd rounders (me going fourth to ninth). I sit on this a few moments. Harvey is probably as good as Mo Lewis, and no pesonality issues, plus partly developed. It seems a smart move, and we will still have two picks at the top of the second. We make the deal.

5. Arizona - Goebel, Brad, QB, Baylor
6. Pittsburgh - Lett, Leon, DT, Emporia State
7. Tampa Bay - Jones, Mike, DE, North Carolina State
8. Cleveland - Sinclair, Michael, DE, Small College
9. Chicago - McCaffrey, Ed, WR, Stanford
10. Arizona - Jefferson, Shawn, WR, Central Florida

I'm not happy about Jones going to Tampa, we'll now have to face him twice a year.

11. Seattle - Moore, Shawn, QB, Virginia
12. Dallas - Fishback, Joe, CB, Carson-Newman
13. New Jersey - Lewis, Mo, OLB, Georgia
14. Atlanta - Donnalley, Kevin, G, Davidson
15. Philadelphia - Williams, James, T, Cheyney
16. San Diego - Pritchett, Kelvin, DT, Mississippi
17. New York - Moore, Herman, WR, Virginia
18. Miami - Ruaolo, Esera, DT, Oregon State
19. St. Louis - Davis, Antone, T, Tennessee
20. Cincinnati - Cox, Bryan, ILB, Western Illinois
21. Washington - Hansen, Phil, DE, North Dakota State
22. Indianapolis - Thigpen, Yancey, WR, Winston Salem
23. Buffalo - Smith, Otis, CB, Missouri
24. Green Bay - Reed, Jake, WR, Grambling
25. Kansas City - Bieniemy, Eric, RB, Colorado
26. Denver - Curry, Shane, DE, Georgia Tech
27. New England - McCardell, Keenan, WR, Nevada - Las Vegas
28. San Francisco - Pegram, Erric, RB, North Texas
29. New Orleans - Gardner, Moe, DT, Illinois
30. Tennessee - Harlow, Pat, T, Southern California
31. Minnesota - Simien, Tracy, ILB, Texas Christian
32. Oakland - Murray, Mark, ILB, Florida

Second round is a tough pick. We end up going with a tackle with great looking combines who our scouts liked. We have pick #9 also, so hopefully we can grab another promising guy.

I like the combines on TE Ben Coates, but he might last a while. We have a DT who is likely to go soon, so we take him, Andy Harmon. Now to wait and see who falls to the third.

33. Jacksonville - Colon, Harry, S, Missouri
34. Carolina - Williams, Erik, T, Small College
35. Baltimore - Jones, Henry, S, Illinois
36. Arizona - Phifer, Roman, OLB, UCLA
37. Detroit - Jackson, Michael, WR, Southern Mississippi
38. Pittsburgh - Thomas, William, OLB, Texas A&M
39. Tampa Bay - Bailey, Robert, CB, Miami, Florida
40. Atlanta - Glover, Andrew, TE, Grambling
41. Carolina - Harmon, Andy, DT, Kent State
42. Seattle - McRae, Charles, T, Tennessee
43. Dallas - Marts, Lonnie, OLB, Tulane
44. New Jersey - Jenkins, Carlos, OLB, Michigan State
45. Cleveland - Brown, Gary, RB, Penn State
46. Philadelphia - Hargain, Tony, WR, Oregon
47. Oakland - Jones, Clarence, T, Maryland
48. Chicago - Swann, Eric, DT, No College
49. Jacksonville - Turner, Eric, S, UCLA
50. Houston - Lyght, Todd, CB, Notre Dame
51. Green Bay - Zorich, Chris, DT, Notre Dame
52. Kansas City - Miller, Corey, OLB, South Carolina
53. Indianapolis - Johnson, John, OLB, Clemson
54. Buffalo - Conover, Scott, T, Purdue
55. New England - Price, Jim, TE, Stanford
56. Washington - Russell, Derek, WR, Arkansas
57. Washington - Dahl, Bob, G, Notre Dame
58. Baltimore - Dodge, Dedrick, S, Florida State
59. Buffalo - Jenkins, James, TE, Rutgers
60. San Francisco - Richard, Stanley, S, Texas
61. Chicago - Chamblee, Al, DE, Virginia Tech
62. Dallas - Lofton, Steve, CB, Texas A&M
63. Minnesota - Jaworksi, Matt, OLB, Colgate
64. Denver - Williams, Harvey, FB, Louisiana State

Almost every pick in the second round is traded, it's crazy. I'm pleased to see none of the guys I've earmarked go in the round. But now decisions.

Browning Nagle is the best QB on the board. He'll probably go this round as he's far beyond the rest of the crew. Merton Hanks at safety and Ben Coates at TE are on my board, hard to say how long they'll last. Hanks did great at the workouts and gets along well with our team. He's probably the favorite to pick here, but it's hard to say what his strengths are. The scouts like him. Coates is a combine monster. I think both of these guys are going soon so I make a trade with Baltimore to move up to 3.3 as well as my 3.1. We grab both of those guys.

At 4.2, Eric Moten, a guard, is the last of my combine monsters left. I don't have another pick until the 7th, so this is it. I might as well grab him. Our last pick is 7.1. I look for someone who can contribute on special teams, maybe a guy that didn't work out. There's a few we consider. We go with WR Ernie Mills, who looks like he can make the plays as a gunner and maybe even catch some balls. That's the most likely position we can take another player at, safety, LB, FB are all pretty full up. also I enjoy talking wiht this agent Animal Dougherty.

Retiremens:
Ottis Anderson, despite being yards away from leading the league in rushing. Steve Grogan, Dan Hampton, James Lofton

Erik Williams T, 22/43 (4/7)
Andy Harmon DT, 26/39 (3/-2)
Ben Coates TE, 24/44 (4/4)
Merton Hanks S, 27/40 (10/12)
Eric Moten G, 23/38 (3/5)
Ernie Mills Wr, 15/40 (1/-5)

Merton Hanks seems to look like a huge breakout here. The rest of the draft is decent, though Harmon is a disappointment.

I find myself embarrassingly bereft at some positions even afer the draft. I really expected to nab a DE, but there just weren't ones that looked good to me outside of Jones. I have to hit the streets to sign a lot of guys before training camp to fill the roster.

Training camp has its mix of great camps and bad ones. A lot of the older guys lose a few steps, including a lot of those veteran free agents I pick up. Ken Harvey shows some good development though. Frank Reich has a really disturbing drop, making it likely I'm going to have to go with Chuck Long, chemistry issues notwtihstanding.

[Autumn]

Week 1
Carolina Panthers 27, Atlanta Falcons 6
We are favored for the first time in franchise history, and make true on it. The star of the show is Greg Bell who trashes the Falcons for 213 yards and 2 TDs. Chuck Long only passes for 66 yards. Ken Harvey has a nice game with 7 tackles, 1 sack.

Warren Moon is player of the week with a 359 yard performance. Darrell Green is defensive player.

Week 2
Indianapolis Colts 13, Carolina Panthers 9
This time it's the opposite, Bell held to 66 yards but Long passing for 256 yards.

Stan Humphries takes offensive player of the game, William Fuller has 2.5 sacks to get the defensive player.

Week 3
Carolina Panthers 27, Arizona Cardinals 0
We show we can take care of business against the bad teams at least. Bell rushes for 136 yards. Long passes for 2 TDs. Ken Harvey has 4 tackles, 2 assists, 1 sack, 1 hurry, 2 defensed passes. Larry kinnebrew kicks ass as a blocking back with 4 of 5 key run blocks and a pancake.

Warren Moon passes for 440 yards to take player of the week. Pepper Johnson has a day better than Harvey in New York for defensive player.

Week 4
Dallas Cowboys 30, Carolina Panthers 15

We contain Emmit Smith fairly well, and even hold Aikman to only 165 yards. But Long's 2 interceptions and 1 fumble pretty much kill us.

It's a big offensive week, with Young throwing for 4 TDs, Marc Wilson with 5 TDs for the Patriots and Bo Jackson rushing for 228 yards.

Week 5
New York Giants 19, Carolina Panthers 9

The Giants are on a 5-0 start, and they enjoy running all over us. Lawrence Taylor enjoys taking care of his old general manager, forcing two fumbles and sacking Chuck Long once. Long throws a pick and we can't get it going.

Jim Kelly throws for 437 yards and Richard Dent has 2.5 sacks. New York and Tennessee are the lone undefeated teams at 5-0.

Week 6
Philadelphia Eagles 20, Carolina Panthers 12

Things continue to fall apart. Long throws another interception. We fumble three times. Lott has 12 tackles in the losing effort. Perhaps it's time to give Reich a try.

Week 7
Atlanta Falcons 24, Carolina Panthers 20

We play pretty tight defense but we let the Falcons throw 2 TDs against us and don't get it done.

Week 8
Washington Redskins 24, Carolina Panthers 17

Chuck Long has the game of the season, throwing for 328 yards and a TD, Al Toon picking up 128 yards. We pick Humphries off 2 times. But Kurt Gouveia beats us not only wiht 1.5 sacks but with a 90 yard fumble return to give them the winning score.

Steve Young throws for 319 yards and 3 TDs. Moon's Titans are the only undefeated team at 8-0.

Week 9

Carolina Panthers 23, New Orleans Saints 17

We finally get our third win of the season against the Saints, with Long throwing a careful game for only 180 yards but 2 TDs. More importantly the defense terrorizes Hebert for 5 picks, our special teams Captain Thurman Boyd getting 1 pick, forcing a fumble as well.

Brett Favre shows up in the player of the game rankings for the first time in Week 10, throwing for 396 yards, 4 TDs and 0 interceptions in a shoot out against Miami, his first great game of his career. They've only won one game so far, and it looks like their pick will serve us well this year. Tennessee is 10-0 still.

Week 11

Carolina Panthers 27, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7

Greg Bell takes care of business against the Bucs for 178 yards. My old QB Jeff Hostetler is running the game for Tampa Bay now, but we play him hard, my defense well trained to defend against him.

Somehow Neal Anderson's 129 yards win player of the game over Bell's game. Amazingly we're only one game out of the division lead with New Orleans leading at 5-5. A playoff appearance becomes our team's goal and rallying cry.

Week 12

We travel to Jacksonville to face our fellow expansion team. We're desperate for this win and we get it, in a one point victory. Lionel Manuel, the guy I brought from New York to show leadership to this new franchise, wins it with a punt return in the fourth quarter. Greg Bell has 150 yards and 2 TDs, while Long has the suckiest game I've ever seen, throwing for 83 yards and a pick. The Jaguars get a lot of yards on offense but we somehow pull it out in a gutsy win.

Brett Favre has another 350 yard game, while Andre Rison racks up 200 yards receiving. Tennessee loses for the first time, while Houston still has only one win.

Week 13

Detroit Lions 13, Carolina Panthers 6

Our plan to claim the division takes a heat as the Lions beat us. Barry has 138 yards against us, and their new QB, Mark Rypien is efficient and careful.

Thurman Thomas runs for 185 yards, Mark Carrier has a 200 yard receiving game as Tampa Bay wins again, cementing their division lead.

Week 14

Tennessee Titans 27, Carolina panthers 14

The Warren Moon show comes to town, Moon throwing for 3 TDs and Ernest Givins picking up 171 yards. Not much else to say there, they go 12-1.

Week 15

This is a huge game as New Orleans comes to town. We beat them once, and if we do it again we'll tie them for the division lead, and take the tie breaker.

We pick Hebert off 2 times, not quite as amazing as last time, but still good. Greg Bell has only 60 yards on the ground but 129 in the hair, by virtue of a big 77 yard TD pass. However our defense just doesn't get the job done letting them run well on us, and Hebert passing for 2 TDs along with the pick. They pick up two field goals in the 4th and end up winning it.

New Orleans Saints 23, Carolina Panthers 20

Week 16

Carolina Panthers 31, Houston Texans 14

We take our disappointment out on Houston and the Brett Favre. The QB that could ahve been ours has a good game, 232 yards and a TD. We improve our pick in this draft though by beating him on the arm of Chuck Long who has only 191 yards but 4 touchdown passes. Our defense forces three fumbles, and recovers them, our D line picks up 4 sacks, and our special teams has a great return game.

Steve Young and Warren Moon continue to battle it out at hte top of the QB ranks. Hebert throws 4 TDs to improve the Saints to 10-5 and a legitimate playoff team. My old friend Lawrence Taylor wins defensive player of the game leading New York to an 11-4 record.

Every race is tight in the NFC, while in the AFC only Buffalo and Miami continue to duke it out. Arizona is worst in the league at 0-14-1.

Week 17

Carolina Panthers 27, Tampa Bay 14

We end on a high note, beating the division rival Bucs despite Hostetler's good game. Long has one of his best games of the season, and our defense takes advantage of Chris Chandler coming in for Hoss by picking him off twice.

Curt Warner explodes for the Rams with 279 yards on the ground, totally obscene. We end at 7-9, decent for the second season in existence.

[Autumn]

In the AFC Tennessee and Denver clinch their divisions at 15-1, Cleveland and Buffalo the other division winners. Miami and Indianapolis are the wild cards, at 10 and 9 wins each.

The NFC, however, is a mess. All four division winners are 11-5, Detroit, Tampa Bay, New York and St. Louis. The Wild cards are Minnesota, also at 11-5 and Dallas at 10-6, leaving Philadelphia and San Francisco both at home at 10-6 as well.

Arizona ends at 0-15-1, Houston at 1-15, meaning we'll have the #2 pick in the '92 draft, as well as our own.

Steve Young has an insane season, 4,609 yards, 38 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 74% passing. Brett Favre throws 23 picks for second worst rating in the league.

Barry Sanders just barely beats out Neal Anderson for the rushing title with 1,730 yards and a crazy 17 TDs. Greg Bell has a respectable 1,364.

Jerry Rice picks up 1,547 yards and a totally insane 20 TDs. Art Monk is not far behind with 15.

Ronnie Lott is up there in 4th place in tackles with 105. Clyde Simmons grabs the sack title with 15. Eddie Anderson from the Raiders leads the league with 9 picks, my CB Eric Wright is 3rd in the league in pass defense rating.

I'm disappointed with our team statistically. The defense didn't perform to the heights I was looking for, though they had a great red zone defense. I expected more though, the lack of a pass rush perhaps our biggest undoing.

[Izulde]

It'll be nice getting rid of Chuck Long next year hopefully.

[Autumn]

Wild Card Round

New Orleans Saints 16, Dallas Cowboys 13
St. Louis 30, Minnesota Vikings 7

Buffalo 20, Indianapolis 17
Miami Dolphins 24, Cleveland Browns 17

Miami has a running game finally with Roger Craig and look dangerous. Marino throws 19 of 21 this game. Scary.

Divisional Round

New York Giants 20, New Orleans Saints 16
St. Louis Rams 28, Detroit Lions 22

Denver Broncos 15, Buffalo Bills 6
Miami Dolphins 42, Tennessee Titans 17

I'm sorry to see the Lions slip out, Barry deserves a break one of these days. I'm not surprised to see my old Giants clawing their way up there though. Dave Cannon has three sacks for them and Dave Duerson has three interceptions. Tough defense will be going up against St. Louis and their offense.

The Bills and their high powered offense take an exit against a tough Broncos team. The Dolphins are looking hotter than hot right now though. Moon gets picked off four times, while Marino throws three strikes.

Conference Championship

Denver Broncos 28, Miami Dolphins 23

The Dolphins never get a running game going and try to lean on Marino. While he has a better day than Elway overall, the Broncos get 76 yards on the ground out of Bobby Humphrey and better red zone production. They'll be going to the Superbowl folks

New York Giants 39, St. Louis Rams 21

I would never have believed me if you told me this would be a shootout, and the Giants would win. The Giants hold Curt Warner to 30 yards and pick Jim Everett off four times. Meanwhile Rodney Hampton churns it out on the ground and Phil Simms throws an efficient game, about what you'd expect. Throw in a 81 yard punt return and a safety and you have a high scoring game.

Superbowl

Giants and Broncos in a grudge match. Having met just 3 years ago, the Broncos are hoping to reverse fortunes this time, Elway looking for his first ring. The Giants are 13-5 up to this point, the Broncos 17-1.

This game seems the opposite of that previous Superbowl I was proud to be a part of. Simms only throws 50% and three picks, the Giants not able to get a running game going. The Broncos meanwhile get 102 yards out of Humphrey. The Giants are all over Elway, holding him to a 32.8 rating and two picks. Denver's never able to get a touchdown, scoring 5 field goals, but that's enough against a Giants squad that only squeaks out one touchdown. Lawrence Taylor is held without a sack, and Elway gets that ring on the back of his field goal kicker, running back and defense.

Denver Broncos 15, New York Giants 7

[Autumn]

Originally Posted by Izulde

It'll be nice getting rid of Chuck Long next year hopefully.

Yeah, he's one of those average guys who gets okay stats but throws to the running back a lot. Probably my lack at wide receiver is a bigger problem than QB. But I hope I can pick up someone decent at the helm.

[Autumn]

Jacksonville picks up a rare duo, having the Offensive *and* Defensive Rookies of the year in Ricky Watters and Eric Turner. As expected Steve Young and Clyde Simmons win players of the year, with Steve taking home the MVP award.

Barry Sanders gets shut out of the All Star voting, which is obscene really.

Denver's coach wins Coach of the Year, and Clay Matthews is a legend of the game.

[Autumn]

We send Merton Hanks to the summer league, the guy has a very good looking upside. We franchise Greg Bell as I really liked his running this year and I want to see him back with us.

At first look this draft class is not exciting me. I don't see a guy I would kill to have at #2, which is a big disappointment. We will take the offseason to scout though. No great free agents on the market. It will be a season of really doing our homework.