TK Posted November 16, 2003 Share Posted November 16, 2003 http://www.herald-sun.com/sports/18-414319.html Dascenzo: Davis gets shot at Skins By FRANK DASCENZO : The Herald-Sun fdascenzo@heraldsun.com Nov 15, 2003 : 8:31 pm ET How many times today are we going to see the faces of Steve Spurrier and Stephen Davis? A hundred. Maybe more. The Redskins and Panthers at Ericsson Stadium is more than a game of two NFC teams. It's a Davis-Spurrier battleline the networks have toyed with all week. Of course, you know the story: Running back Davis was let go by the Redskins for financial reasons, picked up by Carolina and now wants to prove to Washington what a drastic mistake it made. The script has revenge written all over it. "Stephen will be back this week," Panthers center Jeff Mitchell told nflplayers.com. "It's his old team and it's Spurrier. Stephen wants to show him what he's about." There's no doubt the acquisition of Davis is the best off-season move any NFL team made. The Panthers are in control in the NFC South with a three-game lead over the Saints and Bucs. Carolina is 5-0 in the division, has beaten the Bucs twice. If you think that's nice, consider that Carolina has four of its final seven games against the NFC East. True, the Panthers' defense -- No. 3 in the NFC in sacks with 22 -- was supposed to be its strength and this isn't to suggest anything different. But consider this: John Fox's offense has rushed for 153.2 yards per game (third-best in the NFL) and Davis is second in the NFC in rushing with 992 yards and five touchdowns in just eight games. Davis sat out the win last week over the Bucs with what Fox described as a mild ankle sprain. Davis lost his NFC rushing lead to the Packers' Ahman Green. What's been fun about the Panthers season is that they've discovered ways to win without having to exclusively rely on 30-year- old Davis, or DeShaun Foster, to run with the ball. Remember, last week the Carolina running game struggled (Foster got only 56 yards on 22 carries while replacing Davis) and Jake Delhomme led a game-winning drive that covered 78 yards in 1:35. Delhomme might have summarized the Panthers' style better than anybody earlier this week. "That is our brand of football,'' Delhomme said. "It would be nice to run away with one, but week in and week out in this league, they're going to come down to the wire.'' The Davis-Spurrier affair began a few weeks ago when ESPN had the Panthers running back as its guest on the "Hot Seat," where Davis said 178 yards and three scores wouldn't be a bad performance against Washington. Listed as probable for today's game, Davis appears like the guy who cannot wait to run through the Redskins defense. Spurrier said last week, "Our management didn't think it was a good deal [to keep Davis]. I don't know what Carolina paid him, but if he's worth it, he's going to make $10 million next year. He's certainly having a big year.'' That's one way of describing it. Davis has six 100-yard games and is No. 4 on the Panthers' career rushing list. He needs eight yards against the Redskins to become the second back in Panthers history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Anthony Johnson ran for 1,120 in 1996, the year the Panthers reached the NFC Championship game at Green Bay. When Davis is on a roll, he's as entertaining as any running back in the NFL. For sure, Tennessee's quarterback Steve McNair has to be the most valuable offensive player at the halfway point in the NFL season. The Colts' Peyton Manning second, perhaps with Davis third. But it's like Redskins linebacker Jeremiah Trotter said, "Stephen breaks a lot of tackles and we'll have to attack the line of scrimmage and definitely wrap him up. He's going to keep coming back play after play and we have to play with the same mentality.'' Before Spurrier went to Washington, Davis' running was a valuable weapon the Redskins often used. Should Davis score a touchdown, or more, don't be surprised to see the television cameras go quickly to the face of the ol' ball coach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted November 16, 2003 Share Posted November 16, 2003 cakewalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba9497 Posted November 16, 2003 Share Posted November 16, 2003 There are several things that could be said about Davis from last season, but Spurrier and the FO have been silent. Compared to the way SD has played up to the press, being the innoscent victim, treated like a red headed step child. Kind of tell you something about what really happened in DC last year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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