Carolina Panthers face San Diego Chargers in Week 15 – NFL Preview
It is a contest between two down-and-out teams as dismal Carolina Panthers face lacklustre San Diego Chargers in Week 15 on Sunday, December 16, 2012, at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California.
Both the teams are coming off a victorious Week 14. Carolina Panthers put up a strong performance against National Football Conference (NFC) South champions, the in-form Atlanta Falcons, and got a 30-20 victory.
Meanwhile, Chargers also got their first win in five games as they thumped high flying Pittsburgh Steelers 34-24. It was Chargers’ first victory of the season against a team with a winning record.
Both of the teams are now out of the playoff race as Panthers are ranked 13th in the NFC playoff standing with a 4-9 record.
On the other hand, Chargers are placed 10th in the American Football Conference (AFC) standings with a 5-8 record.
Chargers are facing a possibility of finishing the season with a losing record for the first time since the 2003 season. This means that Chargers head coach Norv Turner is in the hot seat at the moment.
Turner himself admits the fact that he is in danger of losing his job. The team has not been able to win games in many situations where they should have easily got the victory. Giving his analysis of the team’s performance this season, running back Ronnie
Brown said:
"It's been there, it's just about execution. You know, like we've been saying all season, when we execute, when we do it the way we're capable of doing it, the results are usually good. But unfortunately, we haven't been able to be consistent and do it for
four quarters throughout the whole season."
Similarly, Panthers had huge expectations at the start of the season from their young sensations including second-year quarterback Cam Newton.
However, the season has not gone according to their plans. Giving his point of view about the overall output of Panthers, head coach Ron Rivera said:
"The disappointing thing is that's what we can be. We know that. Based on what we did, how we did it and who we did it with, that's the disappointing thing. ... We've found some balance, we have. Unfortunately, we didn't do it sooner."
Panthers offence has been impressive in last four games, putting up an average of 397.3 yards per game thanks to consistent performance by Newton. Newton finished last game with 23 of 35 for 287 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Chargers offence has also been playing good of late with quarterback Philip Rivers scoring three touchdowns last week after completing 21 out of 41 passes for 200 yards.
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