Confusing.

The way that the game ended, essentially with the botched fair catch which allowed the panthers to get the winning TD, was obviously extremely frustrating because we let yet ANOTHER one get away from us. But at the same time, I'm left thinking "how can you just launch a defender into the punt returner and still recover the ball?" I know I've never seen anything like that. Take away that strangeness on the punt return and the skins are 3-2, right?

Listen to the post-game with the players and coaches, and you can tell they also feel like they got robbed, not beat. From Zorn to Moss, no one seems to know what really happened - it sounds like the feeling is that "we just got a bad break, but next week, next week...we'll show you. We'll get that win over a winless team..."

The truth is though, this was a close, ugly game. The skins got their two TDs because the D literally put them on the 1 foot line twice. Take those away and the skins only had one legit drive for 3 pts. As for Carolina, we all know that last TD resulting from the punt was nonsense. But they had a semi-legit drive for 3 pts on a shorter field (when we failed to get a 4th down), a TD drive, and the safety was also legit because it resulted from a previously failed 4th and goal at our 1. So basically 3 legit scores to 1...if you look at the stats, it's pretty close too, but for the most part Carolina came up on top. So in terms of who deserved to win, I don't think I can give it to the skins. They were not the better team today.

I'm having a hard time predicting how our record will turn out this year. You listen in the locker room and it sounds like they're a tweak or two from being a real contender. But you see who they're playing, and how they're playing, and it's not looking good. Unless Sherman "fresh eyes" Lewis can play right guard...

p.s. Unfotunately, no BEAST award this week. Surprisingly, no one bribed me for this highest of honors this time. LEAST award to the o-line, and Vinny Cerato for neglecting o-line for the past several years. Did you see Heyer get blown up on the Portis safety? I've never seen 330 lbs get moved that fast in any direction.