IT WAS a day of upsets as three of the National League's star teams slumped to defeats: the Dallas Cowboys, off to their worst start since 1990, lost to the Buffalo Bills; the Green Bay Packers, who looked unstoppable for three games, fell to the Minnesota Vikings and the San Francisco 49ers were surprised by the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers proved that their win over the 49ers last season was no fluke as they inflicted a 23-7 defeat over their rivals in the NFC West. The Panthers did it without their starting quarterback, Kerry Collins, out with a sprained left knee. The veteran, Steve Beuerlein, stepped into the breach and played a superb first half as he marshalled his team to a 17-0 lead.
"It's a real good feeling," Beuerlein said. "I haven't been this excited in a few years. It has been a rough couple of years, a lot of ups and downs."
The Panthers have now beaten the 49ers two times out of three, quite an achievement for a team that only started playing last year as one of two new NFL teams, or extension franchises. The Jacksonville Jaguars are the other. After losing their first five games last season, the Panthers have gone on to win 10 out of the next 14. The Panthers are not a fancy team.
"We have precise timing routes in the passing game and we are straightforward in the running game and simple. We are not big on deception; we just want to line up and beat you," Beuerlein said. His very first drive of the game 80 yards, nine plays led to a TD.
Two pinpoint passes over the middle from Beuerlein contributed to victory in the Panthers' brand new Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte on a brilliant afternoon. Both were caught by the tight end and former 49er, Wesley Walls. The first was a 19 yarder and the second was a seven yarder under the goalposts. The TDs sandwiched a 38 yard field goal by John Kasay, and the Panthers were up 17-0, barely into the second quarter.
The 49ers did not get on the board until the second half with a big play from Steve Young. He found Derek Loville, the running back, completely uncovered, for an easy 44 yard TD. Beuerlein, committed his only mistake in the fourth quarter, when he was intercepted by Tim McDonald, who ran back for an apparent TD. But luck was with the Panthers. The TD was nullified by a holding penalty and Carolina closed out the game with two more field goals from Kasey, who has hit all 13 of his field goal attempts this season.
The Cowboys confront a stark statistic. No team has made a 1-3 start and reached the playoffs. Still without their start receiver, Michael Irvin, and with a less than 100 per cent Emmitt Smith at running back, the Cowboys were stifled by the Bills on a soggy, windswept afternoon at Rich Stadium.
The Bills, who were awful against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week, held the Cowboys to just seven points and squeezed out a 10-7 win. It was an unlikely victory for the Bills. Todd Collins, was their starting quarterback for only the second time in his NFL career, standing in for an injured Jim Kelly.
The Packers are human after all. After blowing out the opposition in their first three games, the Packers bowed to the Minnesota Vikings 30-21. The Vikings withstood a furious Packer onslaught in the third quarter and then whipped off 13 points of their own in the fourth for the win.
