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Rick Gosselin: Flags fly in Carolina
Emotion, not dirty play, overcomes Falcons, Panthers
01:20 AM CDT on Monday, October 4, 2004
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – They say you can call a penalty on every play in the NFL.
Give referee Bernie Kukar and his crew credit for trying in Sunday's game between the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers. They called 27 penalties, although only 21 were assessed, in Atlanta's 27-10 victory over the Panthers.
The Falcons entered the game ranked 24th in the NFL in penalties with only 16 for 138 yards the entire month of September. The Panthers entered the game 25th in penalties with only 15 for 110 yards in the opening month.
But Kukar and his crew penalized 10 Falcons 11 times for 106 yards. They also penalized 10 Panthers for 91 yards. Another 60 yards went unassessed because of penalties that were either offsetting or declined.
Kukar's crew called eight penalties in the second quarter and seven more in the third quarter, and that didn't count the offsetting personal foul flags thrown against Panthers linebacker Brandon Short and Falcons quarterback Mike Vick that produced a head butt between the two.
Short slung Vick to the ground following a handoff to Warrick Dunn, and Vick hunted him down after the play to challenge his action.
"Both teams wanted to win," Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme said. "Sometimes you get a little excited out there."
When Atlanta cornerback Kevin Mathis returned a Delhomme interception 35 yards for a touchdown with 12 minutes left in the game to give the Falcons a comfortable 20-10 lead, the penalties all but stopped. The officials pocketed their flags, calling only one more penalty in the final 12 minutes to bring the game to a merciful and speedy end.
There were supposed to be more penalties this season because of an NFL-ordered crackdown on illegal contact in pass coverage. But there wasn't a single illegal contact penalty in this game.
There were three roughing the passer calls, another unnecessary roughness call, a 15-yarder for a crackback block and three more for other assorted illegal blocks. Atlanta wide receiver Peerless Price was the only player penalized twice, for the crackback plus a personal foul.
Atlanta's Pro Bowl linebacker Keith Brooking, who was assessed one of the roughing-the-passer penalties, said the flags were more a result of the emotion of the game than dirty play.
Carolina is the defending NFC South and NFC champion. The Falcons compete in the South with the Panthers and were trying to protect an unbeaten season. The victory gave Atlanta its first 4-0 start since 1986.
A rivalry has been brewing between the two teams and the two cities, which are separated by 250 miles along I-85. That's about a four-hour drive, and many Falcons faithful made it for this game. That was the purpose of the realignment by the NFL this decade: to promote geographical rivalries.
"It was a huge game for us," Brooking said. "The intensity was roaring out there. Things [penalties] like that tend to happen in a big game. There are no excuses. It was heat of the moment ... and you tend to retaliate."
Atlanta was called for only three penalties in its last outing against Arizona. The Panthers were called for only six penalties in their last game at Kansas City. Atlanta had eight penalties by halftime.
"You hate to see that [rash of penalties]," said Falcons general manager Rich McKay, co-chairman of the NFL competition committee. "It looked like the game broke down about the middle of the first quarter. No question it affected the flow of the game for both teams."
But the struggling Panthers never really got into the flow. Their first possession ended on a fumble by wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad at the Atlanta 22. The Falcons promptly marched 78 yards in five plays to take the lead for good on a 38-yard touchdown run by Dunn.
Delhomme also threw two interceptions as the Panthers turned the ball over three times. The Falcons didn't turn the ball over once.
"The turnovers were the difference in the game," Carolina coach John Fox said, "not the penalties."
E-mail rgosselin@***BANNED-URL***
Emotion, not dirty play, overcomes Falcons, Panthers
01:20 AM CDT on Monday, October 4, 2004
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – They say you can call a penalty on every play in the NFL.
Give referee Bernie Kukar and his crew credit for trying in Sunday's game between the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers. They called 27 penalties, although only 21 were assessed, in Atlanta's 27-10 victory over the Panthers.
The Falcons entered the game ranked 24th in the NFL in penalties with only 16 for 138 yards the entire month of September. The Panthers entered the game 25th in penalties with only 15 for 110 yards in the opening month.
But Kukar and his crew penalized 10 Falcons 11 times for 106 yards. They also penalized 10 Panthers for 91 yards. Another 60 yards went unassessed because of penalties that were either offsetting or declined.
Kukar's crew called eight penalties in the second quarter and seven more in the third quarter, and that didn't count the offsetting personal foul flags thrown against Panthers linebacker Brandon Short and Falcons quarterback Mike Vick that produced a head butt between the two.
Short slung Vick to the ground following a handoff to Warrick Dunn, and Vick hunted him down after the play to challenge his action.
"Both teams wanted to win," Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme said. "Sometimes you get a little excited out there."
When Atlanta cornerback Kevin Mathis returned a Delhomme interception 35 yards for a touchdown with 12 minutes left in the game to give the Falcons a comfortable 20-10 lead, the penalties all but stopped. The officials pocketed their flags, calling only one more penalty in the final 12 minutes to bring the game to a merciful and speedy end.
There were supposed to be more penalties this season because of an NFL-ordered crackdown on illegal contact in pass coverage. But there wasn't a single illegal contact penalty in this game.
There were three roughing the passer calls, another unnecessary roughness call, a 15-yarder for a crackback block and three more for other assorted illegal blocks. Atlanta wide receiver Peerless Price was the only player penalized twice, for the crackback plus a personal foul.
Atlanta's Pro Bowl linebacker Keith Brooking, who was assessed one of the roughing-the-passer penalties, said the flags were more a result of the emotion of the game than dirty play.
Carolina is the defending NFC South and NFC champion. The Falcons compete in the South with the Panthers and were trying to protect an unbeaten season. The victory gave Atlanta its first 4-0 start since 1986.
A rivalry has been brewing between the two teams and the two cities, which are separated by 250 miles along I-85. That's about a four-hour drive, and many Falcons faithful made it for this game. That was the purpose of the realignment by the NFL this decade: to promote geographical rivalries.
"It was a huge game for us," Brooking said. "The intensity was roaring out there. Things [penalties] like that tend to happen in a big game. There are no excuses. It was heat of the moment ... and you tend to retaliate."
Atlanta was called for only three penalties in its last outing against Arizona. The Panthers were called for only six penalties in their last game at Kansas City. Atlanta had eight penalties by halftime.
"You hate to see that [rash of penalties]," said Falcons general manager Rich McKay, co-chairman of the NFL competition committee. "It looked like the game broke down about the middle of the first quarter. No question it affected the flow of the game for both teams."
But the struggling Panthers never really got into the flow. Their first possession ended on a fumble by wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad at the Atlanta 22. The Falcons promptly marched 78 yards in five plays to take the lead for good on a 38-yard touchdown run by Dunn.
Delhomme also threw two interceptions as the Panthers turned the ball over three times. The Falcons didn't turn the ball over once.
"The turnovers were the difference in the game," Carolina coach John Fox said, "not the penalties."
E-mail rgosselin@***BANNED-URL***
