Mike Berardino is a sports columnist for The Augusta ChronicleFile

Web posted September 22, 1997

By Mike Berardino
Staff Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For the longest time we thought they must be immune.

To heartache.

To stupid mistakes.

To the NFL's harsh realities.

In this league everybody gets discombobulated from time to time. Everybody gets their lunch money stolen now and again. Everybody gets embarrassed.

Just not the Carolina Panthers.

No, they had this game all figured out. They had this league in the palms of their meaty hands. When it came to Lombardi Trophies, the question was no longer when or if but how many.

Well, the vaccine has expired.

Heartache abounds.

Stupid mistakes rule.

Harsh reality stands smugly over Carolina's reeling frame, tsk-tsking the ``treacherous upstarts'' for arrogantly thinking normal rules didn't apply to them.

The latest comeuppance came Sunday at Ericsson Stadium. Kansas City came in here and bounced the Panthers all over the field. The final was 35-14 but it really wasn't even that close.

By the fourth quarter, boos cascaded from every corner of this state-of-the-art playpen. The boos were meant for Kerry Collins and the rest of the Panthers' inept offense.

So much for a leisurely tuneup for next Monday night and the hated 49ers. So much for pushing around Niners Midwest - a.k.a. Kansas City's wannabe offense - as an appetizer for Steve Young's latest (last?) concussion.

Don't look now, but the Panthers are 2-2.

With both losses coming at home, where last year they went 9-0 and boldly wore the cloak of invincibility.

It's not just the losing that's so troubling, but how the Panthers are losing. They seem intent on violating all the hallmarks they established in their first two years.

Intelligent play? Try three holding calls on kick returns, including one in the fourth quarter (by rookie Mike Minter) that wiped out a Michael Bates touchdown.

Ball-control offense? Of the 35 first-down plays Carolina had Sunday, the Panthers rushed just eight times for 39 yards.

Low-risk passing game? Collins threw four interceptions and fumbled twice on jarring sacks. It was the fourth time he'd thrown that many interceptions as a pro, but he's supposed to be past that part of the learning curve.

Second-half clampdowns? After allowing just 13 points after halftime on their home field all last season, the Panthers got rung up for 21 on Sunday alone.

There have been several other losses equally as painful, at least as far as the scoreboard is concerned. In their inaugural season, the Panthers lost 31-9 at Buffalo, 31-10 at home to St. Louis and 31-10 at home to the Niners.

Last year's dream season ended with a 30-13 spanking on the frozen tundra of Green Bay.

Forget all of that.

This loss was the worst.

This day is the low point.

What was that last play - Elvis Grbac taking a knee at the Panthers' 2-yard-line - if not one last poke in the eye?

Faced with genuine expectations for the first time in their short history, the Panthers are floundering.

Handed one of the league's most talented, most experienced teams back in July, Dom (Detail Freak) Capers has been unable to coax the slimmest bit of consistency, much less excellence, from his group.

The coach is perplexed. Everyone in black and blue is perplexed.

``That's not the way the Carolina Panthers play,'' a disgusted Capers said. ``We made too many errors. We weren't as disciplined a team as we need to be. We had too many things happen today that you can't have happen and be competitive in the NFL, for whatever reason.''

We know the reason.

The vaccine has lost its power.

They are no longer immune.