Carolina Panthers

The Eagles will battle a rival that's almost a mirror image on Sunday when they square off against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C. Much to the vexation of their fans, both teams have won only twice this season and both currently are in the throes of a two-game losing streak. Both teams have been plagued with inconsistency, recent injuries and big mistakes. Both have even been booed (though in Carolina, it's courtly, with a soft, Southern accent and probably a genteel apology, afterward)

Bill Parcells can perform some jaw-dropping magic. But when he can't pull a running game out of his hat in the postseason, the show's over. Parcells, who conjures up Super Bowl teams out of rushing and defense, saw his Dallas Cowboys disappear quickly from these playoffs last night, losing decisively to the Carolina Panthers, 29-10, in an NFC wild-card game at Ericsson Stadium. "That was our primary goal," said Panthers defensive end Mike Rucker, "to shut down the run and make them put the ball in the air. " In winning their first playoff game since 1996, Carolina, the NFC South champions, got five John Kasay field goals, a 23-yard touchdown run from Stephen Davis, and a 32-yard TD reception by a frequently spectacular Steve Smith.

The Carolina Panthers finally made official what was reported Monday, the hiring of Sean McDermott as their defensive coordinator. McDermott, 36, found out last Thursday that he would not be returning as the Eagles' d-coordinator, but opportunities quickly surfaced in Denver and Carolina. The Panthers' new head coach, Ron Rivera, is another protégé of the late Jim Johnson. McDermott and Rivera worked together on Johnson's Eagles staff for 5 years. "I have worked with Sean and know he is an intensely focused and very smart coach," Rivera said in a statement released by the Panthers.

The Eagles plan on bringing in running back Stephen Davis for a tryout as soon as today, according to a report on NBC10. The 6-foot, 230-pound Davis could provide some needed depth at running back for the Birds, with Brian Westbrook and Correll Buckhalter both coming back from injuries. Davis, 32, last played for the Carolina Panthers and has 7,805 yards rushing over a 10-year career with the Washington Redskins and the Panthers.

Here is the order of the 2012 NFL draft:   1. Indianapolis Colts 2. St. Louis Rams 3. Minnesota Vikings 4. Cleveland Browns 5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6. Washington Redskins 7. Jacksonville Jaguars 8. Carolina Panthers # 9. Miami Dolphins # 10. Buffalo Bills 11. Kansas City Chiefs # 12. Seattle Seahawks # 13. Arizona Cardinals 14. Dallas Cowboys ...

Jonathan Stewart rushed for two touchdowns, including a key tiebreaking score in the fourth quarter to help lead the Carolina Panthers to a 38-23 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers last night. The teams entered the final quarter tied 17-17. Stewart scored on a 4-yard run with 13:27 left to put the Panthers ahead 24-17. DeAngelo Williams then scored the first of two touchdowns when he capped a four-play, 90-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown run that increased the lead to 31-17.

Carolina Panthers assistant coach Sam Mills was diagnosed with cancer of the small intestine yesterday, hours before he coached the Panthers' linebackers in their preseason finale. Just 2 weeks ago, Carolina linebacker Mark Fields was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. "Any time someone in your family gets ill, it's a blow," general manager Marty Hurney said. "When it's Sam Mills, someone who means so much to this organization and this community, it's a huge blow. " Mills, 44, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, spent the final three seasons of his 12-year NFL career with the Panthers beginning with their inaugural season in 1995.

The brief history of the San Francisco 49ers' series with the Carolina Panthers indicates Steve Young and Kerry Collins are both in for big games tonight. The Panthers (2-2) have won three of the first four meetings with the 49ers (3-1) in the fast-growing NFC West rivalry, but that's not the only trend. No matter what the final score has been, both teams' quarterbacks have put up impressive numbers. Young is likely to play the entire game for the first time this season after being forced out of the season-opening loss to Tampa Bay with the latest in a long line of concussions.

Plenty of recent Ivy League graduates will land good jobs this year. Few will find one that pays as well as Mitch Marrow's. The former Penn star agreed yesterday to a three-year, $1.8225-million contract with the Carolina Panthers. Marrow, the Panthers' third-round draft choice, received a signing bonus of $390,000. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound defensive tackle will report Wednesday to the Panthers' training camp in Spartanburg, S.C. He will move to defensive end in the Panthers' 3-4 alignment.

The NFL and its locked-out players launched a second round of mediation yesterday, this time under a court order to try and figure out a solution to their labor dispute. Commissioner Roger Goodell, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft were among those on hand for the closed-door session at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith was joined by attorneys, linebackers Ben Leber and Mike Vrabel, as well as Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller.

Ryan Callahan scored his 100th NHL goal 2 minutes, 59 seconds into overtime, and the host New York Rangers snapped a rare losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. New York (39-15-6) has an Eastern Conference-leading 84 points. The Sabres (27-27-8) are 11th in the East - six points below the postseason cutoff.   Bruins win Patrice Bergeron had two goals and an assist to lead the visiting Boston Bruins past the Ottawa Senators, 5-3. Boston (37-20-3)

Here is the order of the 2012 NFL draft:   1. Indianapolis Colts 2. St. Louis Rams 3. Minnesota Vikings 4. Cleveland Browns 5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6. Washington Redskins 7. Jacksonville Jaguars 8. Carolina Panthers # 9. Miami Dolphins # 10. Buffalo Bills 11. Kansas City Chiefs # 12. Seattle Seahawks # 13. Arizona Cardinals 14. Dallas Cowboys ...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - John Beck showed the mobility to keep plays alive and get the Redskins into the end zone. He just couldn't help his team keep up with Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers in the second half. Beck threw for 279 yards in his first start in four years in a 33-20 loss Sunday, including a TD run on a short keeper in the third quarter. But he couldn't lead the Redskins (3-3) to another touchdown until after the Panthers (2-5) had built a 17-point lead in the final period on the way to matching their win total for all of last year.

The NFL and its locked-out players launched a second round of mediation yesterday, this time under a court order to try and figure out a solution to their labor dispute. Commissioner Roger Goodell, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft were among those on hand for the closed-door session at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith was joined by attorneys, linebackers Ben Leber and Mike Vrabel, as well as Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller.

The Carolina Panthers finally made official what was reported Monday, the hiring of Sean McDermott as their defensive coordinator. McDermott, 36, found out last Thursday that he would not be returning as the Eagles' d-coordinator, but opportunities quickly surfaced in Denver and Carolina. The Panthers' new head coach, Ron Rivera, is another protégé of the late Jim Johnson. McDermott and Rivera worked together on Johnson's Eagles staff for 5 years. "I have worked with Sean and know he is an intensely focused and very smart coach," Rivera said in a statement released by the Panthers.

It didn't take long for Sean McDermott to find a new home. McDermott will be the Carolina Panthers' new defensive coordinator, a league source said Monday afternoon. He was fired from the same position with the Eagles last week. In Carolina, the 36-year-old McDermott will be reunited with new Panthers head coach Ron Rivera. The two worked together in Philadelphia from 1999 to 2003 when Rivera was the Eagles' linebackers coach and McDermott held various positions as he began his coaching career.

THEY KNEW NOTHING, just that their coach collapsed and had to be rushed to a hospital. What the Strath Haven High Panthers had in front of them was a major test in Garnet Valley last night. What they didn't know was whether longtime coach Kevin Clancy, one of the most successful coaches in Southeastern Pennsylvania, would be on the sideline with them. What looked like a very distracted team in the first half of the Central League showdown suddenly came to life in the second half - when Clancy arrived after being discharged from the hospital.

Julius Peppers: Enigma. The story continues for the Carolina Panthers. Tomorrow, will the Eagles face the Peppers who was one of the NFL's dominating defensive ends last season with a career high of 14.5 sacks? Or will the 2007 version of Peppers show up, the one who muddled through that season with 2.5 sacks? And will this be the Peppers who in January tried to force his way out of Carolina by saying he didn't want to play for the Panthers? Or the one who, after that strategy didn't work, insists he's happy still being with the Panthers and will pour his full efforts into helping them defend their NFC South championship?

Julius Peppers' stalemate with the Carolina Panthers is over, leaving the defensive end rich and the NFC South champions free from worrying about a holdout. Peppers signed his 1-year, $16.7 million tender yesterday, 5 months after the four-time Pro Bowl selection first announced he wanted to play elsewhere next season. It means Peppers, Carolina's all-time sacks leader, should be present for the start of training camp. "Recently, I've had positive and productive discussions with the organization," Peppers said in a statement released by his agent, Carl Carey.