Home still unkind to Carolina

Panthers can't buy a victory at Bank of America Stadium

CHARLOTTE -- Take a look at the calendar. Two dates in the next week pretty much tell you all you need to know about the Carolina Panthers and their season.

On Tuesday, their gallant and gimpy quarterback, Vinny Testaverde, will celebrate his 44th birthday. Then, the following Monday will mark the one-year anniversary of the last time the Panthers won a home game.

There's nothing the Panthers can do to stop the clock on Testaverde and an Achilles' tendon that's been sore for several weeks. And there's no longer anything the Panthers can do to stop the Bank of America Stadium bumbles before 365 days have passed.

That became a certainty Sunday as the Panthers lost a very winnable game.

Alge Crumpler caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Joey Harrington with 30 seconds left as the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Panthers 20-13.

"When you have friends and family coming to the game, they want to see us win," defensive tackle Kris Jenkins said. "The people that support us, that pay to come see us play and they go and buy the jerseys and go and do everything, it's hard because that's kind of like the thanks that we give them."

With a game at Green Bay on Sunday, the Panthers won't get another shot at a home win until Nov. 25 when they host New Orleans. They've lost all four home games this season and their final two last season after a Nov. 19, 2006 victory against St. Louis.

Even if you factor in road games, the Panthers haven't had a win since Oct. 14 (at Arizona) and they've lost three in a row. At 4-5, they're tied with the Saints for second in the NFC South and trail Tampa Bay (5-4) by a game.

But with a sputtering offense that didn't even know if Testaverde would be able to play until just before game time, there's not a lot of positive momentum, and the speculation about coach John Fox and general manager Marty Hurney being on the hot seat is likely to grow.

The Falcons (3-6) have problems of their own, but they found a way to score two offensive touchdowns. For the first time in 45 games, the Falcons opened a game with a touchdown on their first drive. Carolina's defense then settled down and kept the Panthers in the game until the end.

The Panthers, who were without Jake Delhomme (out for the season with an elbow injury) and backup David Carr (sidelined by two concussions in a short time), managed 235 yards of total offense. Testaverde completed 13 of 28 passes for 153 yards.

Carolina's only touchdown came when Ken Lucas returned a fumble 27 yards in the second quarter. The only time the offense came close to scoring a touchdown was early in the second quarter when Steve Smith caught a pass near the goal line, but fumbled into the end zone for a touchback.

"I support my offense," Jenkins said. "Next question."

But the offense couldn't support itself. The Panthers averaged 4.0 yards per offensive play and 3.2 yards on their running plays.

"The defense put us in some good position," Testaverde said. "Offensively, we just couldn't put the points on the board to help this team win a game."

Testaverde was sacked twice and rookie Matt Moore came on to throw an interception on the game's last play. The inconsistency in the running game has been going on for two seasons, but the more troubling trend might be Carolina's inability to get the ball into Smith's hands.

Faced with double coverage almost all day, Smith had five catches for 61 yards. As has been the case too often lately, he got little help from the rest of the receiving corps. Keary Colbert sat out with a foot injury, replacement Drew Carter had three catches for 28 yards and rookie Dwayne Jarrett, playing for only the second time this season, produced two catches for 28 yards.

Testaverde hinted it might be time for the Panthers to change some things in their approach to the passing game.

"Most of the time, they're doubling Steve," Testaverde said. "It's hard at times and you don't want to force it. But, maybe, we might have to."

The Panthers clearly have to do something to spruce up their offense. But it won't be easy. They likely face another week of uncertainty as Carr and Testaverde deal with their injuries and they face a red-hot team in Green Bay, which improved to 8-1 with a 34-0 victory Sunday against Minnesota.

"I don't care who you're playing," Fox said. "You have to score points. We're just going to continue to work at it."