Panthers could get a rematch

The Carolina Panthers whiffed on a huge opportunity Sunday night, leading for most of the game against the New York Giants but ultimately losing, 34-28, in overtime.

But Panther fans shouldn't despair just yet. Their team has qualified for the playoffs. Sunday night's game was the sort of taut thriller that begs for an encore, and there may well be one on Jan. 18.

That is the date of the NFC championship game. If Carolina (11-4) and the Giants (12-3) get there, these teams will play again for the right to go to the Super Bowl.

That's really the way it should be, because the Panthers and the Giants proved they were the class of the NFC on Sunday. This was a game full of big plays, and the Giants simply made more of them late.

The Panthers' John Kasay missed a 50-yard field-goal try that could have won it at the end of regulation as the ball drifted left. And then, in overtime, the Giants got a huge 51-yard run from Derrick Ward to set up the winning touchdown run by Brandon Jacobs.

It was the Panthers' defense that really let them down in this one, allowing Ward to run for an astounding 215 yards and getting torched late by Ward and Eli Manning when Carolina was clinging to an eight-point lead.

But give the Giants credit, too. They won the Super Bowl last season doing things just like this. They're extremely good when it counts.

Jacobs' TD clinched homefield advantage throughout the playoffs for the Giants. The road to the Super Bowl will run through the New Jersey swamp. Carolina now needs to beat the Saints at New Orleans on Sunday to be assured of the No. 2 seed, a first-round playoff bye and a home playoff game.

On a positive note for Carolina, though, they continue to boast the hottest running back in the NFL -- and that will take you a long way in the playoffs.

If Jimmy Hoffa really is buried in the Giants' end zone, it's surprising that DeAngelo Williams didn't find him Sunday night.

Williams had one of the best games of his life Sunday, scoring all four Panthers touchdowns.

The Panthers made all sorts of things happen in front of a belligerent crowd of 78,000.

They didn't early, as the Panthers' offense started out like Usain Bolt in the 100-meter dash. Carolina scored a touchdown on each of its first three possessions, and each time it was Williams who provided the final thrust. He scored from 1, 5 and 13 yards.

Williams was Carolina's biggest star and seemed likely to be the game's MVP early. In the swampland of New Jersey, he was pure Broadway. He ended the game with an astounding 20 TDs this season -- the most in the NFL this season and easily the most in Panthers history.

Williams' fourth TD, from 30 yards early in the fourth quarter, was his sixth rushing TD from that distance or longer this season. The only man in NFL history to surpass that: the incredible Jim Brown, who once rushed seven or more TDs from 30 or more yards in a season.

All those numbers were ultimately for naught, though.

If the Panthers are going to do this Super Bowl thing, they're going to have to do it the hard way. They quite likely may have to return to Giants Stadium once again on Jan.18 -- and this time finish the job.