They are in fact looking to make some noise this year.  The Cam Newton led Carolina Panthers have two big tests coming up with the San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots in back-to-back weeks.  If they can come away with one win or win both games that will be a sign that Carolina should be taken seriously.  I’m really intrigued by their defense more than anything.  They have a pack mentality and are constantly swarming to the ball on all sides of the field.  Cam Newton has done a great job this year with the struggles in his first two seasons in Carolina.  But if you look at his stats he has been a great player.  He has struggled with the losing atmosphere, but the Panthers are finally looking to break out of that funk this year.  They’ll still have to prove it against the New Orleans Saints whom they haven’t played yet this year, but I’m sure the Panthers can win at least one of those games.  They should be playing in the NFC East because none of those teams deserve to make the playoffs this year.

You never want to see what happened just as halftime started during the Sunday night game.  Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak started to go to the ground with an unknown medical ailment and was rushed to a local hospital.  Turns out it wasn’t anything seriously thought of at the time, but he will miss some time due to the health scare.  The Texans had a comfortable lead going into halftime against the Indianapolis Colts, but that second seemed like a totally different game as the Texans fell flat and the Colts charged ahead.  Credit the Colts for not giving up and letting Andrew Luck do his thing in leading a tremendous come from behind victory.  This was a game that the Texans desperately need to win and with Case Keenum having a great game throwing and running the ball Houston looked to rebound in the second half. Now with this loss they’re still falling out of contention while the Colts are continuing to rise.  I hate to say it, but having Kubiak leave the game seemed to have taken all the life out of that team.  I wish him a speedy recovery, but even if the Texans still won that game they didn’t look any better after the first half on Sunday.

No one has ever scored that many points on the Pittsburgh Steelers.  55 to be exact.  That is the most points allowed in the history of the Steelers.  Funny enough one of their current rivals the New England Patriots managed to be the record holder.  It wasn’t as though the Steelers didn’t show up.  Ben Roethlisberger had a good game with 400 yards passing and four touchdown passes. But once again a huge flaw was exposed in that the Steelers don’t cause enough turnovers on defense to help take pressure off their offense to put up points.  I’m surprised this record didn’t happen sooner, but will this wake up the current crop of players?  Probably not, but the Steelers have a favorable home schedule with five of their next eight games played at Heinz Field and against teams that they can beat.  Even if they do manage to scrap a couple victories down the stretch unless the Bengals start to realize they’re the Bengals I don’t see Pittsburgh getting back in the playoff picture. Giving up 55 points is degrading even for the most veteran of teams.  This one will last most of the season.