The Panthers entered Sunday’s NFC Championship Game as three-point favorites over the visiting Cardinals, but Josh Norman still felt that the world was against his team.
After Carolina’s defense forced Arizona to turn the ball over seven times in the 49-15 blowout, Norman ripped anyone who said Carson Palmer and the Cardinals’ receiving corps was going to give the Panthers’ secondary a hard time.
“I watch. I’m not dumb to what goes on,” Norman said, per Ebenezer Samuel of the New York Daily News. “So all them guys that’s sitting up there picking the Cardinals, great. And thinking that they’re gonna blow us out because we’ve never seen a wide receiving corps like that, great.”
I’m not sure who predicted the Cardinals were going to blow the Panthers out in Carolina, but very few expected the outcome to be that lopsided. And if Ron Rivera hadn’t called off the dogs, Norman says it could have been even more of a blood bath.
“Look at what we showed today. We could have put a 50-burger up there!” he said. “Coach pulled us back!
“People still saying this is a fluke. I’m sure they’re going to go back and say, ‘Well, the Cardinals had an off night.’ You know what, continue to make excuses for teams. We enjoy it. We love it.”
The Panthers opened as 3.5-point favorites over the Broncos for Super Bowl 50, and that number is climbing. If anything, most people aren’t giving Denver a shot after the way Carolina dominated and held the Cardinals to just 287 yards of total offense. Some are already calling for a repeat of the championship game a couple years ago when the Broncos were embarrassed by the Seahawks.
Norman will only listen to the naysayers, which is something he has done all season long. He got into it with Rodney Harrison after Harrison doubted his abilities, and we all remember what he said about an ESPN reporter earlier this season. Norman and the Panthers have become experts at keeping the chip on their shoulders. Don’t expect that to change in San Francisco.
