Sal DeFilippo: Expansion long gone for Panthers, Jaguars

Friday, Jan. 10, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

ALL this hoopla over the expansion teams conjures memories of the first time these squads cost me money.

It was July 29, 1995 -- the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.

All right, all right, shame on me for betting preseason football. But it wasn't a substantial wager, and I hadn't seen a game since the previous Pro Bowl, so can you blame me? I'd rather go five months without food than without football.

Besides, this was something I forever could tell my, um, friends' kids about. The first game in the history of the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Since I had a composite knowledge of squat about these clubs, I opted to take the underdog Jaguars, plus 2 1/2 points. I remember the conversation at the betting window quite vividly.

"I'll take Jacksonberg plus the points for ... let's see here ... "

I was still counting the stack of nickels and dimes when he interrupted.

"It's Jacksonville," he said. "You want the Jaguars, huh?"

Somewhere around the $3.50 mark, I responded.

"Sure I want a Jaguar, but I'm just hoping to win some gas money for my Mazda. Hey, what's this Jacksonboro team's nickname, anyway? Jaspers?"

By kickoff, I wasn't much more familiarized with the teams. I just knew I had the light teal against the dark teal.

I remember Carolina taking a 7-0 lead early, but Jacksonville tying the score on a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown. At first I thought Jacksonville might have found a decent special teams weapon, but then realized the guy who scored the first points in Jacksonville history was just another Heisman bust playing out his cup of NFL coffee. Yeah, I figured another couple weeks and this guy, already a huge disappointment in Washington, would be finished.

Life has since gotten a bit sweeter for Desmond Howard.

The game was tied at 14 after three quarters, before rookie quarterback Kerry Collins led the Panthers to a John Kasay field goal early in the fourth quarter. Another Kasay three-pointer made it 20-14 midway through the period.

Jacksonville, not to mention my wager, had one fleeting chance. But alas, my hopes were resting on the shoulders of a third-stringer named Mark Brunell.

A 63-yard drive put Jacksonville within five yards of the Carolina end zone. After two incomplete passes and a run to the 2-yard line, Brunell's fourth-down pass was broken up with 1:04 left and Carolina held on to win by six points.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. The next time the NFL adds two new teams, I'm taking the favorite.

In the postseason

If you're going to be wrong, you might as well be really wrong, as I was on Denver and Pittsburgh last week. Combined against the spread, I was off by 39 points. But I had Green Bay and Carolina right and was also 2-2 straight-up. The overall postseason ledger: 4-4 against the spread, 6-2 straight-up.

NFC Championship

CAROLINA +12 1/2 at Green Bay -- The grounds crew at Lambeau probably wasted its time putting new sod in the end zones this week. With these defenses and expected snowy conditions, don't expect to players leaping into end zones too often.

But even with scoring at a premium, Brett Favre's high-octane offense should produce some scoring drives. Carolina will stall, and eventually run out of gas.

Sometime during the fourth quarter, you may see the ghost of Vince Lombardi on the sideline. Or maybe it's the just the guy from the Nike commercials.

This is the Packers' year, plain and simple. The Panthers are hungry enough, but Green Bay will get the first taste of cajun' cooking, New Orleans style.

Prediction: Green Bay 19, Carolina 10.

AFC Championship

JACKSONVILLE +7 at New England -- Four years ago, these quarterbacks were the pride of the Pacific Northwest -- Mark Brunell played at Washington, Drew Bledsoe for Washington State.

Jacksonville's strategy is simple -- let the other team dominate the first few series, then stage a furious rally, and win by 30-27 -- the margin that the Jaguars defeated Buffalo and Denver by, despite early deficits in each game.

The Patriots played earlier their best game of the season in last weekend's rout over the Steelers. Curtis Martin's 78-yard touchdown run put the nail in the Pittsburgh coffin, which New England buried for good sometime in the third quarter.

Can they play that well again? Doubtful, at least defensively. In fact, this has all the makings a shootout similar to the 28-25 overtime game New England won earlier this season. Brunell had more than 400 yards and the Jaguars nearly won on a Hail Mary at the end of regulation.

Bill Parcells deserves another shot at the big game. But I don't think he'll get it.

If I'm right, you'll need an abacus, a calculator, and maybe some fingers and toes to add up the opening point spread for Super Bowl XXXI.

Prediction: Jacksonville 27, New England 21.