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Provided by copyright (c)1997 Associated Press
TUESDAY 10/28/97  5:48:52
^Back-to-back victories boost Panthers' hopes<
^By JOE MACENKA=
^AP Sports Writer=
   CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ Recent NFL history tells Dom Capers not
to get too excited about what a team does in the first half of the
season.
   ``All you have to do is go back the last two years,'' the
Carolina Panthers coach said. ``The Redskins were 7-1 last year and
they don't make the playoffs. Two years ago, the Raiders were 8-2
and they don't make the playoffs. Jacksonville was 3-5 last year
and they ended up in the AFC championship game.''
   Capers doesn't even need to look at other teams. His Panthers
were 5-4 last year before closing the regular season with seven
consecutive victories to win the NFC West.
   That's why Capers is preaching caution about back-to-back
victories that have given Carolina a 4-4 mark heading into the
second half of the season. Sure, the Panthers' postseason chances
look much better than they did two weeks ago. But Carolina also has
little margin for error in a second-half schedule that includes
games against Dallas, Denver, Green Bay and San Francisco.
   ``If we don't take care of business each and every week,''
Capers said, ``we'll find ourselves out of it real quick.''
   Sunday's 21-12 victory over Atlanta featured something the
Panthers have not seen before: Kerry Collins and Tshimanga
Biakabutuka, Carolina's top draft choices in 1995 and 1996, having
solid performances in the same game.
   Biakabutuka rushed 23 times for 104 yards _ both career highs
for the No. 8 overall selection in the 1996 draft. Biakabutuka,
making his first start since major knee surgery 13 months ago, also
became the first Carolina player to rush for two touchdowns in one
game.
   Collins, the fifth pick in the 1995 draft, completed just
12-of-25 passes for 107 yards on a rainy night, but more important
to the Panthers, he looked confident. That wasn't something the
Panthers could say about him after he returned to the lineup
earlier this season following a broken jaw.
   Collins, who still has four titanium plates in his jaw, directed
a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that nearly stalled on a
third-and-3 from the Atlanta 34. Collins scrambled out of the
pocket and made a headfirst dive for the first-down marker, but got
hit so hard that his helmet popped off.
   Collins, who gained 5 yards on the play, got up, spiked the
ball, picked up his helmet and walked back to the huddle,
exchanging high-fives with the offensive linemen as fans began
chanting his name.
   In postgame interviews, Collins shrugged off his actions, but
his teammates weren't nearly as casual about it. Center Frank
Garcia found it particularly interesting that the home fans, many
of whom had booed Collins several weeks earlier, were now cheering
him.
   ``I think the fans can't make up their minds,'' Garcia said. ``I
think Kerry answered a lot of questions for himself and for
Charlotte, and I think they need to stop getting on him for all the
things and start helping him out and supporting him, because he's
done a heck of a job for this city and he's going to do a heck of a
job for years to come.''
   Capers offered a similar sentiment.
   ``I think it had a big impact on us,'' he said. ``I think
offensive linemen, it's just the nature of the position where they
like blocking and they like having a quarterback who has that kind
of attitude. They know that he's willing to get down and dirty and
is willing to lay it on the line.''