When Carolina Panthers Coach John Fox was asked earlier this week why his team was a victory away from the Super Bowl for the second time in three seasons, he might have offered myriad reasons to reporters. Carolina's defense, ranked third in the NFL during the regular season, has allowed only 21 points in road victories over the New York Giants and Chicago Bears during the postseason. And quarterback Jake Delhomme, who now has a 5-1 career record during the playoffs, has a lofty passer rating of 103.1 in his last six games.
Instead, Fox chose the smallest offensive player on his team: wide receiver Steve Smith, who accomplished a rare triple crown during the regular season, leading the NFL in receiving yards and tying for the league lead in receptions and touchdown catches. Smith, generously listed by the team at 5 feet 9 and 185 pounds, has performed even better during the playoffs, leading all receivers with 22 catches for 302 yards and 3 touchdowns in two games.
"Oh, yeah. He makes my job easier," Fox told reporters in Charlotte earlier this week. "It's not how big the wand is, it's how much magic is inside, and he's got a lot of magic. He's a guy that gets it done."
Smith figures to make the Seahawks' job a lot more difficult during Sunday's NFC championship game at Qwest Field in Seattle. The winner of that game will advance to play the Denver Broncos or Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit on Feb. 5.
Smith got it done more than any other receiver in the NFL this season, catching 103 passes for 1,563 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was named the NFL's co-comeback player of the year after playing in only one game during the 2004 season because of a broken leg. Despite emerging as the league's most dangerous receiver and leading the Panthers to an 11-5 record during the regular season, Smith didn't receive a single vote for the NFL's most valuable player award.
"I'm excited every week with all the things that happened to me last year," Smith said. "I'm just happy to be playing."
Seahawks Coach Mike Holmgren knows who the Panthers' most important player has been.
"He's one of those guys that when you prepare for them, you better have a plan to make it a little more difficult for him," Holmgren said of Smith. "Otherwise, he can take over a game by himself."
That's exactly what Smith did during Sunday's 29-21 victory over the Chicago Bears in a second-round playoff game. Against the Bears' defense, which allowed an NFL-low 10 touchdown passes in 16 regular season games, Smith caught 12 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns. On each of his touchdown catches, Smith ran past Bears cornerbacks who fell down while chasing him. He had three other plays of 20 yards or more: catches for 46 and 20 yards and a 22-yard run on a reverse, all of which set up other Carolina scores.
"Steve Smith -- that is what happened to us," Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher said afterward. "He just kept making plays. We had a plan. We never really doubled him. We ran a lot of cover 2" -- when a safety helps a cornerback in pass coverage -- "and obviously that didn't work out too good for us.
"When they needed a play, he made it. He is the best offensive player in the league."
And Smith, 26, is one of the smallest. During a time when NFL general managers and talent scouts prefer taller and stronger receivers, Smith has made a mockery of their judgments. After a stellar two-year career at the University of Utah, where he was one of college football's most dangerous kick returners and an explosive receiver, Smith wasn't drafted until midway through the third round of the 2001 draft, No. 74 overall, mainly because of concerns about his size.
Smith was the 11th wide receiver chosen in 2001, and of the 10 wideouts chosen ahead of him, only four -- Santana Moss of the Washington Redskins, Reggie Wayne of the Indianapolis Colts, Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals and Chris Chambers of the Miami Dolphins -- have been comparably productive during their five-year NFL careers.
Two of the players selected ahead of Smith in 2001, David Terrell from the University of Michigan and Freddie Mitchell from UCLA, who were considered prototypical wide receivers because of their height, weren't even on NFL rosters this past season. Two other players picked ahead of Smith, Koren Robinson from North Carolina State and Rod Gardner from Clemson (the No. 15 pick by the Redskins), were considered disappointments and are no longer with the teams that drafted them.
Smith "is not little, he's short," Panthers offensive coordinator Dan Henning said. "He's a powerful guy, and he's explosive and he's got a vertical jump that's about 42 or 43 inches, which is what the Canadians consider the most important physical attribute. If people don't think he's physical, then they're kidding themselves. He's a powerful and aggressive and strong athlete."
The Bears found out how strong Smith is during the first quarter of last week's game. With the Panthers leading 7-0 after Smith caught a 58-yard touchdown on their second offensive play of the game, Delhomme threw a pass down the right sideline for Smith. But the pass was a little underthrown, so Smith and cornerback Charles Tillman jumped for the football near the 2-yard line. Safety Chris Harris came over late, so all three players had their hands on the pass, and it appeared Tillman would catch it.
But before the trio landed on the turf of Soldier Field, Smith had wrestled the football away from Tillman for a 46-yard completion. Four plays later, the Panthers settled for a 20-yard field goal and led 10-0.
"When he goes up and jumps for the ball with two other guys and comes down with it, he does that better than anybody I've ever been around," Henning said.
Said Smith: "I'm not a very tall guy, but I can jump. [Tillman] did catch the ball, but I wanted it a little bit more than him."
Smith doesn't know what to expect from Seattle's defense during Sunday's game, because he already has seen a plethora of coverages designed to contain him. The Seahawks had a league-high 50 sacks during the regular season, so protecting Delhomme will be a premium for the Panthers. Seattle ranked 25th among 32 NFL teams in pass defense, allowing 222.4 passing yards per game.
Seahawks cornerback Andre Dyson had missed more than a month before last week's 20-10 win over the Redskins because of a badly sprained left ankle, and cornerback Marcus Trufant had been out three weeks because of a bruised lower back.
"All I know is that whoever's lined up there, when they throw the ball, I've got to catch it," Smith said. "If you line my mom out there, I've got to catch it over her, too."
With the Panthers' leading rusher, DeShaun Foster, out for the rest of the playoffs after breaking his ankle against the Bears, Smith might be asked to carry even more of a load Sunday.
"He's been tremendous all season," Fox said. "He's capable of it all the time. It's hard for me to measure it. I've seen him do some incredible things and I'm sure I'll see him do more incredible things. He's a very talented young man who is probably at his best in tough times and when we need him. I'm convinced that I wouldn't be sitting here today if he didn't have that kind of season for us."
