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The goal going into any game is always to get a win, so it was nice to beat San Francisco on Sunday. But what stood out to me was the nature of the win. We had to come from behind, and anytime you have not done that on a consistent basis, it’s always a gut check, because in the back of your mind you’re thinking, here we go again.

The beauty of this game is that we stayed the course, we stayed confident in what we were doing, our scheme, each other. Collectively, we were able to overcome a little adversity and pull out a win.

It was a sight to see, John Kasay coming through like he always has. I had a good feeling when he went out there to win it for us.

Now everybody is acting like we won the Super Bowl. Our fans have shown appreciation for our effort all year and I think they’re happy for us and going out of their way to show it. They’re doing it because they want us to continue to get better and keep winning. Everyone is doing their part to help us along the way and that’s a great feeling.

A winner knows that when he does something well, the way to do it again is to do even more. That’s the message I want to get across to my teammates this week as we prepare to take on the Rams at their place. It’s okay to feel good about what you did last week, but let’s build on this and see if we can do more. More reps in the weight room, more running, more film study. Do whatever you can to gain an edge so we can keep moving forward as a team.

There’s nothing like the feeling of winning, that’s the No. 1 reason we play this game. There’s a thin line between the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, and emotionally there’s nothing like it when you win in this league.

The Rams have had an up and down year but they’ve shown they can play against the good teams in this league. They’re right in the thick of it in the NFC. Next we play the Saints, and they’re looking for answers although they know what it takes to win, they’ve done it before and they can easily turn it around. Then we have Tampa, who is 4-2 and has some big wins this year, so this is a key stretch of the season for us.

The game against the Rams is huge for us moving forward. If we can get this win it’s amazing how we could be right back in the playoff picture soon enough. In the NFC, nobody is really taking the lead and separating themselves from the pack. We’re 1-5, but I believe we’re still in it because the best team is only 5-2.

It’s wide open. If we play well and can get a little streak going, there’s no reason we can’t make the playoffs. This season especially, even 8-8 might be good enough to get you into the Show. And we know we can play with anybody. We played with the Giants, we played with the Saints.

We’re going to stay optimistic and just worry about the Carolina Panthers.

Carolina Panthers All-Pro middle linebacker Jon Beason writes a blog for www.playerpress.com at www.jonbeason.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jonbeason.