30-year old WR Steve Smith’s season is over due to a broken forearm.  Smith played in 15 games for the Panthers this season and he caught 65 passes for 982 yards (15.1 avg) with 7 TD grabs and he also carried the ball 5 times for 22 yards (4.4 ypc).  Smith will be missed big time this weekend against the Saints.  Kenny Moore will start in Smith’s place this weekend.  He has played in 11 games for the Panthers this season and he has caught 6 passes for 59 yards (9.8 avg).

36-year old WR Mushin Muhammad might be playing his last game for the Carolina Panthers this weekend.  If it is true then in his last game he will be the team’s #1 WR due to Steve Smith’s injury.  Muhammad has played in 13 games this season for the Panthers and he has caught 46 passes for 496 yards (10.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has now played in 201 games in his NFL career and he has caught 853 passes for 11,353 yards (13.3 avg) with 62 TD grabs.  Even if Muhammad is playing his last game for the Panthers I do think some team will give him a job in 2010 if he wants to continue playing.

The Panthers totally destroyed the Giants yesterday on the road ending all hopes of the Giants making the playoffs.  Matt Moore was outstanding once again completing 15 of 20 passes for 171 yards with 3 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Jonathan Stewart was an absolute beast yesterday with 28 carries for 206 yards (7.4 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 2 passes for 16 yards (8.0 avg).  Brad Hoover pitched in with 9 carries for 37 yards (4.1 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 1 pass for 12 yards.  Steve Smith caught 5 passes for 60 yards (12.0 avg) with a TD grab before breaking his left arm.  WR Mushin Muhammad (3 rec, 56 yards, TD) and TE Jeff King (1 rec, 2 yards, TD) pitched in to help the passing game.  The Panthers finished up with 416 total yards on offense (247 rushing, 169 passing) in this game.

The defense was outstanding for the Panthers yesterday.  Linebacker Jon Beason led the way for the Panthers yesterday with 13 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit.  CB Richard Marshall also was all over the place with 9 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.  Julius Peppers (fumble recovery), James Anderson (INT) and Chris Harris (INT) also made huge plays on D for the Panthers yesterday.  The Panthers are now 7-8 on the year.

22-year old Jonathan Stewart has really played well once again this season giving the Panthers the best RB duo in the NFL (DeAngelo Williams).  He has played in 14 games for the Panthers this season and he has carried the ball 177 times for 802 yards (4.5 ypc) with 8 TD runs.  Stewart has also caught 16 passes for 123 yards (7.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The contrast in styles between Williams’ speed and Stewart’s power make them able to co-exist giving the Panthers one of the best 1-2 punches in the NFL at RB.

25-year old QB Matt Moore has looked really good so far this season.  He has played in 5 games in which he has completed 56 of 95 passes (58.9%) for 720 yards with 4 TD passes and 2 INTs (88.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 7 times for -4 yards (-0.6 ypc) this year.  Moore’s fine play so far has brought elite WR Steve Smith back into the offense making it so much better than it was with Delhomme under center.  If Moore plays well the last two weeks he will likely challenge Delhomme for the starting job next season.