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.

The Panthers have placed 34-year old QB Jake Delhomme on the Injured Reserve List ending his season because of a broken finger.  Delhomme played in 11 games for the Panthers this season and he completed 201 of 377 passes (53.3%) for 2,015 yards with 8 TD passes and 18 INTs (59.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 17 times for 60 yards (3.5 ypc) this year.  Delhomme will have to fight next training camp for his starting job especially if Matt Moore finishes the year strong.

This should be a good football game this weekend as the Panthers showed me something last week against the Vikings.  The Panthers will come out running the football with Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams (if he can play) against a Giants’ D that is allowing 99.8 yards rushing and 4.0 yards per carry.  The Panthers have been letting Matt Moore throw the ball more and their are big plays to be made in the passing game if the O-Line gives him time to throw the ball.  The Panthers’ version of Steve Smith could have a huge game this Sunday against a so-so secondary that the Giants have.

The Panthers are giving up 130.4 yards rushing and 4.6 yards per carry so they are likely going to have a long night dealing with Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw on Sunday.  If the Panthers can somehow hold down the Giants running game then they will have a good chance to win this game because they have a solid pass D.  The Panthers need Julius Peppers to have another big game which will help force Eli Manning into making some big mistakes.

PREDICTION:  GIANTS 24, PANTHERS 20

The Carolina Panthers (6-8) played great defense all game, helping them take down the NFC North champion Minnesota Vikings (11-3).  Julius Peppers looked like a man on a mission yesterday, blowing past and through every offensive lineman the Vikings threw at him.  Looking at his stat-line you wouldn’t know it, getting only 1 tackle, 1 sack, and 1 pass deflection.  He was getting penetration on nearly every play though, so the Vikings were forced to double team him most of the time.  They kept Brett Favre out of the endzone, holding him to 224 yards on 17/27 passes and intercepting him once.  They also shut down the Vikings’ running game, containing Adrian Peterson to 35 yards on 12 carries.  This was a great effort by the Panthers’ defense.

Matt Moore had a great game for the Panthers, throwing for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns (including 2 in the 4th quarter) on 21/33 pass attempts.  Moore found Steve Smith for some big plays in this one, and Smith had one of his best games of the year.  He had 1 touchdown and 157 yards on 9 catches.  Jonathon Stewart also pitched in for the Panthers’ running game, getting 109 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.  The Panthers offense looked a little out of sync for most of the game, but they really woke up in the 4th quarter and had three touchdowns in that final quarter.  This was an impressive win for the Panthers, but they will be missing the playoffs this year.

The Panthers have signed 27-year old OT Rob Petitti.  Petitti has not played in a game in the NFL since the 2007 season with the Rams.  He has played in 22 games (17 starts) in his three years in the NFL.  He will likely serve as Geoff Schwartz’ back-up the rest of the year.

The Panthers will be without 23-year old OT Jeff Otah for the rest of the year due to a knee injury.  Otah played in 13 games (all starts) for the Panthers.  In his two years with the Panthers, Otah has played in 25 games (all starts).  The Panthers have to be a little discouraged that Otah has not proven that he can handle a whole season yet physically.  But, he is a solid football player and they will miss him big time the last three weeks of the year.   Geoff Schwartz will replace Otah in the starting line-up.  He has played in 13 games (0 starts) this season for the Panthers.