The Carolina Panthers finally broke the seal in beating the 49ers 23-20 last Sunday.  The Rams lost a tough win in the waning seconds in Tampa Bay last week.  But the Rams are a good home team so far this year as they are 3-1 at home and they have outscored the opposition 83-53.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game: 

When the Panthers have the ball:  I have to think that the Panthers are going to come out running the ball this Sunday.  DeAngelo Williams probably won’t play in this game due to a foot injury so look for Jonathan Stewart to have a heavy workload against a Rams’ D that is allowing 108.1 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  The Rams have 20 sacks this year so it will be up to the O-Line to give Matt Moore time to throw the ball.  If he has time to throw the ball he could have success throwing the ball to Steve Smith and rookies David Gettis & Brandon LaFell. 

When the Rams have the ball:  Steven Jackson will likely have a heavy workload against the Panthers who are allowing 128.5 yards rushing and 3.9 yards per carry.  Sam Bradford will likely have time to throw the ball against the Panthers who only have 9 sacks this year.  He just needs someone in his receiving corps to step up this week.

PREDICTION:  PANTHERS 16, RAMS 13 

The Panthers have signed 28-year old linebacker Abdul Hodge.  Hodge played in 16 games for the Bengals last season and he had 16 tackles and 1 forced fumble.  Hodge has played in 30 games in his NFL career and he has 29 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 1 forced fumble.  Hodge will likely back up inside at linebacker and help out on special teams.

UPDATE:  (11/6/2010) – The Panthers have released Hodge to make room on the roster for Jason Williams.

UPDATE:  (11/10/2010) – The Panthers have re-signed Hodge.

The Panthers have lost 26-year old linebacker Jamar Williams for the rest of the season due to a neck injury.  Williams played in 3 games for the Panthers this season and he made 2 tackles.  Williams has now played in 54 games in his 5 years in the NFL and he has 91 tackles, 6 passes defensed, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble.  The Panthers won’t likely miss Williams much as he didn’t produce when given a chance to play this year.

The Panthers broke the seal winning their first game of the year today by being ball hogs on offense while playing solid defense.  Matt Moore played a really good game for the Panthers today.  He completed 28 of 41 passes for 308 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT (it was returned 31-yards for a TD by DT Ray McDonald).  DeAngelo Williams wasn’t at his best today as he carried the ball 19 times for 44 yards (2.3 ypc).  He also caught 4 passes for 19 yards (4.8 avg) in this game.  Jonathan Stewart also found running room hard to find today as he carried the ball 14 times for only 29 yards (2.1 ypc).  Rookie WRs David Gettis (8 rec, 125 yards, 2 TD catches) and Brandon LaFell (6 rec, 91 yards) had breakout games for the Panthers today.  Steve Smith (4 rec, 50 yards) and Dante Rosario (5 rec, 28 yards) also pitched in for the Panthers in the passing game today.  The Panthers finished up with 76 yards rushing on 34 carries (2.2 ypc) and they also completed 28 of 41 passes for 303 yards as they had possession of the ball for 36:05 today.

Linebacker James Anderson led the way for the D with 7 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and 2 passes defensed.  But it was cornerback Richard Marshall who made the biggest impact for the defense today when he intercepted a David Carr pass late in the fourth quarter to set up John Kasay’s game winning field goal.  Marshall also had 6 tackles and 1 pass defensed today.  The 49ers finished up with 99 yards rushing on 22 carries (4.5 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 32 passes for 183 yards.  The Panthers are now 1-5 on the year.

The 49ers finally won their first game of the season 17-9 against the Raiders.  The Panthers have had two weeks to get ready for the Niners as they had a bye last week.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Panthers have the ball:  The Panthers are going to come out trying to run the ball with DeAngelo Williams & Jonathan Stewart against a Niners’ D that is allowing 111.2 yards rushing per game and 3.9 yards per carry.  WR Steve Smith is back from injury and Matt Moore is back as the starting QB for the Panthers so maybe, just maybe they will have some success throwing the ball.  That all depends on the offensive line as they have allowed Panthers’ QBs to be sacked 17 times already this year.

When the 49ers have the ball:  The 49ers are going to likely come out running the ball with Frank Gore against a Panthers’ D which is allowing 134.4 yards rushing per game but only 3.8 yards per carry.  The Panthers only have 7 sacks this year but they have 9 pickoffs so Alex Smith is going to have time to throw the ball but he has to be careful with it.  I fully expect this to be the week that the 49ers try to throw the ball down the field to Michael Crabtree.  But, Vernon Davis and Frank Gore (out of the backfield) will also see quite a few targets in this game.

PREDICTION:  49ERS 20, PANTHERS 16

31-year old WR Steve Smith is back after two weeks to rest his ankle.  That is great news for the Panthers who are only averaging 136.4 yards passing per game so far this year.  Smith has played in 4 games for the Panthers so far this year and he has caught 13 passes for 174 yards (13.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He has now played in 125 games in his 10 years with the Panthers and he has caught 587 passes for 8,504 yards (14.5 avg) with 52 TD grabs.  Smith has also carried the ball 47 times for 295 yards (6.3 avg) with 2 TD carries in his career.  Unless another receiver emerges this year, Smith is going to have to fight for every catch and yard he gets as he will be doubled almost every time he goes out for a pass.

The Carolina Panthers need to pick a QB and stick with him.  Rookie Jimmy Clausen was yanked out of the game last weekend and he was replaced by Matt Moore who didn’t play any better.  Neither of these guys are going to ever amount to anything if the coaching staff has them walking on eggshells.  So some confidence in one of these guys and roll with him.  26-year old Matt Moore was the starting QB when the season started and he would be my choice to lead the team because he had success at the end of 2009.  Moore has played in 3 games for the Panthers so far this year and he has completed 25 of 59 passes (42.4%) for 342 yards with 2 TD passes and 6 INTs (33.3 QB Rating).  Moore has also carried the ball 3 times for 17 yards (5.7 ypc) so far this year.  23-year old rookie Jimmy Clausen has also seemed overwhelmed so far this year.  He has played in all five games for the Panthers so far this year and he has completed 43 of 91 passes (47.3%) for 454 yards with 1 TD pass and 3 INTs (52.2 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 11 times for 21 yards (1.9 ypc) so far this year.  It doesn’t help that the Panthers have a horrible WRing corps outside of Steve Smith who is injured right now.  The Panthers are averaging only 10.4 points per game and 236.0 total yards of offense.  The O-Line hasn’t helped things this year as Panthers’ QBs have been sacked 17 times already this year.  DeAngelo Williams & Jonathan Stewart don’t have much of a chance this year because teams are packing the box and daring the Panthers to throw the ball.  Despite having two of the best RBs in the entire NFL, the Panthers are only averaging 99.6 yards rushing and 3.9 yards per carry so far this year. 

The Panthers have claimed 23-year old WR Devin Thomas off waivers from the Redskins.  Thomas is a big target at 6’2″, 218 pounds and he was a high draft pick (second round) so the Panthers hope all he needed was a change of scenery to get back on the right track.  He played in 4 games for the Redskins this year and he returned 12 kickoffs for 336 yards (28.0 avg) but he didn’t catch any passes.  Thomas has now played in 34 games in his NFL career and he has caught 40 passes for 445 yards (11.3 avg) with 3 TD grabs and he also has returned 32 kickoffs for 775 yards (24.2 avg).  It never hurts to take a chance on a player like Thomas.

The Panthers were down 17-0 before they could blink an eye in this game and that’s way too much for them to overcome with their lousy offense.  Jimmy Clausen was pathetic once again as he completed 9 of 22 passes for 61 yards with 1 pickoff and 3 fumbles (the Panthers didn’t lose any of them).  Matt Moore finished out this game and he stunk too as he completed 5 of 10 passes for 35 yards with 2 INTs.  DeAngelo Williams carried the ball 12 times for 51 yards (4.3 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 8 yards (2.7 avg).  Jonathan Stewart pitched in with 30 yards rushing on 8 carries (3.8 ypc) in this game.  Rookie WR David Gettis (3 rec, 32 yards) and TE Jeff King (3 rec, 20 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Panthers today.  The Panthers finished up with 85 yards rushing on 25 carries (3.4 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 32 passes for 62 yards.

LBs Dan Connor (11 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss), Jon Beason (10 tackles) and James Anderson (8 tackles, 1/2 a sack and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Panthers ’ D in this game.  Safety Charles Godfrey, DE Ed Johnson, DE Everette Brown and rookie safety Jordan Pugh each had 1 interception apiece for the Panthers in this game.  The Bears finished up with 218 yards rushing on 42 carries (5.2 ypc) and they also completed 8 of 19 passes for 29 yards.  The Panthers are now 0-5 on the year.

The Bears will be without Jay Cutler (concussion) in this game but the Panthers will be without WR Steve Smith (high ankle sprain).  The advantage will belong with the Bears in that tradeoff.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bears will be a little different with Todd Collins at QB instead of Jay Cutler.  Collins doesn’t have near Cutler’s arm strength so the passing game will likely be of the shorter variety this weekend.  TE Greg Olsen and Johnny Knox will likely get most of the targets in the passing game from Collins.  I also think that the Bears will get the ball in Matt Forte & Chester Taylor’s hands a lot in both the running and passing game against the Panthers.  The Panthers only have 4 sacks this year so Collins should have a lot of time to throw the ball this week.

When the Panthers have the ball:  With Steve Smith out of action I can almost guarantee that the Panthers are going to feed the ball to DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart both in the running game and the passing game.  The Bears have a stout front seven on D as they are only allowing 77.0 yards rushing and 3.5 yards per carry this year.  Panthers’ QBs have been sacked 12 times already this season and that doesn’t bode well with Julius Peppers playing for the Bears now.  Clausen likely won’t have much time to throw the ball and a very young WRing corps to throw to.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 17, PANTHERS 3