The Panthers pushed the Saints around yesterday.  Matt Moore was in game manager mode as he completed 14 of 23 passes for 162 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Jonathan Stewart led the way on the ground for the Panthers yesterday with 125 yards rushing on 16 carries (7.8 ypc) with a TD run.  Mike Goodson pitched in with 13 carries for 44 yards (3.4 ypc) in this game.  Mushin Muhammad led the way in the passing game for the Panthers with 7 grabs for 85 yards (12.1 avg).  Dwayne Jarrett had one of his better games of his NFL career yesterday with 5 grabs for 68 yards (13.6 avg) with a TD grab.  The Panthers finished up with 327 total yards in this game (178 rushing, 149 passing).

LB Na’il Diggs (10 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) and CB Richard Marshall (6 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 fumble recovery) led the way for the Panthers on D in this game.  DE Julius Peppers (3 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 INT) and CB Dante Wesley (fumble recovery) also pitched in with big plays yesterday.  The Saints finished up with only 213 total yards on offense  (111 rushing, 102 passing) in this game.  The Panthers finished the season with a 8-8 record which put them in third place in the NFC South.

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.

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 just didn’t have enough zip on offense to stick with the Patriots today.  Matt Moore was so-so as he completed 15 of 30 passes for 197 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  DeAngelo Williams was solid with 13 carries for 82 yards (6.3 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 15 yards (7.5 avg).  Jonathan Stewart pitched in with 29 yards rushing on 7 carries (4.1 ypc) today.  Steve Smith only caught 2 passes but they were good for 83 yards (41.5 avg) with a TD grab.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 7 yards (3.5 ypc).  The Panthers finished up with 305 total yards on offense (126 rushing, 179 passing) in his game despite only having the ball for 25:45.

LBs Jon Beason (16 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss) and Dan Connor (11 tackles) led the way for a Panthers’ D that was pushed around a little bit in this game.  The Patriots finished up with 377 total yards on offense (185 rushing, 192 passing) in his game.  The Panthers are now 5-8 on the year.

Jonathon Stewart carried the Carolina Panthers (5-7) to an ugly win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-11) on Sunday.  Stewart carried the ball 26 times for 120 yards and a touchdown.  Stewart’s rushing touchdown was the only touchdown of the game, by either team.  Matt Moore didn’t have a particularly good game at quarterback for the Panthers, throwing an interception and 161 yards on 14/20 passes, but he easily outplayed his counterpart.  Buccaneers’ quarterback Josh Freeman had 5 interceptions and barely completed 50% of his passes.  Moore was efficient and did enough to get the win, but the Panthers would like to see better out of him as it looks like Jake Delhomme (finger) is going to be put on the IR.

The Panthers defense did a great job, but they got a lot of gifts from Freeman.  They did give up way too many yards (469), but they kept the Bucs out of the endzone and only allowed two second quarter field goals.  Jon Beason was the star for the defense, as he was the main reason the Bucs went 0-4 in the red zone.  Beason had two interceptions, one coming in the endzone and the other right near the goal line.  Overall this was an ugly game, but a win is a win and the Panthers are always happy with any win.