The Panthers don’t have another WR or a TE to take away the double teams that 31-year old WR Steve Smith has been dealing with all year long.  With the Panthers going with a rookie QB, the Panthers need Smith to step up and make some plays.  Smith has played in 7 games this year for the Panthers and he has 27 catches for 318 yards (11.8 avg) with 2 TD grab.  He has now played in 128 games in his 10 years with the Panthers and he has caught 601 passes for 8,648 yards (14.4 avg) with 52 TD grabs.  Smith has also carried the ball 47 times for 295 yards (5.3 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career.  Smith is the best playmaker on the Panthers and they need to find more ways to get the ball in his hands, period.

2nd year RB Mike Goodson will get his big chance for the Panthers this weekend against a Buccaneers’ D that is allowing 147.0 yards rushing and 5.0 yards per carry so far this year.  Goodson will be starting due to injuries to DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart and Tyrell Sutton which will cause them all to miss this game.  The 23-year old Goodson has played in all 8 games for the Panthers so far this year and he has 16 carries for 50 yards (3.1 ypc).  Goodson has also caught 17 passes for 140 yards (8.2 avg) and he has returned 30 kickoffs for 686 yards (22.9 avg).  I would think that the Panthers would have someone else return kickoffs this week with Goodson likely to have a big role on offense. 

With Matt Moore out for the rest of the season it’s up to Jimmy Clausen or Tony Pike to save the season.  Clausen will probably get the first crack at the job.  He has played in 6 games for the Panthers so far this year and he has completed 51 of 109 passes (46.8%) for 501 yards with 1 TD pass and 4 INTs (48.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 12 times for 32 yards (2.7 ypc) so far this year.  Tony Pike made his debut for the Panthers last week when he replaced Clausen in the 4th quarter.  He completed 6 of 12 passes (50%) for 47 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs (60.1 QB Rating).  Pike probably won’t get a chance to play unless Clausen continues to implode (which is entirely possible).

23-year old running back Jonathan Stewart really broke out for the Panthers last season.  He played in all 16 games for the Panthers last season and he carried the ball 221 times for 1,133 yards (5.1 ypc) with 10 TD carries.  Stewart also caught 18 passes for 139 yards (7.7 avg) with 1 TD grab last year.  This season has been a disaster so far for Stewart who has been a little dinged up.  He has played in 7 games for the Panthers so far this year and he has carried the ball 64 times for 178 yards (2.8 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Stewart has also caught 5 passes for 85 yards (17.0 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  DeAngelo Williams is banged up right now (foot injury) so the Panthers need Stewart to step up and carry the load in the running game right now.

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 averaged 156.1 yards rushing per game last season and they have the same cast at running back this year.  But, the Panthers are only averaging 98.3 yards rushing per game and 3.6 yards per carry.  DeAngelo Williams has 43 carries for 180 yards (4.2 ypc) and he has also caught 3 passes for 20 yards (6.7 avg) so far this year.  Jonathan Stewart is off to a very slow start though as he has carried the ball 21 times for 68 yards (3.2 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 2 passes for 18 yards (9.0 avg) so far this year.  Williams & Stewart will get rolling at some point this year but it’s hard running against 8 or more players in the box.  The reason for that is that no team is scared of the Panthers’ passing game right now.  The Panthers are averaging 162.3 yards passing so far this year and the QBs have a pathetic 43.9 rating.  Until the QBs start making some good throws, Williams & Stewart are going to have to fight for every yard they get running the ball.

The Panthers have decided to go with rookie Jimmy Clausen as the starting QB this week against the Bengals.  Clausen has completed 7 of 15 passes (46.7%) for 59 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT (29.6 QB Rating) in the Panthers’ first two games.  He also has carried the ball 1 time for 0 yards this year.  Clausen will be replacing Matt Moore who has had a rough start to the season.  Moore got a concussion against the Giants in the first week of the year and he still looked foggy yesterday against the Bucs.  Moore has completed 20 of 49 passes (40.8%) for 307 yards with 2 TD passes and 4 INTs (41.8 QB Rating) so far this year.  He has also carried the ball 3 times for 17 yards (5.7 ypc) this year.  I don’t think I like this move unless Moore is injured.  That’s because the Bengals picked off 4 Joe Flacco passes yesterday and they will likely be licking their chops with a rookie starting against them.

It doesn’t really matter if Matt Moore or Jimmy Clausen starts this game at QB…..the Panthers are going to run the ball early and often against the Bucs.  The Panthers carried the ball 81 times for 424 yards (5.2 ypc) with 4 TD runs in their sweep of the Bucs last year.  In the first meeting last year in Tampa, both DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart went over 100 yards rushing!  The Giants ganged up on Williams (16 carries, 62 yards) and Stewart (5 carries, 12 yards) but the Buccaneers have nowhere near the quality front seven that the Giants have.  Look for one or both of them to have big games this Sunday.

Jake Delhomme struggled this season before it ended with a broken finger on his throwing hand.  Then Matt Moore led the Panthers to a very impressive finish.  They will battle it out in training camp for the starting job.  34-year old Jake Delhomme played in 11 games for the Panthers this season and he completed 178 of 321 passes (55.5%) 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 has now played in 97 games in his NFL career and he has completed 1,630 of 2,755 passes (59.2%) for 19,892 yards with 123 TD passes and 94 INTs (82.1 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 167 times for 330 yards (2.0 ypc) with 7 TD grabs.  Delhomme better come to training camp ready to play or Matt Moore is going to take his starting job away.

25-year old Matt Moore was outstanding this season for the Panthers.  He played in 7 games for the Panthers this season and he completed 85 of 138 passes (61.6%) for 1,053 yards with 8 TD passes and 2 INTs (98.5 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 12 times for -3 yards (-0.3 ypc) this year.  Moore has now played in 16 games in his NFL career and he has completed 148 of 249 passes (59.4%) for 1,783 yards with 11 TD passes and 7 INTs (84.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 15 times for 2 yards (0.1 ypc) in his career.  If all things are equal next season I think Moore will be the starting QB in 2010 for the Panthers.

30-year old Josh McCown injured himself in his only game of the year and he will likely be replaced as the #3 QB by A.J. Feeley.  McCown played in 1 game for the Panthers this season and he completed 1 of 6 passes (16.7%) for 2 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs (39.6 QB Rating).  McCown has played in 47 games in his NFL career and he has completed 610 of 1,058 passes (57.7%) for 6,584 yards with 35 TD passes and 40 INTs (71.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 127 times for 569 yards (4.5 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career.

32-year old A.J. Feeley will likely be the #3 QB for the Panthers in 2010.  He did not get into any games for them last season.  He has played in 23 games in his NFL career and he has completed 372 of 665 passes (55.9%) for 4,070 yards with 27 TD passes and 29 INTs (69.6 QB Rating).  Feeley has also carried the ball 34 times for 45 yards (1.3 ypc) with 1 TD run in his career.