The Panthers really need 23-year old WR Dwayne Jarrett to step up due to Mushin Muhammad’s knee injury.  Jarrett has played in 8 games this season for the Panthers and he has caught 9 passes for 78 yards (8.7 avg).  He has now played three years in Carolina appearing in 24 games in which he has caught 25 passes for 270 yards (10.8 avg).  If Jarrett doesn’t start playing better soon his time will be up in Carolina.

Time is starting to run out for Jake Delhomme as the starting QB of the Carolina Panthers.  He has completed 106 of 177 passes (59.9%) for 1,172 yards with 4 TD passes and 13 INTs (56.5 QB Rating).  Delhomme has also carried the ball 8 times for 31 yards (3.9 ypc) this year.  Delhomme will have to play well against the Cardinals in the first half of the game tomorrow or I think that will yank him.  Matt Moore would likely replace him as the starting QB as he has more experience in the Panthers’ system than A.J. Feeley does.  Moore has completed 6 of 11 passes (54.5%) for 63 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT (33.5 QB Rating) this season for the Panthers.

Steve Smith has caught 21 passes for 259 yards (12.3 avg) with 0 TD grabs this season.  Smith is starting to feel left out of the offense but he shouldn’t.  The Panthers are only averaging 156.8 yards passing per game this season and Jake Delhomme is off to a putrid start to the year.  TEs Jeff King and Dante Rosario have caught all four of the TD passes from Jake Delhomme this season.  Smith has played 9 years for the Panthers now appearing in 111 games in which he has caught 530 passes for 7,607 yards (14.4 avg) with 43 TD grabs.  He has caught 78 or more passes 5 times in his career with the Panthers and he also has 5 years of 1,000+ receiving yards.  The Panthers need to get Smith more involved in the offense or teams are going to gang up on DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.

DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart have had a hard time running the ball this season as opposing teams have been loading the box with 8 and 9 defenders daring Jake Delhomme to beat them with the passing game.  Williams has only 220 yards rushing this season and he is only averaging 3.7 yards per carry.  He has also caught 11 passes out of the backfield for 103 yards (9.4 avg) this season.  Jonathan Stewart has carried the ball 33 times for 138 yards (4.2 ypc) with 1 TD run this season and he has caught 8 passes for 69 yards (8.6 avg).  Besides WR Steve Smith, Williams and Stewart are the best two players on the offense and the Panthers need to get them going or it’s going to be a long season.  For that to happen though, Jake Delhomme needs to wake up.

The win-less Carolina Panthers are sticking with Jake Delhomme as their starting quarterback even though he has seven interceptions in the first three games.  Delhomme played terrible in the opener and had costly late-game interceptions in his last two games against the Atlanta Falcons and the Dallas Cowboys.  Delhomme didn’t play terrible against the Cowboys though, and Steve Smith was more to blame for the late game interception by Delhomme, as Smith broke off his slant route.

In three games so far this year, Delhomme has only two touchdowns compared to seven interceptions on 54/91 (59.3%) pass attempts.  He has been sacked seven times and has fumbled it twice and has a quarterback rating of 54.3.  I don’t think the Panthers  have much of an option when it comes to their quarterbacks though, as Delhomme’s back-ups are A.J. Feeley and Matt Moore.   Feeley was picked up after week one after Delhomme’s original backup Josh McCown got injured and is out with a knee injury.  Moore has not played since 2007.  Neither quarterback has ever really been a number one starter and both aren’t really a good option to turn to, even with Delhomme’s struggles.

Delhomme really needs to step it up though, or he will be out soon.  Jeff Garcia was just released by the Eagles, so could you be seeing him in a Panthers uniform soon?  He would be a better option than Delhomme with the way this year has gone so far, so it wouldn’t hurt to try.

The Panthers have serious issues on defense and they need to protect Jake Delhomme.  The best way to accomplish both of those goals is by controlling the clock with the running game.  It’s not like they don’t have the horses to do exactly that.  DeAngelo Williams will get the ball more often than Stewart.  He has carried the ball 30 times for 116 yards (3.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs this season and he has also caught 7 passes for 74 yards (10.6 avg).  He can do better just like he did last season.  Jonathan Stewart is a little gimpy right now so the Panthers can keep him on a hit count.  Stewart has carried the ball 20 times for 100 yards (5.0 ypc) and he has caught 5 passes for 46 yards (9.2 avg) so far this season.  The Cowboys allow 135.5 yards rushing per game this season so look for Williams and Stewart to get a lot of work on Monday Night.