SB Nation - Jake Delhomme

Has Panthers Delhomme Made Final Start of 2009?

Jaxon — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:00:23 -0000

by Chuck Burton - AP

4 days ago: Carolina Panthers' Matt Moore (3) prepares throw a pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009. Moore was a winner in his first start of the season for the Panthers, and likely will remain Carolina's quarterback for another week. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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Does anyone else find it slightly incredulous that Panthers coach John Fox calls Jake Delhomme day-to-day following a fracture of his middle finger on his throwing hand? That easily sounds like a three or even four week healing process. I'm pretty sure it took Tony Romo three to four weeks to recover from a similar injury last season. Four weeks until being able to throw without pain sounds reasonable and besides, why would you want to rush back a QB with 18 INT's in 11 games? Wouldn't you want to make sure Delhomme's finger is a 100% before risking another loss at this point?

So if we assume Delhomme is out four weeks then why not just sit him the final two? If in these next two games Matt Moore leads the Panthers back to .500 at 7-7 they are suddenly back in the wildcard hunt. Removing Moore from the line up after resurrecting the season against teams like the Patriots and Vikings would certainly put Fox in the hot seat if Delhomme tanked...again.

If the Panthers instead lose the next two games the season is dead and so again I ask why start Delhomme. Let him go ahead and start his planning for next season. With his contract the Panthers will at the very least have him back in camp and competing.

If the Panthers do lose and Matt Moore fails to impress then why not give AJ Feeley a shot? I'll stop there and not suggest we elevate Hunter Cantwell as tempting as that sounds. Fans pay good money to see these games and they should see the best the Panthers have on the roster. The Panthers know ultimately that need to keep a competitive team on the field to keep the wine and cheese crowd happy. Besides, even if Moore tanks you can hardly fault Fox for sticking with the kid, he obviously doesn't better options.

If the Panther are eliminated from playoff contention then I say it's time to figure out if our future starting QB is already on the roster. I would really applaud John Fox if just went ahead and told Moore he going to start at least two more games. See how the kid responds to the pressure. I will agree that Moore wasn't overly impressive in his start against the Bucs. Mediocre stats but I thought he made some good decisions under pressure, made some crisp throws and good rid of the ball quickly. Again, not an overly impressive performance but a solid (and winning helps). Honestly if there is one characteristic that has impressed me the most it was his poise. Moore doesn't appear to get rattled in the pocket, sheds hits, and appears focused on the at all times. That said, here's three things I would like to see Moore improve on in his next start.

Let's start with his pocket awareness. The Patriots will certainly bring pressure to rattle the youngster and the Panthers offense line hasn't exactly been a fortress. I'm looking to see if he can sense the pressure and move around in the pocket a little to buy him that extra second he needs.
Let's see if he takes more shots down field. The Patriots Achilles heel on offense is its secondary. WR Steve Smith will certainly want to build a rapport with Moore and there is no better way to do that then connect for a couple big plays. Remember Smith's miraculous catch in the freezing cold last season in Green Bay? Smith would love nothing more than to do that in Foxboro under similar conditions.
Finally let's see if the kid uses his wheels this week. It seems there is always at least one point in every game when a QB is better served to run for the that 3^rd down conversation if they could only see it. Moore has run the ball very little in his short career but that needs to change. If I'm going to invest in a young QB then I need a guy who can also pull the ball down and run three yards for that first down if the opportunity is there. We have all seen the danger of having a statue for a QB in the pocket. The pass rushers start running to a spot and it's only a matter of time before that ball gets knocked out.

Now that the Panther defense is playing better this team can keep itself in games to the end if it will only protect the ball on offense. Putting any QB coming off an injury to his throwing hand back into the starting line-up prematurely is a recipe for disaster, much less one having a season such as Delhomme's. Sticking with Moore for the remainder of the season only makes sense no matter the win-loss record. Only then will the Panthers be able to properly formulate an offseason plan for the QB position, something many fans on this site wished had happened last offseason...

I can't end on such a stale note. There STILL remains that last glimmer of hope that these Panthers with their young, fearless leader somehow infiltrates the Patriots, conquers the Vikings, squashes the Giants and excommunicates the Saints. If that miraculous scenario should happen then how excited would we be? Just think about that for a moment......I can't even go there. Positive vibe gone...

Poll

Should Panthers QB Jake Delhomme get another start in the 2009 season?

Carolina Panthers’ Monday Morning Optimist- 12/7/2009

James The Aussie — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:51:49 -0000

More photos » by Mike McCarn - AP

5 days ago: Carolina Panthers' Matt Moore, right,talks with injured quarterback Jake Delhomme, left, in the second half of their 16-6 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Mike McCarn)

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Good morning Panther faithful! I have to start by saying one thing- Redzone Defense WOW! If case you didn't get a chance to see Sunday's game vs. Tampa Bay here's the single reason we won right here: The Carolina Panthers stopped the Buccaneers 5 times in the red zone, and another 3 times between 20 and 30 yards out. While these 20-30 yard stops are not technically red zone defensive stands, for all intents are purposes we had 8 occasions where the Bucs were knocking on the door and the Panthers defense said ‘No'. It was a good thing that the defense stepped up, because the Panthers offense was anemic on Sunday.

As good as the Panthers' defense was on Sunday there are still a lot of other areas to be optimistic about, and some others we need to be wary of. So please join me and I break it all down

After the jump...

In the end the big story for Panther fans wasn't getting a win, amazing red zone defense or stout running by Jonathan Stewart- the storyline for this game was Matt Moore. I'm mentioning Moore now because I'm not including him in my optimistic/pessimistic breakdown. Simply put, he didn't play either well enough, nor did he play poor enough to garner either distinction. However, I will be talking about his play in depth now.

Matt Moore was stepping into the perfect situation on Sunday. Despite not starting since late 2007 he was playing at home, against a 1-10 team, who didn't have their starting and no.1 CB Aqib Talib. If there was a more perfect scenario to step into for a young QB I don't know what is. Moore started well enough; he took care of the football, didn't take many risks and relied on his outlet routes to provide safe yards.

What Moore didn't do, however, was quarterback an offense that were able to effectively move the chains. 70% completion is worth nothing if you aren't moving the ball effectively. Delhomme barks out alignments and points out blitzing LBs to the OL and RB, he calls audibles to get out of clearly bad situations. The Matt Moore run offense did none of this, and it showed in the lack of productivity on the ground. Make no mistake, Jonathan Stewart's numbers look good in the box score, but for those of us who watched the game we know how many horrible situations he willed into big gains. His stats do not give his individual performance credit, as Stewart continually fought against numerous missed blitzes and backfield pressure every down. This was against a team who we've run all over in our previous two outings. Not all of this can be attributed to Matt Moore, but some of the blame has to be leveled on the QB for failing to identify blitzing players are alignments to the offense.

Another area it is clear Moore needs to improve in is leading his receivers. Out of his 14 completed passes only one was a clearly nice lead- the bomb to Steve Smith. The rest of the time he was throwing such that the receiver was getting the ball, but completely unable to get any YAC. When we have limited offensive weapons already you need to make the most of what you have, and Moore didn't make the most of what we had on offense.

Those points aside, he played decently. Finding Steve Smith as many times as Jeff King isn't going to get it done. In Jaxon's postgame wrap-up the poll had 20 people (at the time of this story) vote for Matt Moore to get the game ball. We have become so jaded by abysmal QB play in 2009 that Moore's mediocre performance is stunning to some people, and that's the reason we're 5-7 right now. What worries me if the areas he was lacking in aren't areas a 2 year player should be having issues, they're areas you typically see a rookie struggle in. From where I stand the game ball needs to go to the player who won the game for you, not the player who didn't lose it. If the Panthers' defense goes a very respectable 3-2 on Red Zone stops we lose Sunday's game.

I wanted nothing more than to be writing about Moore's 247 yard, 2 TD, 0 INT game this morning, or the 222 yard, 1 TD, 1 INT the game that numerous people predicted in the ‘Matt Moore prediction thread' but what we got was just average. Not good enough to win a game, not bad enough to lose one- just dead average. I hope Moore gets the start vs. New England this week. Then we'll really get to see the kid's mettle, because as it stands now I don't think I learnt anything new about Matt Moore from a ho-hum performance against a (now) 1-11 team, and this is a time we need to learn about him as a player so we know if he can lead this team in the future or if we need to roll the dice on a rookie QB.

OPTIMISTIC

Jon Beason- Extremely Optimistic: Beast, beast, beast! What an amazing game by Beason. Not only was he the team's second leading tackler, but he added two key interceptions. That is how you lead by example. Beason seems to be getting more comfortable in Ron Meeks' system too, at first he looked a little out of place, being using to the more plodding style of Trgovac's 4-3, but now in the cover two he's using his speed and power more effectively, great game.

Jonathan Stewart- Extremely Optimistic: As much as I would have liked to see DeAngelo Williams available for Sunday's game it was really nice to see J-Stew have an entire game to be the feature back. As I mentioned earlier, there were so many plays where Stewart turned nothing into something. Non-Panther fans see Stewart as an injury prone back without knowing his situation, we know him as the tough as nails bowling ball who will hit you in the mouth, then run you over- great stuff to see.

Ron Meeks- Extremely Optimistic: Meeks has pitched a tent in this area every week, and he's not giving it up now. Meeks' defense is better than good, it's great. This is, after all, the NFL. Look at the defensive injuries and tell me you aren't impressed with a pieced together defense- some of whom were on practice squads a few weeks ago and tell me 8 stops inside the 30 yard line isn't impressive. Yes, the players account for a lot of that, but credit has to go with defensive scheming too. During the game thread I was going to give him a ‘somewhat' ranking, but I can't do it; especially after the defensive won this game for us.

Chris Harris- Extremely Optimistic: Chris, Mr. CSR, you made us proud. 5 tackles, 1 end zone INT. Harris was flying around the secondary flat out making plays all day. It was great to see.

Everette Brown- Somewhat Optimistic: I like Everette Brown, I like him a lot. Brown had at least 4 QB hurries on Sunday, and contributed to an incomplete pass which was tantamount to a forced fumble. Furthermore, Brown didn't quit on plays- often being one of the fastest guys in pursuit to the sideline. He's young, but he'll learn. I like what I'm seeing.

Tyrell Sutton- Somewhat Optimistic: Great play from the undrafted rookie. He got limited looks, but averaged an excellent 6.3 ypc. I think he could have gotten some more runs, but he looked good. Perhaps he's the future of our ‘three headed monster' not Mike Goodson, who knows?

CJ Wilson- Somewhat Optimistic: Something has to be said when you're hanging on to a roster spot at 4^th CB and you end up playing coverage better than a starter. Wilson was very impressive, and it was nice to see that Panthers give some other guys a look.

Nick Hayden- Somewhat Optimistic: Nice work by Hayden in limited time. The best way to justify staying on the roster is to make plays, and he got a much needed sack.

PESSIMISTIC

Offensive Line- Extremely Pessimistic: This group has no fight without Jordan Gross; the also open up no holes, protect the QB or get any push either. They have to play better, they have to. Right now, they're not doing anything well.

Richard Marshall- Extremely Pessimistic: When a CB leads your team in tackles, it's never a good thing. It usually means that said corner was out of position so many times that the opposing QB targeted that side of the field. Well, that's exactly what happened with Marshall. He was outplayed by CJ Wilson who ended up covering for him, and if Marshall is the best CB we have (as some believe) we're in trouble.

Chris Gamble- Somewhat Pessimistic: INT good, PR bad. A takeaway and a giveaway balance each other out. From there you go to his coverage and he was caught out of position a few times. Not a great game for Gamble.

Overall Analysis

The Panthers are now 5-7, and if the ball bounces the right way I definitely see this team being able to finish 8-8 or even (are I say) 9-7. I gave Jake a mulligan on his game vs. Philadelphia, so I'll give Matt Moore a mulligan on this game. I personally intend to treat the game vs. New England as his first start. People can talk about Moore playing ‘mistake free' until the cows come home, but in full games where Jake Delhomme has been asked to throw equal to, or less than 25 times his stats have been:

466 yards, 5 TD, 3 INT, 83.65 rating

The fact remains that when Jake is asked to do what Moore did yesterday he'll play well, ask him to throw 30-50 times and he'll fail. I hope Moore gets a shot to throw those 30-50 times so we can see if he can get it done or not. Until then, the jury is still out on Moore and this season as a whole.

65% Optimistic about the future as we face the New England Patriots

Time for the Road to the NFC Championship to Take a Detour

ericj69 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:58:09 -0000

After Sunday night's game, they'll need to stick these outside of University of Phoenix Stadium if people are looking for the road to the Super Bowl.

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The Arizona Cardinals, defending NFC Champions, are well on their way to winning their second consecutive NFC West title this year.

If you would have read me that sentence two years ago, I would have told you to send me the link to the rest of the article from The Onion, since it was obviously a joke. (If you had read me that sentence in 2001, I would have just assumed you knew nothing about the NFL since Arizona was obviously in the NFC East. You hypothetical dumbass from the past.)

But it's true. Arizona somehow made the Super Bowl last year. The same team that Tarvaris Jackson torched for an easy Minnesota 35-14 win in Arizona last year. And even after Vince Young gave Matt Leinart an acid flashback of the 2006 Rose Bowl last week, the Cardinals are still perched atop their division by two games. (Note: I totally didn't mean to make the lame "Cardinals/perched" pun there, but I'm not surprised that I accidentally did.) Technically, the road to the NFC Championship still runs through Glendale, AZ.

But only until Sunday night, if everything goes well for the Vikes. A win for the Purple means the road to Super Bowl XLIV takes a detour away from Arizona.

If the Vikings prevail in the desert, they'll guarantee that Arizona would get the third seed in the NFC at the very best, assuring the Cardinals will have to go on the road to make it back to the Super Bowl. (Yes, I realize they won a road game to get there last year, but they still won the NFC Championship at home. Just stay with my flimsy detour theme here. I posted a picture of a sign and everything.)

But just like creating real detours, we shouldn't expect this one to go smoothly. Yes, Favre is exponentially better than T-Jax. However, we're not the only team that has a Social Security-eligible quarterback that's still playing well. I know Kurt Warner missed last week's game, but I'd be surprised if he didn't play based on what I've heard this week. We have a strong core of receivers in El Sid, Percy, B-Twice, and Shank. But Larry Fitzgerald is still the best receiver in the game (you can mention Andre Johnson here, but he's tied with Fitz at the very best). Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston are nothing to sneeze at either. If ever there was a game for Antoine Winfield to make his glorious return to the field, it's this one.

And would you look at this--the Cardinals even brought a little bit of a running game this year. They even average more than 2.3 yards a carry! Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower aren't greatest backfield committee ever (that's Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen, of course) but they've added a dimension to Arizona that wasn't really there last year.

Most of us know that stopping the Cards' offense will be tough. But what about the D? From what I've seen of Arizona and learned from the guys over at Revenge Of The Birds, they're better than the numbers show. They're 24th in total yards, but still in the top half of the league in points allowed and tied for fourth in sacks. Defensive lineman Darnell Dockett could give our line some trouble. Karlos Dansby leads the team in tackles and will be a tough test for our running game. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is not only annoying to type out, he's also annoying to play against. If Favre can't duplicate his zero-interception November, DRC is always a threat to take picks back to the house. I'd still take Minnesota's defense over Arizona's any day, but it doesn't mean we'll be able to duplicate the easy day in the desert we had last year.

While it would be nice to take another step towards Dome-field advantage, it would also be good to get another victory against a winning team. The only issue the critics have taken with Minnesota this year is "who have they played?" To be honest, the critics have a point. As Bill Simmons said today in his article:

Combined record of the nine teams they've defeated this season: 39-71. Let's give them 2009 Winston Wolf Memorial "Don't Start Sucking Each Other's Popsicles Yet" status.

A win on the road over the 7-4 Cards would give us a little more credibility heading towards the playoffs.

Unfortunately, the detour from Arizona might go south to New Orleans even if Minnesota is victorious on Sunday. I'm sure most of you saw the Saints absolutely disassemble the Patriots on Monday night. The Saints offense is formidable to say the least, but that's not what worries me most about N'awlins. That Superdome crowd was absolutely BONKERS the entire game. Could you imagine them in an NFC Championship Game with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance on the line? My ear drums are throbbing just thinking about it. Let's hope the Saints drop a couple games down the stretch so we can show them how loud the Metrodome can get in late January. But first thing's first--let's start the construction for the detour on Sunday!

Prediction: Vikings 31, Cardinals 24

The rest of my Week 13 NFL picks (home team in CAPS):

COLTS over Titans: These teams are six games apart in the standings, yet they may be the best two teams in the AFC right now. The Titans make an intriguing upset pick here--until you realize it's still Vince Young vs. Peyton Manning. Young is a winner, but he still throws like Uncle Rico.

Texans over JAGUARS: Would you ever pick either of these teams to win a game if your life depended on it? This game could a blowout either way and I can honestly say I wouldn't be surprised. Let's just move on before I change this pick like I already have six times.

Broncos over CHIEFS: The Chiefs as a team are as broken as Tiger Woods' Escalade. But don't tell that to Jamaal Charles, your 2009 Late-Season Fantasy Pickup From A Terrible Team MVP!

STEELERS over Raiders: The Steelers are on a three-game losing streak. If you had to pick an NFL team to play at home to break a three-game losing streak, wouldn't just about everyone pick the Raiders? I sure would.

Saints over REDSKINS: Yeah, that whole "Detour to Minnesota" theme of my column isn't going to get any help from Washington this week.

BENGALS over Lions: My Eliminator pick of the week--still alive at 12-0! If the Bengals lose two games in the easiest stretch of scheduling ever (Oakland-Cleveland-Detroit), they should be relegated to the UFL.

BEARS over Rams: Two weeks ago, the Seahawks came to the Dome and got pounded. They got to play the Rams the following week. Last week, the Bears came to the Dome and got embarrassed. They get to play the Rams this week. Call it the "NFL Scheduling Mercy Rule".

PANTHERS over Buccaneers: Jake Delhomme is out this week. Does that help or hurt Carolina's chances? Really, I'm serious. I've never even heard of Matt Moore until this week, but I can't imagine he'd be any worse.

Eagles over FALCONS: No Matty Ice for Atlanta this week. Which means they'll have to switch to McNabbelob Golden Light.

Chargers over BROWNS: I literally ran out of jokes to make about the Browns. So instead, I'll treat you to the best NFL theme song ever:

As a bonus, I'll also treat you to the Charger cheerleaders:

There--I bet you've forgotten all about those rotten Browns by now!

GIANTS over Cowboys: It's December. You know what that means Cowboy fans! Time for some melting down!

49ers over SEAHAWKS: Meh. I just need Vernon Davis and Frank Gore to have big weeks for me to clinch the regular season title in one of my fantasy leagues. So I'm picking San Fran.

Patriots over DOLPHINS: The Patriots don't lose two games in a row. I think it's a league rule or something.

Ravens over PACKERS: I have a bunch of Packer fan friends that are heading to Lambeau for this game. Please oh please, Baltimore, ruin their day for me!

Last week: 11-5

Season so far: 123-54 (including getting Thursday's game wrong)

Carolina Panthers Hump Day Prognostication (Tampa Bay Buccaneers edition)

James The Aussie — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:49:30 -0000

More photos » by Chuck Burton - AP

Matt Moore can take the rain, but can he stand the torrent of expectation placed on him on Sunday? (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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Happy hump day Panther faithful! I like Wednesdays, I always have. For a football fan the day is particularly forgiving. I don't know the intimate details of how grieving works, but I do know that my disappointment from Sunday, which normally manifests itself as anger around Monday has become accepted by Wednesday. This is the time I start to get excited about Sunday's game. I know many fans these days will say something akin to ‘How can you be excited about this team?' well, it's simple. At times like this I dig deep, reflect on the team and remember the past summer when all there was available was baseball. It drastically helps put things in perspective and be thankful I have football, any football, to watch on Sunday.

The Carolina Panthers (4-7) are at home to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-10) and though the Bucs are having a poor season, if you're a fan of them you have a lot to be hopeful for; Josh Freeman looks like the real deal. These division matchups are always tough; there are no easy wins in the NFC South, so let's break it down.

More after the jump...

Let me preface today's article by saying that I understand Jake Delhomme is listed as ‘day to day' with his broken finger, and that no official announcement has been made appointing Matt Moore the starter for Sunday's game. However, I'm operating under the assumption Moore will be the starter on Sunday.

I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous about this game- really nervous. When that happens on a Wednesday I know I'll be a wreck by Sunday. It's not about the prospect of a win or a loss, but it's about the future of the franchise. I know I'm probably being a little hyperbolic, but I am fascinated to see how Matt Moore does. I am aware it will take more than one start to evaluate if he can be ‘the man'; I've even said people shouldn't put too much stock in this start. That being said, if Moore is able to look like an NFL starter then the notion that we have a 25 year old starting QB waiting in the wings it very exciting. Nothing would make me happier than to have Moore be the answer and us not needing to draft a QB. We're a team so close to greatness that I would love being able to use our 2^nd and 3^rd round picks on a WR or DL to fill our few gaps (maybe we can draft a good OC! I kid, Jeff Davidson).

Tampa Bay run offense vs. Carolina run defense.

Offense of any kind has been hard to come by for the Buccaneers, let alone rushing offense. Cadillac Williams is having a resurgence, but they still lack a RB that can average over 4 ypc. The run hasn't been a priority to Tampa Bay as their 2.5:1 pass/run ratio shows, though some of this can be attributed to being forced to throw when down on the scoreboard.

The Panthers' run defense has been up and down in 2009, but mostly down. That being said, I just don't see Williams or Ward having a breakout game against us.

Edge: Carolina

Tampa Bay passing offense vs. Carolina passing defense

As I mentioned before, Josh Freeman looks like the real deal. He currently has 793 yards, 7 TD, 5 INT in 4 starts. His 75.4 QB rating is better than Matt Stafford or Mark Sanchez thus far. He's been a very pleasant early surprise when most people thought he would be a few years away from being NFL ready.

Freeman is a big QB at 6'6", but he's also got a bad case of fumble-it is, fumbling the ball 7 times in his 4 starts. It will be incumbent upon Julius Peppers to get after him early, and often. Freeman tends to hold onto the ball a little too long and make normal rookie errors, we need to hold a magnifying glass to those mistakes and take him out of his element.

Carolina's pass defense remains one of the best in the league, and I don't think that will change on Sunday.

Edge: Carolina

Carolina run offense vs. Tampa Bay run defense

Despite the down week in the Meadowlands I think we all know how good our running game is. We've had the Bucs number the last few outings on the ground, and I don't think that changes any time soon.

Edge: Carolina

KEY MATCHUP- Carolina passing offense vs. Tampa Bay passing defense

Here it is, Matt Moore's time to shine. People have been saying all week that ‘this will be the perfect game for Moore to start'. On a superficial level I can understand why it would appear that way, we're at home, against a 1-10 team, and one who we know very well. However, Tampa Bay have the 11^th ranked pass defense in the NFL and have several ball hawks on defense ready to get INTs.

The pressure on Moore will be sky high. At home he'll have an entire stadium wondering if he can be ‘the man' and I'm hoping he's able to temper that pressure and just play solid, mistake free football... even if he only throws the ball 5 times. Check that, I hope he only throws 5 times... I don't think they can stop our run.

Edge: Tampa Bay

Special Teams

Oh special teams... you've been better the last few weeks, but definitely not good enough to give you the edge this week; especially when the Bucs are allowing only 19.7 yards per return.

Edge: Tampa Bay

Coaching

The coaching schemes last week vs. the Jets should have worked, and the right calls were made for the most part but the players couldn't execute. Raheem Morris is a rookie coach still trying to find his groove in the league and with his team.

Edge: Carolina

Summation

I will be nervous all week with the anticipation of seeing the Matt Moore run offense. While I think he might have a rough day out on Sunday I think our running game will dominate enough to take some of the pressure off him. Tampa Bay are in a rebuilding year, no doubt, and while they played Atlanta very hard last week ultimately I think we get the better of them on Sunday.

Carolina Panthers 17 - Tampa bay Buccaneers 10

Panther Paw Prints - Gimme Moore Edition

Jaxon — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:38:22 -0000

More photos » by Seth Wenig - AP

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'm starting to get a little excited about seeing QB Matt Moore get the start this weekend. I would have preferred HC John Fox to have simply faced reality and benched Delhomme thereby giving Moore a shot of confidence. As it stands he might feel like he'll be back on the bench once Delhomme is healed, unless of course Moore shines in Delhomme absence. This edition of Paw Prints is focused on QB Matt Moore and his pending start against the Bucs. Steve Reed reports that if we liked what we saw from Moore in '07 he is a different QB now:

Now in his third year, Moore insists he's a much different quarterback than he was in '07
Moore said he’s much more prepared this time around. "I mean, a ton," Moore said of how much more comfortable he is with the team’s offense now compared to 2007. "I was here four games before I got in here before, and I'm going on my third year now. I feel good, I feel ready. If it comes to that, we'll find out soon enough. But I feel good."

Photo: Jake Delhomme's finger, pre-break but he's already in pain

One of the keys to Moore's success will be the protection, which has struggled since LT Jordan Gross went on IR:

ProFootballWeekly.com - Delhomme feels effects of Gross’ absence
Wharton gave up three sacks in the team's Week 11 loss and QB Jake Delhomme's play suffered because of it. He was sacked a season-high four times and was hit eight times. The team was optimistic that losing Gross, who made the Pro Bowl last season, wouldn't be a major issue due to Wharton's experience at left tackle, but it's clear, at least when it comes to pass protection, that the front five are not as capable as they were with Gross as an anchor.

So much for the "kick Wharton to the outside" strategy should we need a LT. I would hope the Panthers look to add a true LT as back-up at LT next year.

Now that we know which finger Delhomme broke I think its safe to say Moore should get multiple starts.

Beason plans to fight assault charges, civil suit | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC
FINGER UPDATE — Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme saw a specialist Tuesday for more tests on his broken right middle finger, and it doesn't appear he will be able to play this week.

So if Delhomme wanted to give some fans cheering his injury he couldn't "give them the finger". Okay, lame joke...its the best I could do...Speaking of lame, that describes DE Julius Peppers play of late due to a hand injury.This may not seem obvious yet but can we start to feel confident yet the Panthers will let Peppers walk at season end?

December may hold answers for Panthers - CharlotteObserver.com
Julius Peppers. Even though Peppers had a great month in the middle of this season, it was book-ended by an ignominious start and his current limited effectiveness due to a hand injury. Surely Carolina won't short-circuit its entire salary cap a second time to sign Peppers again in 2010, short- or long-term. That's the wisest move – just let this end. Peppers is still a fine player, but his million-per-game salary is one of the things very wrong with this season.

Any mention of franchising Peppers should result in Marty Hurney's immediate firing.

Even though the Panthers season might be fading they will remain int he spotlight due to some key prime time match-ups down the stretch.

Darin Gantt's Panthers Blog | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC
For a team that's pretty bad, the Panthers are going to get good exposure the last month. They're playing the prime time Sunday night game on Dec. 20 (and most who'd know doubt highly that NBC would flex out a chance to talk Brett Favre) but they might get flexed into another one. After all, if New Orleans is 16-0 going into the final week, the league's going to want as many eyes as possible on that one. That would give a meaningless exercise some juice.

I would love to see the Saints at 15-0 and having to decide whether to play their starters and go for 16-0 or rest them for the playDecember may hold answers for Panthers - CharlotteObserver.com

Eric Smith Keeps the Starting Job

John B — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:49:29 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

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For the second straight game, Eric Smith will start at safety for the Jets instead of Kerry Rhodes.

Eric Smith is the starting safety, but Kerry Rhodes has earned more playing time for Thursday's game against the Bills in Toronto after responding to his benching with two interceptions Sunday against the Jaguars. "Kerry's going to start in more packages, you might not notice how much, but he's going to play a ton," Rex Ryan said Monday. "I probably will start Eric in what you call the base package."

I do like to see Rex rewarding Rhodes for his play on Sunday, but I'm not sure I'm in agreement with the decision here.

I'll reiterate that Rhodes is the better player. It didn't really matter against Jake Delhomme. It might not against Ryan Fitzpatrick. At some point, though, the Jets are going to face a quarterback capable of making big plays in the passing game. I want the guy with better range in the lineup. That's Rhodes.

Carolina Panthers’ Monday Morning Optimist 11/30/09

James The Aussie — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:34:00 -0000

More photos » by Seth Wenig - AP

12 days ago: Carolina Panthers coach John Fox yells at an official during the second quarter against the New York Jets in an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, in East Rutherford, N.J. The Jets won 17-6. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

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Good morning Panther faithful. What can we say about yesterday's game? A disappointment? An embarrassment? An abomination? All of the above? The Panthers were, for lack of a better term, awful on Sunday, at least on one side of the ball. Now we sit 4-7 with playoff contention a distant memory of a hopeful era 3 weeks back, when the fan base thought anything was possible.

Now that we are eliminated for all intents and purposes (I know there's a 1% chance) we are now a team who needs to evaluate their future talent to prepare for the draft, rather than try to finish a mediocre 7-9, 8-8 or 6-10. It will be incumbent upon John Fox to see what is needed for the future of the franchise rather than winning the bare minimum to justify him keeping his job.

More to come, after the jump...

I'm sure every football fan has heard the old axiom ‘Football is a game of inches'. This overused phrase normally refers to the need to move the chains, focus on the minutia and dominate those few inches where a game is won or lost. As tired as this phrase has become it can be used perfectly to illustrate what happened in yesterday's game. A few inches to the left and that ball would have harmlessly hit the ground rather than bounce of Steve Smith's heel for a pick 6, a few inches to the right and Steve Smith is awarded his 4^th quarter touchdown. The ball bounces the Panthers' way in these two occasions and the score is 13-7 Panthers, it's as simple as that. The fault of the Panthers was letting the game hinge of two plays.

Normally I detest the term ‘They didn't beat us; we beat ourselves' as it exudes an air of confidence and arrogance while saying the winning team didn't deserve it. With full respect to the Jets who played well, we beat ourselves on Sunday. There was nothing memorable the Jets did on offense all day, they didn't need to do anything flashy, they didn't need anyone to step up; because the Panthers had enough players step down.

Jake Delhomme will be omitted from the regular breakdown, because yet again I'm going to talk about him now. Was Jake Delhomme the reason we lost Sunday's game vs. the Jets? Probably, but football is a team game and the rest of the offense will get theirs later in this article. Delhomme is experiencing a crisis of confidence in 2009. I don't care what he's saying in the media, or what his teammates are saying I don't believe he's the same player from his mannerisms' and body language. He's shown moments, and games that display that ‘same old Jake' mentality, but he isn't bouncing back the way we're used to. The old Jake would storm off the field yelling at himself after an INT, 2009 Jake walks off the field as if the inevitable has just occurred. I still don't think Jake Delhomme is ‘done' as people like to throw around, but he needs to sit; Jake needs to be on the bench for the sake of the Carolina Panthers, the future of the franchise and most importantly he needs to sit on the bench for himself, so he can step back and try and regain his mental composure.

No doubt the masses who were calling for Jake's head 5 weeks ago will be out in force this week, despite being curiously absent for the last month. They will barrage message boards, blogs and talk radio with their ‘I told you so' spiel, and writing their vitriolic messages of condemnation. To these people Delhomme's decent (certainly not stellar) play in the last month falls on blind eyes and deaf ears; they want to go into the unknown and try and play Matt Moore, if for no other reason than hope against hope we have the next Tom Brady waiting to get a shot. I've been pretty resolute on this topic, you don't play Matt Moore until the season is out of hand, well, it's out of hand so I think Fox has to play Moore. It goes beyond 2009, it becomes about evaluating what we have inside the organization before taking a shot on a QB in the 2010 draft. So, what's standing in the way of this franchise making the decisions it needs to in order to prepare for the future? John Fox.

It is now incumbent upon Fox to put the organization first and start Moore. This could be a sacrificial move on his part, because if the Panthers fail and we finish 4-12 then he'll most likely be cut from the team. The upside: if lightning strikes and Matt Moore is indeed ‘the man' we could potentially finish 8-8, Fox is a shoe-in to keep his job and we go into the 2010 draft looking at drafting a WR or DL in the second round. It's a gamble either way, but a necessary one. Now's not the time for Fox or the Panthers organization to play scared, it's time to lash out with some bold moves to try a last ditch effort at saving not only the season, but the near future of the Carolina Panthers.

Optimistic

Ron Meeks- Extremely Optimistic: Does anyone doubt Meeks at this point? I've been flying the Meeks flag for weeks now and I'm not going to stop any time soon. It's miraculous how hard this team is playing with backup DL and LBs. He's doing a phenomenal job.

Jon Beason- Extremely Optimistic: Its beast, you don't even need to watch games and you can pencil him in to this spot. He's money week in, week out.

Tyler Brayton- Extremely Optimistic: Brayton played very well on Sunday continually pestering Sanchez and getting 1.5 sacks. Nice work.

Chris Harris- Somewhat Optimistic: CSR contributor Harris makes the list easily. He covered the middle very well and created a timely fumble; Great game from Harris.

Everette Brown- Somewhat Optimistic: Brown continues to look like a 2^nd round pick that was worthy of the 1^st he was projected as. He needs more playing time, but he's looking like a very special player.

Julius Peppers- Somewhat Optimistic: Pepper s returned to form in vs. the Jets. Nice FF by Peppers.

Dwayne Jarrett- Somewhat Optimistic: He's ALIVE! There were signs of life from the WR and he showed that he could actually be catching one. It normally takes WRs a couple of years to find their form, so let's hope we're seeing it happen now.

Captain Munnerlyn- Somewhat Optimistic: As good at his PR was on Sunday he almost deserves to be left out for his horrible sideline dance caught on camera in the 3^rd quarter, I kid... nice play from the rookie.

Pessimistic

Offensive Line- Extremely pessimistic: As porous as a dime store paper towel the Panthers' O-line let everything through on Sunday. On the sheet the Jets only recorded 3 sacks, but it really should have been more like 7 or 8. Bernadeau missed at least 1/5^th of his blocks, Wharton was terrible at LT, Otah got no push and Kalil looked confused. The offensive line as a whole were pitiful on Sunday. By no means does Jake Delhomme get a pass, but the offensive line didn't help him.

Double Trouble- Somewhat Pessimistic: I wont be too hard on them because the offensive line were that bad but 24 carries for 75 yards and a YPC of 3 just wont cut it.

Overall assessment

There are bright spots on this team, no doubt and in the end there were more players that played well on Sunday than those who played poorly, unfortunately the players who didn't show up were at our most integral positions. We have Tampa Bay next, and I can't think of a better occasion to throw Matt Moore to the wolves and see what he can do. The season may be lost, but I remain a steadfast Panther fan who will be pulling on Sunday no matter what, and I'll be here same time, same day as your Monday Morning Optimist.

30% Optimistic as the Bucs come to town.

Panthers Watch 2009: Jets are actually good for something

Fooch — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:05:04 -0000

I would have had this post up earlier in the day, but I ran out of time at Sea-Tac Airport and had to wait until I got back to the Bay Area to put this together. But it was worth the wait given the result. As always, for those unaware, the 49ers hold the Carolina Panthers 2010 first round pick, and so we take a weekly look at the Panthers results and the impact on draft status. Prior to today the Panthers actually had a worse pick (13th to the 49ers 11th), but that has obviously changed with today's result.

Week 12 - @ New York Jets
Even with their solid start, I was convinced the New York Jets were a bit of a fraud. Well, recently that came through as Mark Sanchez hit a rookie wall, leading him to struggle immensely the last few weeks and turn into a turnover machine. Fortunately, the Jets were able to right the ship today against the Panthers. Sanchez was just good enough to not blow the game for the Jets. Thankfully Jake Delhomme did not follow that path. No, Jake Delhomme reverted to his early season form, throwing four interceptions against no touchdowns and producing a nice little 12.7 QB rating. 14/34 for 130 yards with the picks will do that to you.

Midway through the first quarter Delhomme threw a pick to Darrelle Revis, who took it to the house, in what would end up basically being the difference in the game. The Jets offensive attack was rather anemic, but really there offense was predicated on Jake Delhomme's picks. The Jets did their best to keep the Panthers in the game, as Sanchez threw an interception, and Dustin Keller and Shonn Greene both fumbled the ball. Fortunately, the Panthers rushing attack was held to one of its worst performances of the season (25 carries, 75 yards). If Jake isn't getting run support, he simply cannot carry this team to victory.

Week 13 - vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Panthers host the scuffling Bucs next Sunday, in what I'd imagine most folks have marked up as a win for Carolina. The Buccaneers are coming off yet another tough loss, as coach Raheem Morris is trying to keep his team afloat the rest of the season. And yet, the Bucs have hung tough throughout the season. The question is whether they can pull off what would no doubt be an upset on the road at Carolina. A Bucs upset would be huge for the 49ers acquired draft pick. The Panthers face a tough close to the season as they'll be underdogs in pretty much every remaining game after Tampa Bay (@ NE, vs. Min, @ NYG, vs. NO). The only winnable game there could in fact be the Saints depending on if they're still undefeated. If they've lost a game but clinched home field they could very well bench most of their starters (or give them a series or two). If they're undefeated at this point though, I'd imagine they'd be going for the kill. So for now, I know the Panthers have it in them to blow this one, and I'm certainly hoping they don't let me down!

Jets Ground the Panthers 17-6

Jaxon — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:31:42 -0000

More photos » by Seth Wenig - AP

12 days ago: Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme (17) is sacked by New York Jets linebacker David Harris (52) in the first quarter during an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

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This story line is getting old: The Panther defense plays well enough for the win but the offense turns the ball over repeatedly and can't finish drives when they do manage to get in the red zone. The Panthers tried a new wrinkle this week as they opened the game using the no huddle. It makes me wonder if they Panther brass has been reading this blog as many here have been asking for that. Of course if that were true Jake wouldn't be the starter week to week. Yet rather than create an edge for the offense it created confusion, last minute play changes and sloppy play.

So here's the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The Good

The good was the defense holing the Jets offense to 10 points for the game. Though they were constantly being put back ont he field due to turnovers they limited the Jets to 154 yards passing and created 3 turnovers. Chris Gamble had a very nice INT and Julius Peppers and Chris Harris forced fumbles. Though the rush defense was not spectacular giving up 138 yards on the ground they played well enough, giving up a long run of 16 yards to the #2 rushing offense in the league.

The Bad

The bad has to go to the Panthers offense line, where Double Trouble managed only 75 yards between the two of them. They also allowed three sacks and let defenders get penetration all day. I'm sure part of the blame falls with the offensive game plan but in the end simply running the ball would not have been enough today. The Jets played fast on defense and seemed to always have the underneath routes well covered. In spite of the absence of Kris Jenkins the Panthers still cound not manage much running off the guards.

The Ugly

The ugly is obvious and that is the QB play of Jake Delhomme. The Panthers again chose to let Jake heave it long and every time he did it got picked as the ball was underthrown. Sure the first one, a pick 6 was a fluke bounce, but the point is it was a busted route due to play change at the LOS. What aggravated me most was the chinese fire drill at the LOS constantly which in the end didn;t seem to fool the Jets at all.

So the Panthers season is all but dead at 4-7 and playing like total crap on offense. It is time for the Panthers to look inward and start planning for the future. Once this last disappointment is digested the Panthers will have some tough decisions to make on both sides of the ball. The first has got to be who starts under center because this is gettong too painful to watch, but of course I will watch it anyway.

Honorable Mention

Captain Munnerlyn had a very nice punt return of 37 yards as special teams played well on returns and coverage outside of one kick off return for 38 yards. A better day for special teams.

DE Tyler Brayton had one of his best days as a Panther with 7 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

So what else does Panther Nation have to say about this latest defeat?

Poll

The Panthers game baal int he loss to the Jets goes to:

Back in the Win Column

John B — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:00:36 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

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A very workmanlike win today for the Jets. They're 5-6 now and have their first victory against a team other than the Raiders in two months. It's probably too late to save this season, but who knows? At the very least, this can be the start of building some momentum heading into 2010.

Mark Sanchez did what was needed. I know a lot of you were disturbed recently by the lack of progress he has shown. Today I think was a major step forward. He made sound decisions for the entire game. I don't even think the interception was a terrible read, just a bad throw. He didn't try to do too much.

What else can you say about the defense? Just a great effort. Nice work slowing down a terrific running game. Darrelle Revis completely shuts down another elite receiver, and even Kerry Rhodes turned into the playmaker we've been waiting for him to become.

And Jake Delhomme showed us what it's been like for other teams to face Mark Sanchez when he's been bad.