They both seem to constantly make receiving plays even though they are usually blocking or 3rd/4th options. They both get open and can catch in traffic. With everybody and their mother stacking the box and cheating a safety to Smitty, why not just go ahead and plan to throw to these guys on say 50% or more of the passing plays?

Thanks Ryan- for compiling some statistics on one of the obvious problems for the Panthers.

“…defenses will likely continue to stack the box and attack the running game. They will dare the Panthers’ passing game to move the ball and score, because so far it has not done much of either efficiently.”

How can this be fixed?

Better usage of the TE- tough to do when you want to run most of the time
Improved running – tough to do when the box is stacked
Better receivers- Not many better than Smith except he is double teamed
Better play calling- More play action??
Better QB who is more accurate and throws with velocity-??
Better o-line- Give Jake time and receivers a chance to get open- O-line is built better for the run

The bottom line with me is that the problems we face in our passing game is the play of Jake Delhomme. When you say that a WR is a target of a pass, that statistic is garnered no matter how far off the ball is on its intended target. When Moose is overthrown on a deep route, that’s a target. When a ball is thrown behind Steve Smith, that’s a target.

For Kenny Moore to truly progress, the Panthers need to start running 3 WR sets more in order to make use of them. So far the Panthers seem content on just keeping two TE on the line of scrimmage, so I don’t expect to see an explosion from Kenny Moore or Jarrett anytime this year. The real cure like SouthTunnel said is that both of our TE’s need to get active in catching balls. Rosario is a star in the making, and King provides a nice rounded game. With everyone and their mother blitzing and leaving the middle of the field open, why not throw it over the blitz to our TE’s and see what they can do?

When I look at a passing game, I blame the QB first before I put blame on the wideout. The most recent example of this can be Braylon Edwards trade to the Jets. All of the sudden he flashes his ability to make circus catches when Sanchez threw him the ball at a 3rd and 22 for a 34 yard pass for a touchdown. The sole difference is that they moved away from horrible QB’s like Anderson and Quinn, and they got on a team with a rising rookie QB in Mark Sanchez.

No team in the NFL is scared of any reciever we have coming out of the slot, and that’s a major concern. Until we develop a player into a viable threat then our opponents know they only need to worry about Smitty and Moose.

This weekend should be very interesting working against Talib and Barber. I think we have the edge and should torch the Bucs.

I absolutely agree that our receivers haven’t been productive. However, I can’t help but feel they’re doing the best they can with what we’ve had.

Unfortunately, being I currently reside in Florida, I am unable to watch every Carolina game, although I do try, so I haven’t seen a lot of the passes intended for either receiver.

Admittedly, our QB has been anything but “hot”, who knows how many times Smith dropped a good ball vs an uncatchable, or just bad, ball.

Also, although the Redskins offense is worse, Campbell has actually played better than Delhomme (or, I should say, their passing attack has been more fruitful than ours)

Over 5 games, Campbell has 66.7% @ 98/147 – 1,108yds – 6TD’s/5Int’s – & has been sacked 13 times.
Over 4 games, Delhomme has 60.3% @ 70/116 – 782yds – 3TD’s/8Int’s – & has been sacked 10 times.

Neither QB is having a great season but Delhomme has been (for what it’s worth) statistically worse with, in my opinion, better receiving options.

In the end, there are so many people that could shoulder the blame in all positions. I guess it’s safe to say we are just under performing in all aspects. Lets hope that we can turn this around.

He’s just not gotten the separation he did last year. He’s also missed on a couple passes that he would have brought in easily last year. I don’t expect him to catch everything thrown his way, but when he can get two hands on the ball he needs to bring it in.

Opponents are doubling Smith and stacking the box, meaning that Moose is generally isolated in coverage. He’s gotten a lot of looks, but he needs to get back to the 65% catch range. If he was there already he would be at 23 catches instead of 19, and would likely have moved the chains a few more times. Who knows what kind of difference that could make?

I’m in 100% agreement with Gantt on this one: http://www.heraldonline.com/206/story/1672190.html

I don’t know, maybe I’m missing something. Are Jarrett and Moore dropping a lot of balls thrown thier way? Are they just not able to get open? Or is it that Jake continues to lock onto Smith with Moose as his only checkdown? I kind of think that it’s the latter.

in my mind fix the QB position and the entire team will improve and play with greater confidence.

and we can see that the offensive line has dropped as far as protection, but this has a lot to do with opposing defenses blitzing and stacking the box as referenced by Ryan. If the Panthers could get a serious passing threat going, the running definitely would improve. However, that is a big ’if’ from the way things have looked so far this year. I do not have faith in Jake being accurate on a consistent basis, but that is just my humble opinion.