I wanted to see just how valuable Matt Moore's play was in the 16-6 win over the Bucs, and this play-by-play analysis gave me a lot to be confident about, going forward.

Hopefully, James can edit this to make it more readable for everybody.  It covers all pass plays.

1st Quarter --

13:42 (3rd and 1, Car 43, after 2 runs by Jonathan Stewart gain 9 yards) After a 9-step, 3 second drop, Moore throws to the left sideline to Steve Smith for a 9 yd gain, and a first down.  The pass was a little high, but accurate. No YAC, as Smith takes it out of bounds.

13:23 (1st and 10, TB 48, next play) Roll out to the right, Moore passes for a 7 yd gain to Muhsin Muhammad.  This again was accurately thrown, and carries Moose out of bounds, on the right sideline.

11:04 (1st  and 10, TB 19, right after Tyrell Sutton's 11 yd run) Moore makes a quick, 2 second drop, and leads TE Jeff King perfectly at the 16, allowing him to make another 12 YAC, taking it to the TB 4, for a 15 yd gain, and a first down.  Two rushes later, Stewart scores, to put the Panthers up 7-0.

(after Charles Godfrey's INT at the Carolina 30)

7:27 (2nd and 6, Car 34, after a Stewart run)  First play action -- 3 second, 8 yd drop, Moore throws on target to the left sideline to Moose, for a 14 yd gain to the Car 48.  First down.

(then after a 23 yd run by Stewart, a 20 yd run by Sutton, and 2 more rushes...)

4:22 (3rd and goal, TB 5)  Moore makes a quick, 3 second drop, but overthrows Steve Smith in the right corner of the end zone.  This is the only really negative play attributable to Moore, IMO.  But we make the FG, and lead 10-0.

(after a TB punt)

2:34 (1st and 10, Car 16)  Moore rolls out, makes a 10 yd drop, and seeing others covered, throws the outlet to Jeff King, for no gain.  Not a positive play, but not a negative one, either.

1:57 (2nd and 10, Car 16) Moore makes a nice, high lob to Smith at the 26, but the pass is dropped, due to good coverage by the defense.  The pass was where it should have been, and showed a soft touch -- the same throw made to Smith in the EZ earlier would have scored a TD.

2nd Quarter --

(after Hollis Thomas and Julius Peppers stuff consecutive runs inside our 5, forcing a TB FG, making it 10-3)

13:25 (1st and 10, Car 36) Moore takes a 3 second, 8 yd drop, and throws deep to Muhammad down the right sideline.  The throw is on target, 44 yds in the air, but is defended well by Barber, and is incomplete.  I rate it a positive for Moore, as it loosens the defense, sends a signal that we can go deep, and -- most importantly, it's not underthrown or overthrown.

(after a 25 yd run by Stewart, and then a 5 yd penalty for a false start, on Steve Smith)...

12:42 (1st and 15, TB 44) Moore makes a 2 second, 6 yd drop, and throws to Dante Rosario at the TB 38.  The pass is deflected by Tanard Jackson, who comes off his man, Steve Smith, and the tip is intercepted by LB Geno Hayes.  Though the throw was in traffic, Rosario had separation from his man, Hayes -- I don't fault Moore for this INT, but rather the fact that we had 2 receivers in close proximity, allowing Jackson to make the tip.

(as a side note, at this ppoint in the game, we led Time of Possession 10:57 to 5:54, and had run 22 plays to 12 by TB -- one of many 1st quarters this season where we'd dominated the action, then let the opponent back into the game)

(TB was then held to a second FG, after Charles Godfrey defensed a pass in the EZ)  Score now 10-6.

8:10 (3 and 15, Car 22, after 2 runs and a Jeff Otah false start)   Moore play actions, but a blocking breakdown allows a rusher to hurry him -- he avoids the sack by tossing an incomplete pass (again a heads-up play)

(after TB has a 1st and 10 deep in our territory, Julius Peppers makes a sack for a 4 yd loss, and James Anderson's subsequent tackle and an incompletion bring up 4th and 3, TB tries a FG, but misses it.  Still 10-6.

2:05 (2nd and 8, Car 28)   Moore takes a 4 second, 8 yd drop, after a play fake to Stewart, then tosses to Stewart at the 31 -- after a 3yd YAC, it's a 6 yd gain.

1:56 (3rd and 2, Car 34)  From the shotgun (first time, I believe) with a 2 back set, Moore rolls right and passes to Muhammad at the sideline, for a 7 yd gain, and a first down, stopping the clock.

1:52 (1st and 10, Car 41) Shotgun again, 3 second drop, but Moore is hit by the DE after a missed block -- he manages to throw an incompletion.

1:48 (2nd and 10, Car 41) Under center, Moore takes a 4 second, 8 yd drop, and completes a 5 yd pass to Steve Smith, over the middle.

1:24 (3rd and 5, Car 46) Shotgun, 3 second, 6 yd drop, but the LDE Tim Crowder is totally unblocked, and sacks Moore before he can do anything but avoid fumbling -- which is better than we've seen in the past.  We then punt and the half comes to an end.  At the half, we've outgained the Bucs, 135-83 yds.

3rd Quarter --

(after Jon Beason's 1st INT, at our goal line)...

12:00 (1st and 10, Car 18) 3 runs by Stewart net 19 yds.

10:52 (3rd and 2, Car 37)  With all 3 TE's out for a pass, Moore checks down his progressions, after a 7 yd drop, and finds Rosario in the left flat at the 39 -- after a 3 yd YAC, we have a first down at our 42, a 5 yd gain.

10:14 (1st and 10, Car 42)   After play action to Tyrell Sutton, Moore takes a 9 yd drop, eludes the rush of an unblocked DLman, rolls to his right, and throws on the run to Rosario for a 6 yd gain.

(after Stewart rushes for 12 to the TB 40)

9:08 (1st and 10, TB 40)  After play action to Stewart (holding the LB's, after the previous play) Moore takes a 3 second, 9 yd drop, and throws a perfect pass to Muhammad for 15 yds, to the TB 25, for a first down.  This pass has accuracy, timing, and good velocity, and shows me, next to the 4th quarter throw to Smith, that Moore has the attributes to make all the necessary throws.

(at this point, we go conservative, and 3 rushes only gain 3 yds, bringing boos from the crowd.  John Kasay makes a 40 yd FG, making the score 13-6.)

(then after a TB punt, all hell breaks loose -- Chris Gamble muffs that punt, giving the Bucs a 1st and 10 at our 20 -- but on their first play, Jon Beason gets his second INT, at the Car 2, returning it to our 21.)

3:36 (2nd and 9, Car 22)  After a Stewart 1 yd run, Moore makes a 3 second, 8 yd drop and tosses to Jeff King on a crossing pattern for a 2 yd gain.

2:58 (3rd and 7, Car 24)  Moore, after a straight drop of 7 yards, throws in the middle to WR Charly Martin (for the first catch of his career) for a 6 yd gain.  But for an immediate tackle by Tanard Jackson, it came up a yd short of a first down, and kled to our punt.

4th Quarter --

11:00 (The turning point of the game, after TB has it 2nd and goal at our 5)  On that down, Chris Harris tackles Bryant in the end zone, knocking the ball loose and saving a tying TD.  On 3rd and goal, Jon Beason and Charles Godfrey make a huge stop on Cadillac Williams.  After a delay, with John Fox calling a T.O. to regroup his defense. the Bucs go for it on 4th down, from our 3 -- Chris Harris makes the INT in our end zone!

9:38 (2nd and 9, Car 21, after a 1 yd run by Stewart)  Moore makes a 3 second, 8 yd drop, and throws a perfect pass, 57 yds in the air, to Steve Smith, catching him in stride, at the TB 30 -- after 17 more YAC, Smith is caught from behind by S Piscatelli.   The gain is 66 yds, first down.

(here, again, we go conservative, netting 8 yds on 3 runs by Stewart, bringing more boos from the crowd.  We take another FG, to make the lead a 2 score advantage, 16-6)  Moore is quoted as saying it was his decision on 3rd down, to run it, rather than trying the pass, in light of the advantage of a 10-pt lead, and I applaud his thinking.

That was pretty much it.  Score now 16-6.

5:19 (1st and 10, Car 33)  After a NIck Hayden sack, the Bucs have to try another FG, and again they miss.  We run it 3 times, losing a net 2 yds, but more importantly, running over 2 minutes off the clock.

With 3 minutes left, the Bucs take over on their 15, and move the chains (thanks to our loose prevent defense) down to our 24, but there was only :30 left, and Chris Gamble's INT led to our kneel-down to seal the win.

Now, after all this, I have to assert that Matt Moore did a whale of a job, and I'm looking forward to how he uses the confidence this win gives him, in the games ahead.