Here's the options outside of Cam Newton of course. I thought Newton and first team played well enough to have won this game. Newton finished 8 of 12 for 167 yards 1 TD. The Titans were missing some key players just as we were. Yet Newton was on his way to a nice stat-wise and on the score board.
So make your selection for PoG in the fanpoll below.
CB Bene Benwikere
Bene had a sweet interception in addition to a sack and a tackle for loss. 'Big Play' Bene was back on this day.
Five Standouts: Panthers at Titans
"I'm just trying to make plays on the field, trying to show the coaches that I can get back to full form from before the injury," said Benwikere, who missed the end of last season with a leg injury. "It felt good." The Panthers also gave Benwikere a chance to come after the quarterback midway through the second quarter.
He welcomed backup Matt Cassel, corralling him for an 8-yard loss on his first snap. "He's doing a nice job," head coach Ron Rivera said. "As he continues to gain more and more confidence, hopefully we'll see him very active around the football."
WR Ted Ginn
He only had one catch but it was huge, a 61 yard short catch that he turned into a TD. Ginn showcased his speed once the first defender took a poor angle.
WR Kevin Norwood
Just when it looked like Norwood's day could be done, he did his best work. "That's toughness," Rivera said of Norwood's bounce-back moment. "And that's what we're looking for."
That was Rivera in response to Norwood grabbing a TD catch four plays after getting drilled trying to make a catch over the middle. At first I thought Norwood would need a stretcher to get off the field. But he eventually got up and bounced back real quick. He was then seen talking smack to the DB Huff who drilled him after catching the TD pass.
RB Cameron Artis-Payne
Though Payne didn't make any spectacular plays he was very solid in three phases of the game: running the ball, catching passes out of the backfield (2) which he did very smoothly, and protecting the QB in pass coverage. CAP helped himself yesterday.
CB James Bradberry
Much like Artis-Payne, Bradberry didn't make any flashy plays but he was solid in both pass and run defense, more so in run defense on this day. He made a couple nice tackles, one on the big rookie RB Derrick Henry.
WR Damiere Byrd
While Byrd only had 3 catches but they demonstrated Byrd is ready to play on the 53. He runs nice routes, fights through coverage and makes the catches look easy.