Tag: D.j. moore

Winners and losers from the Panthers’ 21-16 win over the Chargers

Here are four winners and four losers from the team’s first win in 11 games.

After a disappointing 0-2 start to the season, the Panthers turned things around against the Chargers, earning a close 21-16 victory.

Here are four winners and four losers from the team’s first win in 11 games.

Winner: Panthers defensive line

Carolina’s defense started the day strong when defensive end Marquis Haynes got the team’s first sack of the season. Brian Burns followed up with relentless pressure all game, Derrick Brown pitched in three tackles for a loss and the team totaled seven hits on Justin Herbert. Add it all up and and you’ve got the best performance of the season from Phil Snow’s young defensive unit. The pass rush has underwhelming Weeks 1-2, so this was a refreshing change of pace. Hopefully they can keep it up.

Loser: Red zone offense

Even with amazing field position on almost all of the team’s drives, the Panthers offense was mostly only able to create chip shot opportunities for kicker Joey Slye instead of scoring touchdowns. If they had been able to convert more often inside the 20, the final score wouldn’t have been nearly as close as it was. They need to execute better in this area.

Winner: K Joey Slye

Slye saw plenty of action this week thanks to those failures in the red zone and he came through. Slye wound up going 5/5 on his field goal kicks. His only extra point attempt was blocked but that wasn’t Slye’s fault.

Loser: WR D.J. Moore

Aside from a single deep catch, Moore was virtually a non-factor on Sunday afternoon. Although he technically remains the team’s WR1, Robby Anderson has been a more consistent producer through three weeks of this season. Moore finished the game with just two catches, though they translated into 65 yards.

Winner: CB Donte Jackson

Jackson now has interceptions in two consecutive games, picking off both Tom Brady and Justin Herbert. Unfortunately, Jackson left the game with a toe injury, so that’s something we will be keeping an eye on as he tries to go for three in a row against Kyler Murray.

Loser: Third down

Going just 3/12 on third down usually won’t have a win attached to it. Luckily, the Panthers didn’t need to sustain long drives on offense to score points, thanks to the defense’s stellar performance and some mistakes by the Chargers. They don’t want to try this two weeks in a row, though.

Winner: RB Mike Davis

With Christian McCaffrey going on injured reserve this week, it was clear that the offense would need somebody else to step up. Veteran running back Mike Davis answered the call and made the most of his starting gig, rushing for 46 yards and adding 45 more off eight receptions. Davis also scored a touchdown off a screen pass by Teddy Bridgewater, breaking multiple tackles on the 13-yard catch-and-run.

Loser: Panthers left tackles

With Russell Okung out due to a groin injury, Carolina decided to rotate two of their left tackles today, switching out Greg Little and Trent Scott throughout the game. Let’s just say Okung doesn’t need to worry about either one taking his job for now. Neither one could slow down Joey Bosa.

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Panthers Highlights: Teddy Bridgewater hits D.J. Moore deep for 38 yards

Watch Bridgewater connect with wide receiver D.J. Moore for a 38-yard gain against the Chargers.

Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater isn’t known as a deep ball thrower. He uncorked a beauty on this pass, though.

Watch Bridgewater connect with wide receiver D.J. Moore for a 38-yard gain against the Chargers.

That was only Moore’s first catch of the game. The Panthers lead 18-10 going into the fourth quarter.

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Report: Panthers WR D.J. Moore fined by NFL for pushing Lamarcus Joyner

According to a report by Joe Person at the Athletic, the NFL has fined Moore $10,000 for the penalty.

The first game of the 2020 season was a forgettable one for Panthers wide receiver D.J. Moore. In addition to only catching four of his nine targets from Teddy Bridgewater and dropping a couple of them, Moore was flagged for an unsportsman like conduct penalty when he pushed Raiders defensive back Lamarcus Joyner in the helmet and face area.

via CBS

That poor decision wound up costing more than just field position in what turned out to be a four-point loss. According to a report by Joe Person at the Athletic, the NFL has fined Moore $10,000 for the penalty.

It was an uncharacteristic move by the usually quiet Moore.

The good news is No. 12 bounced back in Week 2 against the Buccaneers, catching eight of 13 targets and totaling 120 yards. Moore’s catch rate for the season (54.5%) is a little concerning, but the sample size is too small to really worry. He’s almost 10 points higher for his career.

Next up, Moore will have to prove himself against the toughest secondary these Panthers have faced so far. It will be interesting to see who the Chargers assign to cover him.

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4 things for the Panthers to improve on in Week 2

Here are four to work on as they prepare for Tom Brady and Tampa.

The Panthers didn’t embarrass themselves in a competitive 34-30 loss to the Raiders yesterday. They also did a number of things well, including not turning the ball over and only allowing one sack on quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. However, there are some obvious areas they need to improve on if they’re going to beat the Buccaneers next week.

Here are four to work on as they prepare for Tampa and Tom Brady.

Too many missed tackles

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Carolina had the worst run defense in the NFL last year by far. Despite a ton of personnel changes, on Sunday they picked up right where they left off in 2019, allowing Josh Jacobs to run all over them for 93 yards and three touchdowns. Part of the problem was simply bad tackling. Middle linebacker Tahir Whitehead admitted after the game it wasn’t good enough. Arm tackles don’t work on Jacobs and they won’t work on Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette, either. Head coach Matt Rhule has to make this a point of emphasis in practice this week.

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Panthers Highlights: D.J. Moore makes 1-handed catch at practice

Watch wide receiver D.J. Moore make a one-handed catch at practice on a play-action pass from quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

This has been perhaps the oddest offseason in the history of the NFL. In a little over an hour, it will come to an end as the regular season finally begins. In the meantime, here’s one last offseason highlight from the Carolina Panthers’ social team.

Watch wide receiver D.J. Moore make a one-handed catch at practice on a play-action pass from quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

If Moore picks up where he left off before his injury late in 2019, it will be a huge boost for Joe Brady’s offense.

Moore won’t have to do it alone, though. Speaking with reporters today, Brady said we should expect to see a lot of receivers involved given the tempo they’ll be playing with.

Truth be told, this is one of the weaker rosters on paper in the NFL going into the 2020 season. However, their speed and depth at wide receiver is perhaps their greatest asset.

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Steve Smith shreds Kelvin Benjamin: ‘He is parking cars right now’

Steve Smith is who he is.

Steve Smith is who he is. While his famously competitive nature helped him become the greatest wide receiver in Panthers franchise history, it hasn’t made him the nicest guy in the world. The latest to taste the wrath of No. 89 is former Carolina wideout Kelvin Benjamin.

Speaking in an interview on WFNZ, Smith ripped some fans for claiming Benjamin would replace him, saying he is parking cars right now.

Benjamin’s career got off to a good start, at least from a pure fantasy football perspective. He posted over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns in his rookie season (2014). Benjamin’s poor conditioning and stiff hands eventually caught up with him, though. Blaming Cam Newton for his problems didn’t help. At the moment, he’s a free agent.

There will never be another Panther quite like Steve Smith, so it’s best not to try. As for who might be the next great Carolina receiver, D.J. Moore appears ready to break into that conversation.

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Panthers 2020 training camp: 3 takeaways from the third padded practice

The Carolina Panthers got yesterday off and returned to the field today for their third padded practice of 2020 training camp.

The Carolina Panthers got yesterday off and returned to the field today for their third padded practice of 2020 training camp.

Here are a few takeaways from the media.

QB2 candidate P.J. Walker impresses

Our favorite to win the competition to be starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s backup had a strong showing. One beat reporter said it was Walker’s best practice yet, showing some zip on his throws as well as accuracy.

Walker will need to beat out Will Grier to get the job. If he can demonstrate better processing speed and decision making, it will give him a significant edge over Grier, who struggled with both as a rookie.

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Panthers Highlights: D.J. Moore, Donte Jackson make plays at first ‘full-speed’ practice

First, D.J. Moore scored a touchdown against Donte Jackson on a pass from Teddy Bridgewater.

The Carolina Panthers moved one step closer to real football on Friday, participating in their first “full-speed” practice of training camp according to coach Matt Rhule, who says he was pleased with how things went.

Afterwards, the team shared a couple of highlights from the practice session on Twitter. First, D.J. Moore scored a touchdown against Donte Jackson on a pass from Teddy Bridgewater.

Jackson answered with this pass breakup on a ball intended for Robby Anderson, which may or may not have been pass interference.

Good cornerbacks tend to ride the line between pass interference and tight coverage, so we’ll give this round to Jackson, even if it appears he may have had his arm around Anderson a little bit before the ball got there.

We should be getting more clips from camp soon. The media will be allowed in to watch practice for the first time on Sunday.

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Watch: Curtis Samuel talks about the Panthers’ speed at wide receiver

Without question wide receiver is the strongest position group on the Carolina Panthers’ roster going into the 2020 season.

Without question wide receiver is the strongest position group on the Carolina Panthers’ roster going into the 2020 season.

One reason why we’re expecting big things from this group this year is their speed. Watch Curtis Samuel talk about the team’s speed at this spot during his Zoom call from Thursday.

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2 key Panthers offensive players share thoughts on Teddy Bridgewater

Panthers D.J. Moore, Matt Paradis share thoughts on quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

The rapport that develops between Teddy Bridgewater and his new teammates will be a critical factor for the Panthers offense this year. Today, two of the most important members of that unit shared some thoughts on their new franchise quarterback with the media via Zoom calls.

The team’s No. 1 wide receiver D.J. Moore says that he was able to get in some throws with Bridgewater this offseason. Moore calls him a “real cool dude.”

The timing and the trust between these two will be particularly crucial.

At the end of the year, either Moore or running back Christian McCaffrey will likely lead the team in targets. Moore was on a tear in the second half of the 2019 season before he was shut down the last two games. If he picks up where he left off, we could be looking at the first Pro Bowl Panthers receiver since Steve Smith in 2011.

There’s a lot that goes into the relationship between a QB and his WR1, though. For there to be a connection, a lot of other things have to go right first, beginning in the trenches.

For one thing, Carolina’s veteran center Matt Paradis will need to be on the same page as Bridgewater on protections and a whole lot more if this offense is going to get off the ground. Paradis told reporters that Teddy comes across as calm, collected and a reassuring presence in the huddle.

This is good to hear.

While he doesn’t share the same physical gifts as Cam Newton, on film Bridgewater is every bit as good at commanding the huddle and making adjustments at the line of scrimmage as needed.

As for Paradis, he struggled in pass protection last year along with the rest of the Panthers offensive line. In the end, they tied the Dolphins for the most sacks allowed (58). Kyle Allen’s frequent scrambling around like a chicken with his head cut off didn’t help, but there needs to be a substantial improvement across the board in this area. Only right tackle Taylor Moton was truly consistent.

That is the name of the game this offseason, as in this team needs as much as it can get.

While they haven’t had any time until the last couple of days to practice together, Paradis, Michael Schofield and Russell Okung all played together previously with the Broncos. Paradis believes that will make a difference.

If those three can hold down the left side of the line, it will open up the field for Bridgewater, Moore and the rest of his weapons.

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