Tag: DJ Moore

Panthers PFF grades: Best and worst from Week 9 vs. Patriots

Panthers CB Stephon Gilmore, once again, made a noticeable impact in another limited outing.

The Carolina Panthers gave us yet another piece of film to burn with yet another concerning showing. This time, it came at the expense of the much beloved New England Patriots.

Here’s what the video buffs over at Pro Football Focus thought of that film in their Week 9 grades.

Panthers PFF grades: Best and worst from Week 7 vs. Giants

If you think it couldn’t get any worse following the Panthers’ benching of Sam Darnold in Week 7, well . . .

The Carolina Panthers probably had you all going after that first drive on Sunday, didn’t they? A fairly solid opening possession leading to a 45-yard field goal against a 1-5 mess of a team . . . all good, right?

Well, no. A big “no,” in fact.

Everything went downhill from there for the Panthers and this week’s review from Pro Football Focus proves there was almost nothing to write home about.

4 takeaways from the Panthers’ 21-18 loss to Eagles

The Panthers’ hair-pulling Week 5 loss to the Eagles gave us a few painful lessons moving forward.

In an alternate universe, we’d be preparing to map out four takeaways from an easy Week 5 win for the Carolina Panthers. Heck, even a slightly altered, pretty normal universe would’ve given us that.

But, apparently, we’re not living in either one of those.

So here are four takeaways from a pitiful defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Panthers predictions: How Week 5 against the Eagles will unfold

How do we see this Week 5 matchup between the Panthers and the Eagles going down?

The Carolina Panthers didn’t fare too well in their second straight game in the Lone Star State last week. A Texas two-step nor a 4-0 record were in the cards, as they dropped their Week 4 battle with the Dallas Cowboys, 36-28.

Well, at least we did a little better in our outing. Although our predictions for the matchup broke even, but we did keep our percentage at a respectable 52.5 in the green.

Let’s try to up it a bit against the Philadelphia Eagles, shall we?

The Panthers score on their first drive

Philadelphia has given up opening-drive touchdowns in each of the past two games, one to Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliot and the other to Kansas City Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Carolina may or may not reach that end zone, as they’ll try to settle in without star Christian McCaffrey again, but they’ll put some kind of points up.

The Eagles don’t score on theirs

Dallas really rained on Carolina’s defensive parade last week, including hitting them up for their first first-quarter touchdown this season. But the Eagles are far from what the Cowboys are on offense. The Panthers, as they often have in 2021, turn the opposition away early.

Panthers run defense allows less than 80 yards

Part of that stoutness will be courtesy of a revived rush defense. A slew of injuries and straight up poor tackling gave way to 245 rushing yards for Dallas last week. The Panthers, led by a disruptive Derrick Brown, get back to form and keep the Eagles under 80.

Brian Burns finishes with at least two sacks

The Eagles will be without both Lane Johnson and Brandon Brooks. Brian Burns takes advantage while one of the league’s top right-side duos go absent on Sunday.

Sam Darnold doesn’t finish with a rushing TD

Darnold currently leads the league in rushing touchdowns. (Bet you didn’t think you’d be reading that at any point.) He won’t, however, sniff out No. 6 this week through a tough Philly interior.

Darnold doesn’t finish with 300 passing yards either

Darnold, along with Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, also leads the league in 300-yard passing games through four weeks. But this Eagles seventh-ranked pass defense is kinda stingy, not even letting Prescott (238) or Patrick Mahomes (278) to get to that mark.

But he does help DJ Moore hit 100 yards

Moore will be facing his toughest one-on-one matchup yet with cornerback Darius Slay awaiting him. DJ, though, is getting his week in and week out. He sees a healthy amount of targets (at least 11) and makes do with at least 100 receiving yards.

Zane Gonzalez hits on all of his tries

This past week, head coach Matt Rhule was more critical of the special teams’ failure to produce adequate blocking than Gonzalez’s kicking itself. Zane reciprocates the kind words and converts in all his attempts, going two-of-two on field goals and three-of-three on extra points.

Brady Christensen plays most at LT

Rhule also said the void at left tackle caused by the injury to Cameron Erving will be filled by Christensen and/or Trent Scott. The fans get their wish and the Panthers see what they have in their 2021 third-round pick. The rookie sees the most action on the blindside.

Panthers win

Philly will keep this closer than some may think. They might’ve lost three in a row, but there’s no shame to falling to San Francisco, Kansas City and Dallas. Ask the Panthers.

Anyway, Carolina wins 27-20.

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Every NFL team’s MVP after the first 4 weeks of the season

Who do you think is the Panthers’ MVP after the first four games of 2021?

There have been quite a few surprises through the first four weeks of the season thus far, with teams such as the Panthers, Bengals and Cardinals getting off to great starts. And although we’re only about a quarter of the way through the season, the top contenders have begun to separate themselves from the pretenders.

The same goes for the preliminary race for NFL MVP. There are some strong candidates that have emerged, including Josh Allen, Dak Prescott and Kyler Murray, and also some dark horses who could factor into the mix with a strong finish to the season.

At the quarter mark, we picked every team’s most valuable player through the first four weeks, and it hasn’t been all about the quarterbacks.

Panthers WR DJ Moore is our Peak Performer in Week 4

Even in a rough loss to the Cowboys, WR DJ Moore continued to be a bright spot for the Panthers.

Almost everything that was constant for the Carolina Panthers through their first three games wasn’t in their Week 4 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Almost everything.

In keeping up his hot start, wideout DJ Moore recorded another juicy outing on Sunday. The fourth-year wideout reeled in eight catches for 113 yards and a season-high two touchdowns.

Even with the two scores, Moore’s most eye-opening play, perhaps, came on a strong and shifty catch-and-run in the first quarter. He turned a 10-yard gain from quarterback Sam Darnold into a blazing 29-yard reception to set the Panthers up for their first touchdown.

But let’s take a look at those anyway because, you know, everybody loves touchdowns!

Unfortunately for Carolina, those weren’t enough to make up the 20-point edge Dallas racked up in the third quarter. They did, though, add to what’s been an amazing four-game stretch for the receiver.

Moore is now up to 30 receptions, 398 yards and three end-zone trips on the season. That’s good enough for a 17-game pace of 128 grabs, 1,692 yards and 13 touchdowns.

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Studs and duds from the Panthers’ 36-28 loss to Cowboys

Panthers QB Sam Darnold was half-stud and half-dud in Week 4. His dud side, however, was more impactful in the 36-28 loss to the Cowboys.

A dud of a third quarter was the ultimate decider for the Carolina Panthers in their first loss of the 2021 season. And that, of course, produced some more pointed duds in the disappointing 36-28 outcome.

But, hey, we’re fair and jolly over here. So let’s give you some studs, along with those duds, from the Week 4 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys.

Stud: DJ Moore

Moore has been an absolute workhorse this season. He added another 113 yards and two scores on eight catches against Dallas. The fourth-year wideout is now in pace for nearly 1,700 receiving yards on the campaign.

Dud: Sam Darnold’s arm

Besides what it did for Moore, Darnold’s passing game was pretty frightening. Even despite having passed for his third straight 300-yard outing, he missed on a bunch of chain-movers downfield and forced way too many a ball into non-existent windows.

The poor decision-making and missed chances gave us flashbacks of Darnold’s New York Jets tenure.

Stud: Sam Darnold’s feet

Well, at least he found another body part that kinda worked out for him. Darnold ran for two scores on the day, becoming the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to record five rushing touchdowns in the first four games of a season.

Dud: Panthers defense. All of it.

Nearly nothing went well for what was a white-hot unit. Coming in, they had allowed just 10 points and 45 rushing yards per game with a league-best 14 sacks.

They came out allowing 36 points and 245 rushing yards with zero sacks. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, in fact, was hit just once. No pressure, no dice.

Stud: Chuba Hubbard

Hubbard’s final line won’t jump out at you, as he totaled 71 yards from scrimmage (57 rushing) on 15 touches. The rookie’s patience, footwork and agility, however, should’ve. He looked quite solid in his first NFL start.

Dud: Panthers offensive line

Perhaps Hubbard could’ve benefitted more from a better showing from this unit. But there’s no question Darnold certainly could have.

Darnold was hit 11 times for five sacks.

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Carolina Panthers vs. Dallas Cowboys game recap: Everything we know

You may not want to know, but you have to. So take a look at today’s recap for the Panthers’ first regular-season loss of 2021.

The 3-0 Carolina Panthers came into AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas with a prime opportunity to put the league on notice. Unfortunately for them, they left with a rude eviction notice from the host Dallas Cowboys.

Here’s what you need to know about the Panthers’ first defeat of the 2021 campaign.

Panthers highlight: WR DJ Moore displays elite balance on crazy catch-and-run

Panthers WR DJ Moore highlighted an impressive 75-yard scoring drive with an insane catch-and-run against the Cowboys.

Although he was still relatively raw coming into the NFL four years ago, Carolina Panthers wide receiver DJ Moore had himself a trump card from day one. And that was for his elite balance.

Moore, as he has throughout his career, showed off his prowess with the ball in his hands in Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys. With just under five minutes remaining the first quarter, he reeled in a 10-yard throw from quarterback Sam Darnold and turned it into more. A lot more.

The 29-yard reception set up the Panthers at the Cowboys’ 9-yard line. Three plays later, Sam (or Cam?) Darnold punched in a 1-yard touchdown, his fourth rushing score of the young season.

Not only is he close to already matching his rushing-touchdown total from his entire three-year stint with the New York Jets (five), but he currently leads the league in the category. This latest end-zone visit helped knot the tally at 7 late in the first quarter.

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