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Week 1 Game Recap: Carolina Panthers 27, St. Louis Rams 13
What you need to know
| Carolina Panthers |
After a tightly contested first half, Carolina dominated on both sides of the ball in the second half. Early in the third quarter, the Rams took a 13-7 lead but Carolina quickly came back with a bomb from Jake Delhomme to Steve Smith. Delhomme had two second half touchdowns and led Carolina to score the final 20 points of the game.
DeShaun Foster started the game but he and DeAngelo Williams had a similar amount of carries. Foster carried 17 times for 94 yards including a long run of 20 yards. He did fumble at the St Louis three yard line though. Williams got the bulk of his carries after Foster's fumble including the carries when Carolina got back into the red zone. Williams had ten carries in the fourth quarter. Overall he picked up 62 yards on 15 carries.
Steve Smith caught a 68 yard pass for the go ahead touchdown early on in the third quarter. Smith was the featured receiver and ended up with seven catches for 118 yards and the one touchdown. Drew Carter had three catches for just 19 yards but he cashed in twice. He made a great catch on his second touchdown when he got both feet barely in bounds on the side of the end zone.
The Panthers defense started off slowly allowing the Rams to score on a 15 play drive in the first quarter. After that drive, the defense only allowed one drive of more than four plays until late in the fourth quarter when the Panthers were ahead by two scores. They held Steven Jackson to just 13 yards rushing in the second half of the game. Overall Jackson had only 58 yards rushing and fumbled on back to back series.
| St. Louis Rams |
The Rams gave up a long touchdown drive to start the game but their offense came right back with a 15 play drive of their own. St Louis was ahead when Orlando Pace left the game with a shoulder injury. After Pace left the game, Carolina took over. St Louis was unable to get anything going offensively in the second half. The Rams had just 45 yards of offense in the third quarter.
Marc Bulger completed 22 of 42 passes for 167 yards. He had one touchdown and did not throw an interception. Bulger connected with eight different players with Torry Holt being his favorite receiver. He hooked up with Holt eight times including his only touchdown pass.
The Rams running game never got on track in this contest. Steven Jackson carried 18 times for just 58 yards. Jackson lost just two fumbles all of last year but put two on the ground on consecutive carries in the third quarter. It was Jackson's lowest rushing total since he faced Carolina last November.
Eight different players caught passes from Bulger. Leading the way was Torry Holt with eight catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. Holt scored on a quick little slant at the goal line. Before the game, Holt told reporters they could judge for themselves how healthy his knee was and he looked good. Isaac Bruce added three catches with Dante Hall and Randy McMichael added two catches each.
The St Louis defense opened up the game giving up a nine play 78 yard touchdown drive. The drive was aided by a 29 yard pass interference penalty on a third down play. The highlight of the Rams defense was the goal line stand when they stripped DeShaun Foster at the three yard line. In the second half, the St Louis defense wore down, giving up 20 unanswered points.
What you ought to know
| QB Jake Delhomme, Pass: 18 - 27 - 201 - 3 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 12 - 0 |
Delhomme had a solid game throwing for three touchdowns. He completed 18 of 27 passes for 201 yards which included a 68 yard strike to Steve Smith down the left sideline. Delhomme was not sacked and he did not throw any interceptions. He completed his first seven passes of the game and capped the opening drive with a ten yard touchdown pass to Drew Carter. He later hit Carter again on a nine yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
| RB DeShaun Foster, Rush: 17 - 94 - 0, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (1 targets) |
Foster carried 17 times for 94 yards but did not score. He had a golden opportunity to score but literally let it slip away when he fumbled at the St Louis three yard line. He added one catch for seven yards. After his fumble DeAngelo Williams saw the bulk of his carries. Foster did not carry the ball inside the 20 yard line after turning the ball over to the Rams.
| RB DeAngelo Williams, Rush: 15 - 62 - 0, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
Williams didn't start the game but he had the bulk of the carries in the second half. He finished the game with 15 carries for 62 yards. The Panthers gave him the ball on red zone carries after Foster fumbled inside the five yard line. Williams had just one catch for 13 yards. In the fourth quarter, Williams carried the ball ten times including their final six plays prior to the final John Kasay field goal.
| RB Brad Hoover, Rush: 2 - 16 - 0 |
Hoover had two carries for 16 yards, both of which picked up first downs.
| WR Steve Smith, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0, Rec: 7 - 118 - 1 (15 targets) |
Smith caught seven passes for 118 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown came on a bomb down the left sideline. It put the Panthers ahead for good. Delhomme looked his way 15 times in the game, the most of any receiver. This was Smith's first 100 yard receiving game in his last eight games dating back to last year. On the opening drive of the game, Delhomme looked to Smith on the first four plays of the game. One of those resulted in a 29 yard pass interference penalty on third down. The Panthers tried Smith on an end around but it only picked up two yards.
| WR Drew Carter, Rec: 3 - 19 - 2 (3 targets) |
Carter caught three passes for 19 yards. He had two catches on the opening drive of the game including the ten yard touchdown. His only other catch was for a nine yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. He made a great play on the ball and got both feet down. Carter had three touchdowns all of last year so he is off to a great start.
| WR Keary Colbert, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (2 targets) |
Colbert is listed as the number two wide receiver but he was only thrown to twice in the game. He caught one pass for nine yards.
| TE Jeff King, Rec: 5 - 35 - 0 (6 targets) |
King caught five passes for 35 yards. On the Panthers field goal drive in the fourth quarter, Delhomme went to King twice on third down. On the first one he picked up a first down. He was stopped just short on the next third down pass leading to the field goal.
| PK John Kasay 2 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points |
Kasay connected on two of his three field goal attempts. He made kicks of 32 and 34 yards but missed from 47 yards. He was successful on all three extra point tries.
| CAR Rush Defense |
The Carolina rush defense had a strong game holding Steven Jackson to just 58 yards on 18 carries. They forced Jackson to fumble on consecutive possessions in the third quarter. After the first fumble, Carolina scored the long touchdown to Steve Smith. They held St Louis to just four first downs on the ground. The Panthers have held Steven Jackson under 100 yards in the last two meetings.
| CAR Pass Defense |
Carolina held the Rams to 167 yards passing and only one touchdown. The touchdown came on a quick slant at the goal line to Holt. The Panthers defensive line took over the game after Orlando Pace went out with a shoulder injury. The Panthers defensive line was able to put a lot of pressure on Marc Bulger. They weren't able to intercept Bulger but they did sack him once. The big play came on a fourth down and two late in the fourth quarter. The defensive line got pressure on Bulger and forced him into a bad pass that fell incomplete. That led to a Carolina field goal and a two score lead.
| QB Marc Bulger, Pass: 22 - 42 - 167 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 18 - 0 |
Bulger completed 22 of 42 for 167 yards and one touchdown. He led a 15 play drive on their first possession ending with a three yard touchdown to Torry Holt. Bulger was only sacked once and was not intercepted. He was able to spread the ball around to eight different players during the game. Bulger was under a lot of pressure after losing his main offensive lineman. He will be highly interested in Pace's MRI to determine the severity of his injury.
| RB Steven Jackson, Rush: 18 - 58 - 0, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (7 targets) |
Jackson gained 58 yards on 18 carries and he added just one catch for three yards. He had 8 carries on the Rams first drive of the game. He picked up 31yards on that drive. Jackson fumbled twice on consecutive possessions in the third quarter. His first fumble led to the go ahead Carolina touchdown. Jackson rushed for just 13 yards in the second half. The loss of offensive tackle Orlando Pace looked to be a factor.
| RB Brian Leonard, Rec: 3 - 12 - 0 (5 targets) |
Leonard did not carry the ball in the game but he was thrown to five times. He caught three passes for 12 yards. Bulger looked his way twice on third down but he wasn't able to pick up a first down.
| RB Madison Hedgecock, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (1 targets) |
Hedgecock caught one pass for seven yards. It was a check down pass when St Louis was backed up to their own goal line.
| WR Torry Holt, Rec: 8 - 73 - 1 (12 targets) |
Holt led all the Rams' receivers with eight catches for 73 yards. Holt scored the Rams' only touchdown on a three yard slant at the goal line. Bulger looked his way 12 times with Holt picking up three first downs. He also drew two pass interference penalties. One of these led to a Wilkins field goal. There had been a lot of talk lately about how healthy Holt's knee was. He had said he was just 70% and then Coach Scott Linehan said he looked 100%. Saturday, he said he'd let his play do the talking and he answered quite a few questions.
| WR Isaac Bruce, Rec: 3 - 20 - 0 (9 targets) |
Bruce caught three passes for 20 yards. Bulger tried hitting him deep three times but they were all incomplete.
| WR Dane Looker, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (4 targets) |
Looker was targeted four times, catching two passes for ten yards. His three targets were all in the fourth quarter. Looker's two catches came on the final drive with the game out of reach.
| WR Dante Hall, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (4 targets) |
Bulger got Dante Hall involved early in the game. He caught two passes on the opening drive, one for a first down. Hall saw one more pass come his way the rest of the game but it was incomplete. Hall did add a big play on a kickoff return. He went 84 yards to set up a Jeff Wilkins field goal that put the Rams up 13-7.
| WR Drew Bennett |
Bennett was inactive for the game due to a thigh injury.
| TE Randy McMichael, Rec: 2 - 24 - 0 (2 targets) |
McMichael was only thrown to twice in the game. His first catch wasn't until there were less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter. He did pick up a first down to open the final drive.
| PK Jeff Wilkins 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
Wilkins made all of his kicks. He hit field goals from 42 and 28 yards. Wilkins converted his only extra point attempt.
| STL Rush Defense |
The Rams defense gave up 186 rushing yards including 13 first downs on the ground. They didn't give up a rushing touchdown and made a huge play in a goal line stand. They stripped DeShaun Foster at the three yard line to keep the score 13-7. The one great play wasn't nearly enough as they gave up ten plays of ten yards or more including a 20 yard run by Foster.
| STL Pass Defense |
The Rams pass defense gave up three passing touchdowns including a long bomb to Steve Smith. The St Louis defense did not record a sack on Jake Delhomme and they weren't able to intercept him either. The defense gave up 201 passing yards with the Panthers picking up six first downs through the air. On the opening drive of the game, the Rams were called for pass interference that gave the Panthers a first down. It led to the first touchdown of the game.
