Panthers New QB Have Moore to Offer? Patriots Secondary Problems McGowan, Gowan, Gone?

Last week Panthers QB Jake Delhomme sat out with a finger injury as his team took on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Starting in his place was back up QB Matt Moore. Moore played his college ball at Oregon State. Moore was an undrafted rookie in 2007 when the Panthers picked him up. Moore debuted for the Panthers on October 7, 2007 against the New Orleans Saints. His first NFL start came on December 16, 2007 against the Seattle Seahawks. He led the Panthers to a victory completing 19 of 27 passes and without turning the ball over. In his game against the Bucs this past Sunday; Moore went 14-20 for 161 yards and an interception in the Panther’s 16-6 victory over their division rival. Moore looked impressive at times as he completed 70% of his passes. Something a regular starter rarely does. Moore has been in the system long enough to know the plays well and many players on the team are excited about his ability to throw down field. This is something Jake Delhomme has not been able to do in his career, being charged with having a weak arm. Delhomme turns 35 in January and his stats have been anything but impressive, (8 touchdowns, 18 interceptions), so Moore is seen as a possible starter of the future for this rebuilding team. Although Moore had decent stats for a back up, he was playing against an average Tampa secondary that is 11 th in the league in passing yards allowed per game, (205.7), and second to last in the league in points allowed per game, (27.5). This week more faces the Patriots. Going up against a Bill Belichick coached defense will prove to be a much more difficult challenge… or will it?

For the past decade Bill Belichick has been revered as one of the greatest defensive minds in football. It is pretty hard to argue against that. He has led the Patriots to four Super Bowl appearances and three Super Bowl titles using a solid pass rush and deceiving pass coverage, it is pretty hard to argue against that. Recently, however, his defense has been the main culprit in the Patriots skid, losing three of their past four games. Patriots’ fans have grown unsatisfied, expecting more from their once nearly undefeated team. The first of these three losses came against the Colts. The key play of the game was when Bill Belichick made the call to go for it on fourth and 2 from their own 28 yard line, late in the game. His offense could not make the play, and they gave the ball to the Colts, allowing them to score the game winning TD. The media ripped Belichick for making this call and people claimed it was an insult to his defense. The next week against the Saints on the stage of Monday Night Football, the Patriots defense would prove to the country that Belichick hadn’t made a mistake. The Patriots were humiliated, giving up 480 offensive yards to the Saints in the 38-17 loss. One clear example of the Patriots’ confusion and poor performance on defense was the 75 yard TD reception that they surrendered to Devery Henderson. This total breakdown of the Patriots defense was complete as they allowed Brees to connect for 18 of his 31 passes, 371 yards, and 5 TDs, something that has never been accomplished against a Belichick coached team before. After the game Belichick hoped for the best saying, “I would like to think most all of it is correctable.” To cap it all off, New England’s defense blew a lead in a winnable game against the Dolphins. They made Chad Henne, who has a 73.3 career QB rating, look like a genius as he picked apart the secondary. He threw for a career high 351 yards, and was 29-52 of his passes. Before the past four games, the Patriots defense was 6 th best in the league. One reason for the fall of the defense is the depleted playing time of safety Brandon McGowan. During New England’s first eight games he was a standout player, teaming up with Meriweather to cover the field and make big plays on opposing offenses. McGowan started slipping on his play recognition and pass coverage around week eight, provoking Belichick to minimize his uses in this past week’s game only playing on 42 of 81 snaps. McGowan can be a very effective player, seeing as he leads the team in tackles with 70, and some believe that he is just suffering from a minor slump of his own. If McGowan can return to his early season form, then there will be less pressure on the cornerbacks to make plays. This will allow Belichick to focus on fixing the pass rush, which disappeared with Richard Seymour this offseason.

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This week’s game is in Foxboro and the Patriots have been dismal on the road, 1 win and 5 losses, but perform as good at home as they have been bad on the road, posting a 6-0 mark. It is supposed to be cold at Gillette Stadium, a high of 37 degrees Fahrenheit, and the Panthers are not as accustomed to playing in colder conditions. Fans are hoping these key factors will give the Patriots a much needed win.

Both defenses are fairly evenly matched, but in light of the Patriots defense’s recent performance, I give Carolina the upper hand. Offensively the Patriots take the pick hands down. With a commanding offense led by Brady, Welker, and Moss, they’re never out of a game. Brady has thrown two INTs in each of the Patriots past two games, both losses. This trend should end as the Patriots win this game easily. The Pats give Belichick a reason to smile, topping the Panthers 27-13.

By Matt Williams
ProFootball-fans.com New England Patriots Correspondent