Last month, Panthers receiver Muhsin Muhammad expressed concern that the Panthers had a "tell" in their passing game, tipping opposing defenses off to their intention to throw the ball.
Now, Muhammad says that the team generally is too conservative on offense. And he's calling on the coaches to fix it.
"We have to almost throw caution to the wind a little bit; try not to
play with as much caution," Muhammad said, per Steve Reed of CarolinaGrowl.com. "We're going to make some
mistakes and I think that is part of playing football.
"I would
love to be aggressive and I think at certain points of the game we are
aggressive and certain points we're not aggressive. That's totally on
our coaches to decide when to do those things."
With quarterback Jake Delhomme throwing 13 picks and five touchdowns, the Panthers have been relying more heavily on a running game featuring DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. Indeed, the team's only three wins this season came when Delhomme threw 25 or fewer passes. In four of five losses, Delhomme put the ball in the air 30 or more times -- in two of the losses Delhomme threw more than 40 passes.
Though Muhammad has missed the last two games with injury, he never expected the team that went 12-4 last season to have such struggles throwing the ball in 2009.
"I am totally shocked," said Muhammad. "It's amazing. It's
befuddling to me. I don't understand it. But no two seasons are the
same. If someone had told me by the eighth game that we would have a
combined one touchdown by all of the receivers I probably would have
put my whole house on it. That's why I don't gamble."
Muhammad's colleague at wideout, Steve Smith, is also showing signs of frustration. But Smith is opting not to talk about it.
"I'm not opening that can of chili," Smith said, per Reed, when asked how he'd address fixing the passing game.
Though Muhammad likely isn't trying to get coach John Fox fired, Muhammad's criticism of the coaching staff likely won't help Fox and friends when the time comes for owner Jerry Richardson to make a decision as to whether a change is needed.
Muhsin Muhammad wants the Panthers to open things up
Posted by Mike Florio on November 12, 2009 7:04 AM ET
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6 Comments 
Latest stories in: Carolina Panthers, Latest News and Rumors, NFL Mobile Exclusives - Rumors, Top Stories
Latest stories in: Carolina Panthers, Latest News and Rumors, NFL Mobile Exclusives - Rumors, Top Stories
Panthers could very easily start winning again with their powerful running game. Delhomme seems to be done. These receivers are going to have to hope for a new quarterback.
Jake wasn't great last year. He was barely mediocre. But the threat of Steve Smith along with the youth of Williams and Stewart was still enough to scare defenses honest and not allow them to stack the box.
Now, the world knows exactly how bad Jake Delhomme is and they don't respect the passing game of the Panthers. Meanwhile the Panthers have done nothing to show that A)they can't run well, even with the box stacked against them, and B)that they can pass well, even without any extra DBs in coverage.
The problem is not the gameplan as much as it is the QB. They just CAN'T open it up with Jake because of how bad he is. His field vision is poor, his accuracy is worse, and his confidence is shot.
He should have been benched at the bye.
Moose is getting cranky in his old age.
When Moose says coaches he means offensive coordinator.
The Buffalo game should tell you everything you need to know: 44 passes against at the time the worst ranked run defense in the league.
Not saying it should have been a guaranteed win or anything, but Jeff Davidson clearly is out of his league.
Carolina is where receivers go to die..... or at least get old and washed up right Moose?
Offensive coordinator has ZERO pull in Fox's system. Fox is a 3 yards and a cloud of dust guy on offense. Always has been. What other team is noted for their "patented draw plays"