Who shined and who stumbled in the Carolina Panthers’ 24-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday? Let’s look at the team’s studs and duds from Week 15.
Stud: WR DJ Moore
Moore wasn’t at 100 percent for this contest. His ankle injury had him as questionable on the final injury report and needed to work through the pregame warmups to get the thumbs up.
Luckily, he did—and he had himself a pretty nice day. The fifth-year wideout, who finished with 73 yards on five grabs, reeled in a tight touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Darnold in the second quarter—which accounted for the team’s only touchdown and a new career-high (five) in scores for Moore.
Dud: Panthers rushers
Carolina came in on a two-game winning streak, one in which they ran for a combined 408 yards and three touchdowns on 92 attempts. But they looked like a far different rushing offense on Sunday.
The Steelers held the Panthers to just 21 yards, their lowest such output since 2012, on 16 carries. D’Onta Foreman recorded nine yards on 10 tries while Chuba Hubbard went for 10 yards on four tokes.
Stud: K Eddy Piñeiro
“Steady Eddy” kept his feel-good 2022 campaign going.
Fresh off being named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in Seattle, Piñeiro nailed his lone extra point and all three of his field goals. His longest came on a 52-yarder with 19 seconds remaining in the game, which was just two yards off his season-best.
He has now made 28 of his 30 field goal tries this year.
Dud: CB Keith Taylor Jr.
Taylor Jr. can’t lie . . . he was getting cooked.
After stepping up in place of starter CJ Henderson, who made an early exit due to an ankle injury, the second-year defender was routinely picked on by Pittsburgh. Much of the Steelers’ insane 75-percent success rate on third down and wideout Diontae Johnson’s 98-yard day came on Taylor Jr.’s watch.
Interim head coach Steve Wilks even pointed out his rough day in his postgame presser, stating he needs to make plays moving forward.
Stud: LB Shaq Thompson
Earlier in the week, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin heaped praise on Thompson—stating the eighth-year linebacker is a clear product of Panthers greats Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis. Well, it looked like it on Sunday.
Thompson cleaned up for 12 tackles, the second-most for the Carolina defense behind safety Jeremy Chinn’s 14. Those takedowns pushed the veteran over the 100-tackle mark for the fourth straight campaign.
Dud: Panthers coaching staff
Wilks also pointed the finger at himself and his staff while at the podium. He said that he and his coaches did not prepare the players well enough for the Week 15 contest.
One moment that particularly stuck out for the coaching staff came from offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. Down 21-7 on a third-and-8 from the Pittsburgh 10-yard line, McAdoo called for a quarterback draw from Darnold—one that resulted in a one-yard loss.
