Empty the Bench

What a pathetic effort.

Say what you will about the Vikings offense failing to score in the first half against the Lions and barely eeking out an embarrassing 12-10 victory over Detroit. The most disappointing offense on the field Sunday was the Carolina Panthers. Top to bottom, the whole unit stunk. After racking up 58 points in the previous two weeks, putting just 3 on the board was a slap in the face.

And it really stung for fantasy owners as the bye week blues likely had Jake Delhomme, Stevonne Smith, Mushin Muhammad, DeAngelo Williams, and Jonathan Stewart all starting in your league – they all let you down.

It starts at the top with Delhomme who, despite throwing for a respectable 242 yards, had a shit game. The former Saint entered Sunday 7-1 vs. Tampa Bay and 4-0 at Raymond James Stadium in his career and 4 TDs in his last two games. He didn’t throw for a single score, tossed three interceptions, and completed just 10 of his 39 pass attempts (51.3%). The performance netted an abysmal 38.6 QB Rating – nearly 80 points south of 38-year-old Jeff Garcia’s tally.

But Delhomme had some help in posting those pitiful numbers. All three of the interceptions came off deflections from Carolina receivers. In the first quarter Dante “You’re Dead to Us” Rosario tipped one to Tanard Jackson. Later Muhsin Muhammad lost a mid-air wrestling match for the second INT. And then in the final minute Stevonne Smith had an opportunity to salvage some dignity for this unit but instead let a ball go right through his hands in the endzone – and right into the hands of cornerback Aqib Talib.

Pathetic.

The offensive line and the running game weren’t any better. Usually either Williams or Stewart will post a strong effort, the difficulty is just in predicting which it will be. Their combined stats weren’t worth starting as the Panthers netted a meager 40 total yards on the ground. DeAngelo rushed 11 times for 27 yards (2.5 YPC), never busting off anything over 7 yards. Stewart only got 6 carries, which he converted into 12 yards (2.0 YPC).

Again, pathetic.

The Bucs defense is good, but it’s safe to say nobody saw a letdown like this coming. If you, ahem, live in Vegas then the performance resulted in the Panthers failing to cover the spread by a whopping 23 points.

“It’s a letdown for us,” Stevonne said after the game. For us too, Stevonne, for us too.

Past Sea Hammocks of the Week:
- Week 1 Sea Hammock – Tom Brady
- Week 2 Sea Hammock – Hurricane Ike
- Week 3 Sea Hammock – Ronnie Brown
– Week 4 Sea Hammock – Jason Garrett
- Week 5 Sea Hammock – LaDainian Tomlinson

Mushin Muhammad Photo Credit: Icon SMI