OFFENSE

MVP

Running back DeAngelo Williams picked up where he left off last season. He's on pace for another 1,500-yard season, again showing great vision, toughness and explosiveness running the football. This year, however, he's struggled at times with ball security, so he'll need to improve that.

ROOKIE IMPACT

With all 11 starters back, the Panthers haven't called upon rookies much. Running back Mike Goodson flashed during the preseason but has played sparingly since. He has four rushes and one reception for a combined 5 yards. Carolina tried hitting him on a swing pass last weekend at New Orleans, a glimpse of how the team might try to get him the ball in the open field during the weeks ahead. Tyrell Sutton is a natural tailback but showed promise running, catching and blocking as a fill-in fullback against the Saints.

BEST PLAY

DeAngelo Williams broke free for a 66-yard touchdown run at New Orleans to give Carolina an early lead. It was the longest scoring play of the season and second-longest gain, trailing Williams' 77-yard non-scoring run against Arizona a week earlier.

WORST PLAY

There are plenty from which to choose. The Panthers have had two interceptions returned for touchdowns and two fumbles returned for scores. There were lots of mistakes during the opening loss to Philadelphia. But the worst of the worst came when Jake Delhomme overthrew an open Steve Smith and was intercepted by safety Jairus Byrd late in the third quarter against Buffalo. Byrd returned the ball to the Carolina 27 and set up the Bills' clinching touchdown in arguably the Panthers' worst loss of the season.

BEST TREND

Carolina has re-established a forceful running game during the past month. After starting the season slowly, the Panthers have risen to third in the NFL in rushing and are averaging 208.7 yards per game on the ground over the past four weeks.

WORST TREND

The passing game continues to struggle. Wide receivers have just one touchdown catch. Despite having no interceptions the past two games, Delhomme still leads the league with 13 and ranks 29th in passing efficiency. At a time when 20 quarterbacks are completing at least 60percent of their passes, Delhomme's percentage is 58.8.

LOOKING AHEAD

There's nothing wrong with the Panthers being a run-first team, but if they don't become more efficient passing when they need to, the season isn't going to get better. They simply must get Smith more involved, lest they waste having one of the NFL's foremost game-breakers. Whether coaches or teammates liked it or not, there was some truth in Smith's remark that he didn't feel like an asset to the team.

-- Charles Chandler

DEFENSE

MVP

This is a tricky one, because the obvious choice - weakside linebacker Thomas Davis - is out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee. But there's no doubt Davis was the defense's best player until going out late in Sunday's loss at New Orleans. His range and physicality made him one of the NFL's best linebackers during the season's first half.

The loss of Davis will put more pressure to produce on middle linebacker Jon Beason, the other half of the Panthers' outstanding linebacking tandem, as well as defensive end Julius Peppers, who has seven sacks.

ROOKIE IMPACT

Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn was a seventh-round draft choice but quickly impressed coaches with his savvy and toughness (he's the team's smallest player at 5-foot-8, 186 pounds). He's a regular on the nickel package and also returns punts. It looks like an above-average draft for the defense: End Everette Brown and safety Sherrod Martin have been solid.

BEST PLAY

When Peppers' intercepted Arizona's Kurt Warner during the second quarter of Carolina's 34-21 victory, he put all of his considerable skills on display. He survived a cut block by Mike Gandy, then snatched Warner's pass and returned it 13 yards for a touchdown. If there was another defensive play that approached it, try Peppers' sack and forced fumble of Warner during that same game.

WORST PLAY

The Panthers had spent the first half of their game at New Orleans keeping the Saints' potent offense at bay. Then, what appeared to be a short slant route run by receiver Devery Henderson turned into a 63-yard gain. The Saints scored on their next play and the Panthers never recovered, eventually losing 30-20.

BEST TREND

The Panthers are close to fully figuring out new defensive coordinator Ron Meeks' system and apparently have improved the run defense that had plagued them. The addition of tackles Hollis Thomas and Tank Tyler made Carolina's interior line a much tougher place for running backs.

WORST TREND

Injuries. Three starters - Davis and tackles Maake Kemoeatu (Achilles) and Louis Leonard (ankle) - are out for the season. Safties Chris Harris (knee) and Charles Godfrey (ankle) have missed significant time (Godfrey is still out). That kind of attrition tests the depth of even the best defense.

LOOKING AHEAD

How well Meeks can piece together his injury-depleted unit will tell the defense's story the rest of the season. Rookie Martin has filled in well for Godfrey, and whoever replaces Davis - Landon Johnson, James Anderson or Dan Connor - has a huge task ahead of him. And without Davis, even more falls on the defense's two most important players - Peppers and Beason.

-- David Scott

SPECIAL TEAMS

THE GOOD

Specialist Rhys Lloyd boots the ball into the end zone a league-leading 72.7 percent of the time. Long-snapper J.J. Jansen has proven to be as reliable as Jason Kyle, the player he replaced.

THE BAD

Before the season was five games old, Carolina had allowed a punt return for a touchdown, a kickoff return for a touchdown, a blocked punt and a blocked field goal. John Kasay uncharacteristicallymissed two field-goal attempts in a loss against Buffalo. The kickoff coverage team allows a league-high 30.7 yards per return, despite Lloyd's 24 kicks into the end zone.

LOOKING AHEAD

Special-teams play has stabilized in the past two games, but the damage inflicted earlier was immense. For a while, there was a catastrophic break down in the special teams each game. Those must stop if the Panthers are to make any kind of second-half run.

-- David Scott

PREDICTING THE SECOND HALF

Observer staff writer Charles Chandler's take on how the Panthers will fare in their final eight games.

FINAL RECORD: 7-9, likely third in NFC South behind the Saints and Falcons

cchandler@charlotteobserver.com and dscott@charlotteobserver.com

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