Panthers receiver DJ Moore shakes off his ‘gross’ arm for career-best game vs. Saints
The Panthers attempted a two-point conversion right before halftime to try to go into the locker room with the score tied at 17 against the New Orleans Saints.
Kyle Allen threw a pass in the direction of wide receiver DJ Moore, but it was broken up by cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who also happened to run into Moore’s extended arm in the process of breaking up the pass.
Moore lingered on the ground in pain with what appeared to be a significant arm injury. Even Allen thought at the time that the injury looked “gross.”
But the second-year player came back for the second half and capped off one of the best games of his career despite the Panthers losing 34-31 to the Saints.
“For a second-year player, just courageous,” coach Ron Rivera said of Moore’s performance. “He stepped up. When we needed him to be out there, he went out there and that’s hats off to him. When young guys learn how to win, you’re going to be a good football team, and I think DJ knows how to win. Hopefully, we can all understand what it takes and we can all continue to grow and get better.”
Knowing how to win Sunday amounted to six catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns.
After the injury, he caught four passes for 67 yards and a touchdown, including a 52-yard catch that led to a Christian McCaffrey score.
“For him to come back out there and make that big play in the second half and continue to make big plays the whole game, it speaks volumes,” Allen said. “He played his ass off.”
Moore has put together an impressive four-game stretch, eclipsing 100 receiving yards in three of the last four games (the outlier was his 95 yards against Atlanta). He trails only the Saints’ Michael Thomas in receiving yards over that span.
“The last couple weeks, DJ’s been awesome,” tight end Greg Olsen said. “His production, contested catches, run after the catches, being strong and physical, DJ’s really, really played well these last few weeks.
“Today, his couple big plays kept us in it there; the touchdown to get us on the board early and then the second half, breaking those tackles and then getting us down to their side of the field before Christian scored was a huge part of the game.”
Thomas came into Sunday with two touchdowns during the four-game stretch. Moore had scored just one this season and had only three touchdowns in his career.
Sunday became the first multi-touchdown game of Moore’s career and his second-highest receiving total, only behind a game against Detroit last year (157). His big score came in the first quarter when he caught a 51-yard bomb from Allen to get the Panthers (5-6) on the board.
Not only was Moore dealing with the arm, but he also appeared to be limping a little after teammate Rashaan Gaulden knocked into him on a punt return in the first quarter.
The 2018 24th overall draft pick has had a good first two seasons, even if scoring has been a major drawback. But over the second half of the season, Moore has turned into a weapon for the Panthers and is clearly on the same page with Allen.
“Obviously, we took him where we did for a reason,” Olsen said. “He’s super talented, he’s a great kid that works hard, he’s got a great attitude to him, he doesn’t have a selfish bone in his body, just a really good, young dynamic player.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2019 at 8:35 PM.
