Published: Sunday, Dec. 06, 2009 / Updated: Monday, Dec. 07, 2009 10:43 AM

Moore's outing not flashy, but effective for Panthers

CHARLOTTE -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Matt Moore hadn't started a game since 2007, but he had seen enough this year to know what he had to do.

Or more importantly, not do.

The Panthers replacement quarterback had a mostly efficient day in relief of broken-fingered Jake Delhomme, enabling the Panthers to take a 16-6 win over Tampa Bay.

Not leading them to. Just kind of not messing it up.

“We didn't put a whole lot on him,” fullback Brad Hoover said. “He did fine.”

Moore finished the game 14-of-20 for 161 yards with an interception. He didn't throw a touchdown, but he got them close enough often enough, and actually made a big play of his own.

He threw a 66-yard strike to Steve Smith down the right sideline (the longest Panthers passing play of the year), the kind of thing that had rarely worked previously. In fact, the longest pass prior to that one was a 52-yarder to third-string tight end Gary Barnidge, which should tell you everything you need to know about the passing game this year.

“I thought he did pretty good,” coach John Fox said. “He had the one turnover. I thought it was something to build on. He hasn't been in in a long time. I thought he threw with pretty good velocity and for the most part made pretty good decisions.

“There are a couple of things we need to clean up, but all in all, he played good enough for us to win and that is key.”

The deep ball moved Moore's passer rating for the day to 73.1, and it was 58.0 prior. That's more indicative of the way he played, not truly offensive.

The game plan might not have been as stripped-down as it was for Moore during his three-start mop-up duty in 2007, as he has had the ability to sit back and watch and absorb. All week, people talked about the confidence they felt in him this time through.

“Every quarterback is a little bit different,” Fox said. “They have different strengths and weaknesses. Matt has been in our system. We've played quarterbacks here with three days work. That's not the case here.

“We didn't pull back. We tweaked a little bit, things that he's a little more comfortable with. He's been with us for some time. He's got a good grasp on what we're doing offensively.”

But there was no better display of the kind of game they wanted him to play than after his deep ball to Smith. That one moved them to the Bucs 13-yard line, but they gave it to running back Jonathan Stewart on the next three plays before kicking the field goal that gave them a two-possession lead with seven minutes and 12 seconds left.

Fox alluded to it and Moore admitted that he checked to the running play on third down, admittedly nervous about making sure they at least got a field goal out of the deal.

“My whole mindset there was we are down here, let's just try to pound the ball in,” Moore said. “We have a big guy in our backfield. I want to be as safe as possible. Is that me not taking a chance, maybe, but I just wanted to be as safe as possible and guarantee some points, whether it be three or seven.

“I probably could have thrown the ball, but it was my decision to run it with Stewie and it is what it is. I'm happy with the results.”

Mostly because the result wasn't a total disaster.

Moore said from where he stood, he knew the effects of turnovers, as Delhomme's 18 picks were doing as much to earn him his chance as the starter's broken right middle finger.

“We just had a big play,” Moore said. “That's momentum. I knew getting three points puts us up by two scores at that point in the game. That was my whole mentality, especially with a guy like that in the backfield. He's a big, strong guy and we all know how he runs the ball.”

Moore was thinking safety first throughout the afternoon, knowing he wasn't going to be given many chances to take chances. Of his pick, he said “I could have thrown a safer ball,” and he admitted he missed an open Smith in the end zone when he got “excited and overthrew it.”

Laid-back by nature, Moore shrugged off questions about the future, or what a clean performance meant to him.

He shrugged off questions about the future, and whether there was any pressure on him. He laughed at himself for going a little nuts after the deep ball — “I guess I got that from Jake,” he said — and was generally having a good time with the whole operation.

So not throwing too many passes, not piling up big numbers, didn't seem to faze him at all.

“If we win, it's still a good day,” Moore said. “The big play to Smitty helps, but I had to come in to this thing and be right. I didn't have to be perfect. I had to just be right, making the throws that are right, checking the ball down, taking what's there and moving the ball.

“If we're running first and second down and we're throwing for 3 yards on third down and that's it but we're converting, then so be it.”