Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Carolina 13 at Dallas 14 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Carolina Panthers: QB Rodney Peete was ineffective on the day throwing 9-15 for 84 yards but had a TD pass off a blown coverage. Peete overthrew Steve Smith for what would have been an easy TD. Peete left the game with a headache sustained from a hit. Weinke fared no better than Peete as he went 7-12 for 114 yards. RB Lamar Smith was held to 25 rushes for 81 yards and wasn't able to break a run for longer than 9 yards. Smith did seem to wear down the Dallas Defense a bit. WR Muhsin Muhammad returned but wasn't 100% recovered. But he provided help in the passing game getting 6 catches for 82 yards and was able to free Steve Smith for a 4 catches for 31 yards. Carolina tied a team record by sacking Quincy Carter 7 times in this game. Dallas Cowboys: Quincy Carter played an ugly game with very inaccurate passing but was able to pull through at the end with an 80-yard TD pass to Joey Galloway and driving the team for a 24-yard TD to Antonio Bryant. Carter finished with 15-32 for 225 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT. Dallas seems totally content to allow Carter to grow into the job. Emmitt Smith finished with 13 carries for 59 yards but showed a few bursts of speed including an 18-yard run. Smith appeared to run better without a FB in front of him as he was able to see and hit the holes faster. Joey Galloway, Antonio Bryant, and Darnay Scott each had 3 catches. Galloway and Bryant received most of the targets but Galloway garnered the yards because he had an 80 yard TD reception. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Carolina Panthers QB: Rodney Peete - played the first half until he was taken out because of headache sustained after a hit but wasn't sustaining long drives while playing. Peete was 9-15 for 84 yards throwing easy short passes and using a lot of play-action off of Lamar Smith. He held the LBs long enough on a play-action pass to throw over the middle and hit Brad Hoover for a 25 yard TD. Peete also overthrew Steve Smith for what should have been a TD. Chris Weinke - came in the second half and didn't fare much better than Rodney Peete going 7-12 for 114 yards. Weinke moved the ball more than Peete because of better runs by Smith. Weinke drove the team close to FG range for a chance to win the game but threw a pass too inside and the WR got tackled inbounds ending the game. RB: Lamar Smith - played his usual style, trying to pound and wear down the defense to get longer gains at the end of the game. Smith got 25 rushes for 81 yards and he did wear down the defense but this only produced a few runs longer than 4 yards. Smith aided the passing game as many passes came from play-action setup. Brad Hoover - came open in the middle of field to catch a 25-yard TD off a play-action pass. WR: Muhsin Muhammad - is still clearly not 100% healed but just his presence freed up Steve Smith and gave confidence to the QBs in the game. Muhammad was given a lot of pass patterns to get open and was a clear favorite receiver for both QBs but had an average day of 6 catches for 82 yards. Steve Smith - wasn't as big as a factor as Muhammad with 4 catches for 31 yards. Most of Smith's routes were underneath with a deep pass here and there. Rodney Peete overthrew Smith on what should have been a 35-yard TD. TE: Kris Mangum - wasn't a factor with only 1 catch for 7 yards. Run Defense: played well chasing down and containing the running game until Dan Morgan left with an injury. After this then Carolina gave up a few runs for 10+ yards but still held up against Dallas. Pass Defense: placed a lot of pressure on Quincy Carter tying a team record of 7 sacks in one game. Carolina played the pass well until they faltered late in the game giving up a long TD to Galloway and allowing Dallas to drive for the winning TD. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Dallas Cowboys QB: Quincy Carter - was pressured most of the game and struggled to hit receivers running screen passes with the defenders in his way. Carter was very inaccurate during the entire game and struggled to move the chains. In the 4th quarter, Carter threw a long 80 yard TD to Galloway that he caught off a deflection. He then came back to drive the offense back into scoring range. Carter threw a poor pass but Antonio Bryant caught it for a 24 yard TD that won the game. RB: Emmitt Smith - showed a few bursts of speed but was contained well by the Carolina Defense. Smith only saw 13 rushes for 59 yards but had one good run for 18 yards. Smith appeared to run much better without a FB in front of him seeing and hitting the holes faster. Troy Hambrick and Michael Wiley - came in for a few runs but each had one good run of a little more than 10 yards but were ineffective on their other carries. WR: Joey Galloway - was the first choice of Carter getting 8 targets and 3 catches for 104 yards and a TD. Carter threw several bad passes in Galloway's direction. Galloway caught a long 80-yard TD that was deflected and he made a great recovery. Antonio Bryant - Finished with 9 targets as Galloway was being covered heavily. Bryant had 3 catches for 45 yards and an outstanding 24-yard TD pass to win the game. Showed great concentration holding onto a tough catch. Darnay Scott - came in for a few plays to get catches in the seams finishing with 3 catches for 26 yards. TE: Tony McGee - caught a 12 yard pass early in the game but wasn't much of a factor. Run Defense: held Lamar Smith to 81 yards on 25 carries. The defense wore down late in the game but still was able to hold Smith to small gains. Pass Defense: place very little pressure on the QB but defended the pass quite well and stopped Carolina from sustaining long drives. Dallas had a few breakdowns that led to a 25 yard TD and bad pass that should have been a 35-yard TD.