Stephen Davis 2nd half of season stats

[bubba9497]

11/09 Tampa Bay W 27-24 Did Not Play

11/16 Washington W 20-17 Yes 28 92 3.3

11/23 @Dallas L 20-24 Yes 26 59 2.3

11/30 Philadelphia L 16-25 Yes 23 115 5.0

12/07 @Atlanta L 14-20 Yes 24 81 3.4

Just showing Stephen Davis's numbers since the midway point of the season.

[bubba9497]

Davis might face test against Cards

By Darrell Trimble

NFL Insider

The Carolina Panthers have gone from a Super Bowl contender to a team whose playoff hopes are in some question.

Not that the Panthers' three-game losing streak will prohibit them from reaching the postseason. They have a two-game lead in their division over the Saints and the Bucs, and have swept both, meaning that even if New Orleans or Tampa Bay would win its remaining games, the Panthers would have to lose all three of their games. Given the fact that their opponents, Arizona, Detroit and the New York Giants, have a combined .282 winning percentage (11-28), that's highly unlikely.

But the Panthers should be worried about how they are playing. Though this is a defensively driven team, their offense was predicated on a strong running game and timely passing from quarterback Jake Delhomme. But over the last three weeks that hasn't been the case. Sunday night against the Atlanta Falcons running back Stephen Davis gained 81 yards on 24 carries.

Stephen Davis needs to regain his early-season form.

That's not a poor performance, but Davis had been averaging 102.4 yards a game and 4.9 yards per carry during their 8-2 start. But ever since their Nov. 23 game at Dallas, Davis has proved to be mortal, averaging 85 yards per contest and 3.5 yards per carry. It may appear that facing the Cardinals this Sunday would cure the problem, but that may not be the case.

Yes, the Cards are the 17th-ranked run defense in the league, but they have been surprisingly good against the run at home. Against the likes of Shaun Alexander, Ahman Green, Jamal Lewis, Garrison Hearst and Kevan Barlow, Rudi Johnson and Marshall Faulk, they've yielded 113.2 yards a game, almost 30 yards under the combined rushing average of all six teams. The Panthers as a team average 137.7.

The Cardinals have not only been stingy against the run, but they've also been inhospitable to opposing quarterbacks, which is bad news for Delhomme. The Ragin' Cajun has also had a rough three-game stretch in which he's completed only 51 percent of his passes and has failed to deliver in the clutch. He threw two interceptions Sunday night, including one in overtime that was returned for a touchdown.

The Cardinals have held visiting quarterbacks to a 73.8 passer rating by forcing them to throw seven picks while surrendering only five passing touchdowns.

Granted, this doesn't mean that the Panthers will lose this Sunday, but by looking at their poor play and how well the Cardinals play at home, there is a real possibility that Carolina's losing streak could expand to four.

Chief concerns: Over the last four weeks, the worst run defense in the league has taken up residence at One Arrowhead Drive. The Kansas City Chiefs have given up 198.8 yards on the ground for the last four games at an average of 6.2 yards a pop, and are a rather average 2-2.

Although the Chiefs' defense has struggled recently, a sliver of the blame should be assigned to the offense.

The Chiefs should have one of the most explosive offenses in the league, and for a while, they did. But recently they haven't been as dynamic as advertised. During the four-game stretch, the Chiefs have converted on only 37.5 percent of their third-down conversions. In the first nine games they were successful 42.6 percent of the time.

Against the Broncos on Sunday, the Chiefs went 1-for-6 on third down in the second half. With drives stalling early, the defense was forced to come out on the field earlier, and they're defense has shown that they're best when used less, not more.

And without the benefit of limiting teams to a one-dimensional offense, Kansas City's defense has paid the price. But the offense, too, has been less productive. In their 9-0 start, the Chiefs averaged 31.9 points a game, but since mid-November they've averaged only 25.3.

Granted, that's not an excuse for the rush defense giving yards away like banks give away free toasters. At their current rate, any team that comes up against K.C. can expect to gain more than 70 yards more on the ground than its season average. And that's good news for the Lions, who rank dead last in rushing.

Of course, they'll have to keep the game close, and the Lions' defense is currently tied for 25th in third-down percentage (39.9). So the Lions would have to stop the Chiefs from keeping drives alive on third down, which they haven't been able to do to opponents all season. If they do, they might be able to make Sunday's game interesting.

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/story?id=1681242

[Saqs]

Didnt Peter King (and some others on this board) say they thought Carolina would go 13-3???

[@DCGoldPants]

Davis is slowing down...he's worth his current contract.....not the one he had here though.

[Awesome]

Seems about right. He blows it up in the first two months of the season, misses a game in November, fumbles a few times, gets worn down.

You're right B. His production is just about right for that contract he signed. Not quite worth the $11 million he would have gotten here.

[Cskin]

I think we're seeing an extension of the pattern he set while playing for the Redskins. Fast out of the gate.... running hard through a half or two thirds of the season... and then a decline in production as the pounding starts to take a toll on him late in the year. Is the decline warranted considering the punishment, one would think so, but a Franchise back somewhere deep inside has to find a way to keep running hard and moving the chains.

The fact of the matter is, Stephen Davis is not a franchise back... never proving in DC he could be relied upon for a whole season. Above average back...absolutely... team player... sure... but an elite back like R. Williams, Edge, Portis, Holmes, and Tomlinson...... not a chance. End of story.

[Henry]

Wait, I thought he was going to breeak 2000 yards this season.

[Leonard Washington]

i think the announcers said it best last night. davis is good for at least 1-2 30yd scampers/game that really help his stats and ypc other than that he's just 1-3yd back.

[Larry]

So, what y'all are saying is: He'll only single-handedly win four or five games a year for you, not eight or nine.

[redman]

Davis is a good RB, not a great one. There are probably a dozen RB's I'd rather have than him.

He's a tough runner and he falls forward. You can build a good offense around him.

The problem is that he wears down at the end of every season, and he also has the tendency to fumble at inopportune times.

[Zen-like Todd]

Is anyone here surprised? Its a pattern. Not to do the Nyah Nyah thing again, but a month ago I said this would happen.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Agreed. This is like clockwork with Davis. Not to say he isn't worth the money he accepted from the Panthers, but this is pretty much what he'll do for a team if he's given the ball that many times.

He will have another good game before their season is over, but he's not a 2K yard RB like many seemed to think about 5 weeks ago.

[OURYEAR#56]

This is a trend with power backs. Just look at Jerome Bettis. This should cement that Snyder is a little bit smarter than the rest of us. I love Davis. I can't agree with you Cskin on this one. As far as a back, I would love to have Davis on my team. But he can only take a team so far. This is very much like the Champ situation. Champ can only take us sa far. But I bet we're going to have people say "he's the best since Deion, why didn't we keep him?" Good job Snyder!