Welcome once again to the Hog Molly Report, where winning in the trenches is all that matters. Before we begin, we open with the reciting of our usual motto:

“Big men allow you to compete. We're certainly going to look at the big hog mollies.”

In the spirit of Mr. Gettleman’s words, and the philosophy of building a team from the inside out, my goal will be to watch the hog mollies each game during the season, and give them a grade based on their performance. This week we will look at the bounce back win against the Arizona Cardinals and see where the Trench Monsters excelled, and how they can keep this momentum moving forward

Offensive Hog mollies

*Season average in parentheses

Week 8 Yards per carry: 3.9 (4.3, T-11th NFL)

Third down conversions: 6 out of 14, 43% (41%, 12th NFL)

Sacks given up: 1 (16, T-16th NFL)

Rating: 5 out of 5 True Hogmollies

In a game where the Carolina Panthers returned to their roots of a ground and pound, clock control gameplan, the big boys really responded and led the charge for one of Jonathan Stewart’s best days in recent memory. When the Panthers did air one out, for the most part, Cam had adequate time to find a receiver downfield even though that didn’t ever result in a touchdown on the day.

All things considered, and especially given that the Panthers were without Michael Oher yet again, and also without Ryan Kalil most of the day... it would be unfair to give these guys less than 5 piggies for a great bounce-back performance. Hopefully the line can return to full strength and continue to build on their tough performance from Sunday.

Defensive Hog mollies

Yards per carry allowed: 2.4 (3.3, 1st NFL)

3rd Down Conversions allowed: 4 out of 12, 33% (41%, T-21st NFL)

Sacks: 8 total with 5 from DL (20, T-8th NFL)

Rating: 5 out of 5 Life Takers and Hog Breakers

Oh my sweet lord... where has this swarming defense been all season? Carson Palmer was harassed and pummeled all day long, and David Johnson could find absolutely nowhere to go in the running game. All told, the final tally was EIGHT sacks with five of those coming from defensive linemen, and three from Star Lotulelei who apparently ate a giant box of Samoan Wheaties and a side of Popeye Spinach prior to this game.

The Panthers continue to be among the league elite in stopping the run, and if the pass rush is finally putting things together, the fortunes of this season could turn around very quickly. Beforehand, you simply just didn’t even try to run on us because throwing was so easy. If you can no longer do that, scoreboards are going to change dramatically.

Kelvin Benjamin

2 receptions, 73 yards, 0 touchdowns

Rating: 3 out of 5 Porcine Blockers

It would be hard to blame Kelvin Benjamin for a ho-hum performance on the field Sunday. Cam simply did not throw very much, and when he did, he spread the ball around to a plethora of targets. Kelvin was the recipient of Cam’s longest pass of the day, and there is no doubt he continues to be option 1b when Newton is looking to chuck one.

Hog molly of the Week: Star Lotulelei

Big Star decided that it looked like Carson Palmer could use a hug. Several hugs. Really strong and somewhat painful hugs. Three of them to be exact.

Star Lotulelei is no longer “just a run stuffer” by putting the exclamation point on the Cardinals desire to block him one on one on passing downs. He has shown some ability to get after the QB before, and was certainly assisted by the ends ability to collapse the pocket inward on Carson Palmer. There are a lot of positives the team can take away from Sunday’s game, and the interior pass rush is going to need to continue to be a factor if the Panthers want to keep playoff hopes alive.