"They were already bad.

Getting hurt didn't help.

The Carolina Panthers came into the game with the league's worst offense, and proceeded to lose a quarterback, two running backs and a game, 34-3 to the New Orleans Saints.

"We are not really a juggernaut right now," Panthers coach John Fox said. "But to lose two of your three running backs that were active for the day and your starting quarterback, things could go from kind of not so good to really bad."

Beyond the injuries, the Panthers were really bad on offense all day long. For much of the game, they challenged the franchise record for fewest net yards in a game — the 113 they gained at Buffalo in their second game as a franchise in 1995. They finished with 195, a number artificially buoyed by two garbage-time drives when the Saints were already packing gear and the stadium was emptying.

And bucking a trend of the season, the actually ran it well, even without the inactive DeAngelo Williams. Jonathan Stewart showed some flashes (five carries for 30 yards) before leaving with an apparent concussion, and backup Tyrell Sutton (seven for 41 yards) ran well before he suffered an ankle injury that left Mike Goodson as the only rushing option.

That and the early deficit left passing as the only real option, however.

After Moore was driven into the ground in the second quarter, injuring his right shoulder, an already bad day got worse."