"Panthers receiver Steve Smith gets a little annoyed when someone suggests Cam Newton's arrival energized him.

It's nothing against Newton, who Smith believes is a great quarterback.

But Smith believes there was something more fundamental in helping him earn a fifth Pro Bowl berth - namely, an offense that got him the ball.

"You can't charge up a battery that's already charged," Smith said this week during a phone interview. "And that's what I feel like. I just think I was sitting around waiting to be used, to be utilized."

Under first-year coach Ron Rivera and offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, Smith said all of the Panthers' offensive play-makers were put in positions that allowed them to prosper this season. Newton and tailback Jonathan Stewart thrived in the read-option package; DeAngelo Williams took snaps nearly every week out of the Wildcat formation.

But the turnaround for Smith was striking. A year ago, frustrated by a quarterback who couldn't deliver him the ball and an organization that seemed to be going backward, Smith approached owner Jerry Richardson and asked for a trade."