
Jan. 1--Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams is the NFC's offensive player of the month for December. Williams ran for a league-high 560 yards, averaging 140.0 yards per game and scored seven touchdowns in the Panthers' four December games.
He's one of only three Panthers players in history to be named the NFC's offensive player of the month, joining receivers Patrick Jeffers (December 1999) and Steve Smith (October 2005).
It's the third straight month a Panthers player has been named player of the month in the NFC.
Linebacker Jon Beason (October) and end Julius Peppers (November) won defensive honors.
Notes
Kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd's 30 touchbacks are the most in the NFL since the league began using the "K-ball" in 1999. The league introduced the K-ball -- an unused ball for use by punters and kickers -- in 1999 so they couldn't gain an advantage by breaking it in too much.
Lloyd also had the second-most touchbacks in a season since the kickoff line was moved from the 35 to the 30 in 1994.
That record is held by Minnesota's Mitch Berger (40) in 1998. The next season, using a K-ball, Berger had just 13.
Lloyd's kickoffs have had a large impact on the Panthers. Their opponents' average starting field position is the 24.7, third in the league.
That follows a 29.0-yard line starting point in 2007 when John Kasay handled the kickoff duties, 19th in the league.
The Panthers had four touchbacks in all of 2007. Kasay had one of them; Lloyd had the other three when he signed for the last game of the season.
Quarterback Jake Delhomme said Wednesday he's not feeling any effects from a bone-crushing sack he took Sunday by New Orleans linebacker Scott Shanle. "He hit me good," Delhomme said. "The place got loud, but it got quiet in my head for a second."
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