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Panthers WR Steve Smith out against Saints with first-quarter knee injury

Steve Smith leaves the field after suffering a knee injury. (Mike McCarn/AP) If the Carolina Panthers can beat the New Orleans Saints today, they'll clinch a
Doug Farrar|
Panthers WR Steve Smith out against Saints with first-quarter knee injury
Panthers WR Steve Smith out against Saints with first-quarter knee injury

Steve Smith leaves the field after suffering a knee injury. (Mike McCarn/AP)

If the Carolina Panthers can beat the New Orleans Saints today, they'll clinch a playoff spot. And if they win out, they've got a good shot at the NFC South. That task became more difficult, however, when receiver Steve Smith went down with a non-contact knee injury in the first quarter of the game after Cam Newton missed him on a slant. Smith came up holding the back of his leg, which would seem to indicate a hamstring injury, but reports indicated that Smith's left knee is the problem. Smith came back into the game briefly in the second quarter, but returned to the sideline and was ruled out for the remainder of the game soon after.

Smith came into this game tied for the team lead in receptions with 63, and had the team lead in targets with 107. He caught one pass before he went down -- a beautiful long pass from Newton for 44 yards with 13:29 left in the first quarter. The Panthers were up 7-6 at the half, and perhaps their strong defense will continue to take care of business. Saints quarterback Drew Brees completed 17-of-24 passes for just 124 yards, no touchdowns and a pick before the teams went to the locker rooms. Newton completed five passes in the first half -- all to different receivers.

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Doug Farrar
DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009,  Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine.  He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.

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