The Panthers won their second straight game and are a win over a 2-4 Bills team that could be playing with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback away from getting back to .500. Carolina held off the winless Buccaneers on Sunday, despite another poor outing from Jake Delhomme, who, after throwing two more picks vs. Tampa Bay, is tied for the league lead with 10 interceptions.

While the Panthers seemed to have momentarily found the right track after starting 0-3, not everyone was celebrating after the game. A frustrated Steve Smith told reporters that he's "no longer an asset to this team," after being held to just one catch for four yards. Smith, who has 21 catches for 259 yards on the season, has been held to 38 yards or less in three-of-five games and has yet to score a touchdown.

"Two guys are committed to (covering Smith) every play," Delhomme said. "We try to take shots, but it's difficult."

The PFW spin

This is one of those cases where no one is completely right. Yes, it's understandable that Smith is frustrated and feels as though he's being misused, but to make those sentiments public after his team just won its second straight is more than a little bit tone-deaf. While Smith's intentions are probably good, it makes him seem like he's more concerned with his own numbers than the team's record.

Smith didn't pick the right words to describe his situation. He's still very much an asset to this team, even when he's double covered and can't get open. With defenses paying so much attention to Smith, opportunities to make plays in one-on-one coverage emerge for the team's other receivers. Muhsin Muhammad, Dwayne Jarrett and others just haven't taken advantage of those chances. It also doesn't help that Delhomme bounces from awful to average from play-to-play. His accuracy is always a concern for offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson, whose hands are already tied by head coach John Fox's preference for a conservative offense. The Panthers are without question a running team, and they don't have much other choice than to be so because of Delhomme's limitations. That's going to limit Smith's opportunity to make plays, and he's going to have to accept that if he hasn't already.

The Panthers, though, should make more of an effort to come up with creative ways to get the ball in their most talented offensive player's hands. Carolina is on a winning streak, but this offense still has much room for improvement and getting Smith more touches will only boost this unit. Smith's an emotional player and he and the Panthers need to work together to make sure his mood doesn't become a distraction or lead to Delhomme forcing the ball to him to the point where it leads to turnovers.

While Smith is the one who is upset at the moment, there's not much he can do to make the situation better. He's playing just as hard as ever, from all accounts. It's up to the coaching staff to get Smith more involved and Jarrett and Muhammad have to get open and make some teams pay for double-teaming Smith if they're going to make defenses take a more balanced approach, which would open things up for the team's most dangerous weapon.