Panthers WR D.J. Moore has no regrets over costly celebration
D.J. Moore has no regrets over the post-touchdown celebration that resulted in a 15-yard penalty in Sunday's loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
After hauling in a 62-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds to play Moore celebrated by ripping off his helmet, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
The penalty, which pushed the potential game-winning extra point back 15 yards, resulted in Panthers kicker Eddy Pineiro missing the kick and sending the game to overtime.
Atlanta ended up winning (after Pineiro missed another, shorter kick) in overtime.
He said on Friday that he has no regrets over the celebration.
"Regrets? Nah," he said on Friday. "Not to that extent. Should I not have done it? No. Did I do it? Yeah. And I own up to that. It was just like in the moment type of deal. Can I say if I would do it differently in that moment? Nah, probably not."
Moore said it was an emotional thing, and added "I guess nobody ever got emotional and did something out of emotion."
His position is understandable. The celebration came after a miracle last minute play that saw the Panthers score a 62-yard touchdown with 24 seconds to play. It was one of the best plays of the year and put his team in a position to win the game. He reacted instinctively and ripped off his helmet. The NFL has loosened its restrictions on celebrations over the years, but removing your helmet is still against the rules.
It's also not the entire reason the Panthers lost.
Pineiro still missed two kicks that should have won the game. It might be unfair to criticize him too harshly for missing the 47-yard extra point, but he had a chance at redemption in overtime with a much-easier 33-yard kick that should have been routine. He missed that as well.
At the end of the day, bad teams find ways to lose games. The Panthers found a lot of ways to lose that game.
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