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Running back DeAngelo Williams. (PHOTO: ANDREW MASON / PANTHERS.COM)

CHARLOTTE -- DeAngelo Williams is among the leading rushers in the NFC and the NFL, ranking third in the conference and sixth in the league with 1,104 yards while helping the Panthers boast the league's No. 4 ground attack. That much resembles the team's performance last year.

But the overall offensive production has not. Where there were nine games of at least 30 points last year, there is just one this season -- and that solitary performance was boosted by a defensive touchdown, via a Julius Peppers interception return in the 34-21 win at Arizona.

The offensive line returned intact, and the first team started nine games together. But even before Pro Bowl left tackle Jordan Gross fractured his leg, the offense was gasping in its effort to match its 2008 form.

Four weeks later, the Panthers are still looking for their first 20-point game since Gross's injury, scoring just 12.3 points per game in Weeks 11-14. Last year during the same weeks, that average represented a sub-par half.

"I don't know. I can't quite put my finger on it. Each season is different. It's still the same guys," Williams said.

It's not entirely the same now, with Jeff Otah joining Gross on injured reserve and Jake Delhomme missing the last two games with a broken finger on his throwing hand. But the offense was mostly intact through most of the season's first half and posted two of the franchise's three best rushing performances in a Week 6 win at Tampa Bay and the win at Arizona two weeks later.

What's missing has been the big plays that defined the 2008 season.

"That's making plays period, whether it's on the defense, special teams or the offensive side," Williams said. "You look around the other 31 teams in the league, the only thing that separates them is who makes plays and who doesn't."

Because the Panthers haven't, disappointment isn't far from their minds. Everyone has his escape when he leaves Bank of America Stadium, and for Williams, it's video games.  His play time has increased to the point where he rarely watches television; he acknowledged that he'd seen few highlights of Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson because he starts playing the moment he gets home.

Williams didn't want to reveal what he was playing -- it could be construed as an endorsement, and he didn't want to go down that path, he explained -- but said that it helps provide a temporary break from what remains a frustrating season.

"It does. It's fun," he said. "I get on-line, and I get to talk with some of my friends on different teams and back home (in Memphis). It doesn't take up much of my day, but it takes up the time I would be watching (sports) highlights."