Before the Vikings battled it out with the Panthers on Sunday Night Football, Tony Dungy and former safety Rodney Harrison were asked if the 5-8 Carolina Panthers even had a chance against the 11-2 Minnesota Vikings. Dungy wisely answered “Yes” and mentioned that the Panthers would need to run the ball and stop the run, while Harrison showed those New England smarts by answering “No way” and with enthusiasm.

I am happy to say that the Panthers took Dungy’s advice and proved that the former safety showed too much of his New England upbringing and was knocked off his high horse (kind of like his former team). The Carolina Panthers spanked the Vikings. Dungy said to run the ball and stop the run. The Panthers did just that as Jonathon Stewart, who replaced the injured DeAngelo Williams, rushed for 109 yards making him the first to do so against the Vikings in 37 games. They also stopped the run as they stout Panther defense held Adrian Peterson to 35 yards on 12 carries (AP did, though, have the toughest 4 yard touchdown of the season). The Panthers even decided to go a step further to prove Harrison might want to think about what he says.

The Carolina Panthers ravaged Brett Favre. They did not allow Favre to throw one touchdown and forced two turnovers during the game. The key to the defense was the pressure it put on Favre as he was sacked 4 times and hurried/knocked down 10 times. A key contributor to this pressure was Julius Peppers who had his best game of the season. He consistently got to Favre including a sack which looked like a panther pouncing on its prey. Peppers even forced soon to be Pro Bowl tackle Bryant McKinnie to the bench. McKinnie had no answer for Peppers as he was shown up and needed to be replaced for his sake and Favre’s.

The Panthers also received support from an emerging passing game. Matt Moore continued his success as he threw for 299 yards with 3 touchdowns and, more importantly, 0 turnovers. He was able to connect with his tight ends at crucial times and once again showed a strong connection with receiver Steve Smith who had his best game of the season with 157 yards receiving and a touchdown. The offense did all this without their bookend tackles Jordan Gross and Jeff Otah, but instead dominated with Travelle Wharton and Geoff Schwartz.

This was a huge win mentally as the Panthers regain confidence and also have a shot at avoiding their first double-digit loss season of John Fox’s tenure. This also may have saved Fox’s job as Head Coach and it will be interesting to see how his situation plays out.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 at 6:26 pm and is filed under Most Recommended, News Headlines, Right Column. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.