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Week 3 Game Recap: Carolina Panthers 10, Minnesota Vikings 20
What you need to know
| Carolina Panthers |
The Carolina Panthers' offense struggled mightily to move the football in this contest against the Minnesota defense. Able to only muster ten points in the game, the Panthers were shut out in the second half and finished with only 204 yards of total offense. QB Jake Delhomme finished 17 of 29 for 191yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and was sacked five times. Delhomme also turned the ball over twice on fumbles, one of which was returned 19 yards for a Minnesota touchdown.
Steve Smith returned from his two game suspension and got going early as he caught his first pass of the year on team's first offensive play from scrimmage. Targeted a team high ten times, Smith finished the game with four catches for 70 yards and no touchdowns.
The Panthers came into this contest averaging 128 yards on the ground over their first two games, but had a tough time picking up rushing yards against the stingy Minnesota run defense. Running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart combined to average a paltry 2.5 yards on 17 carries and the Panthers finished the game with only 47 rushing yards. Stewart's two yard rushing score was Carolina's only touchdown of the game.
| Minnesota Vikings |
QB Gus Frerotte made his first start of the year at quarterback in place of the ineffective Tarvaris Jackson and played well enough to lead the Vikings to their first win of the season. Frerotte's numbers weren't spectacular, but his 34 yard touchdown strike to TE Visanthe Shiancoe turned out to be the deciding score of the game. The Viking signal caller finished 16 of 28 for 204 yards with the one touchdown and one interception.
Adrian Peterson was listed as a game time decision because of his hamstring injury, but he did suit up and was able to start for the Vikings. The NFL's leading rusher coming into Week 3 was able to average over 4.5 yards per carry, but finished the game with only 77 yards on the ground. RB Chester Taylor actually had more rushes in the second half as he ran the ball ten times after the intermission compared to Peterson's eight.
The Vikings' defense was the big story of this game as they kept Carolina from establishing any sort of rhythm on offense. Minnesota finished with five sacks and two fumble recoveries and gave up only 3.8 yards per offensive play. CB Antoine Winfield's fumble return for a touchdown near the end of the second half tied the game at ten.
Sidney Rice was inactive this game because of a knee injury. Bobby Wade started at wide receiver in his place.
What you ought to know
| QB Jake Delhomme, Pass: 17 - 29 - 191 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0 |
Things started off good for Delhomme as he was able to lead Carolina on two first half drives that put the Panther's up 10--0. On the touchdown scoring series, Delhomme was two of four for 43 yards with one of those completions being a nice 29 yard pass to WR Steve Smith down the middle of the field. The Panthers' signal caller finished the first half nine of 15 for 115 yards, but his eight completions after halftime only went for 76 yards. In addition to be sacked five times in the game, Delhomme turned the ball over on fumbles twice in the first half. His fumble just before halftime was returned by Minnesota for a touchdown that tied the game at ten.
| RB DeAngelo Williams, Rush: 10 - 27 - 0, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (3 targets) |
Williams got the start in this game over Jonathan Stewart and despite his poor numbers running the ball, he actually lead Carolina in rushing. He had good runs of six, seven, and eight yards in this game, but his remaining seven carries averaged less than a yard per carry.
| RB Jonathan Stewart, Rush: 7 - 15 - 1 |
Stewart was bottled up all afternoon by the Minnesota run defense as five of his seven carries went for two yards or less. His touchdown run from two yards out was his third of the year and gave Carolina a 10--0 lead in the second quarter. In addition to his rushing duties, Stewart also averaged 29 yards on five kickoff returns. His day running back kicks could have been better if not for the negation of an 86 yard return because of a block in the back penalty.
| RB Nick Goings, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (1 targets) |
Goings' only two touches of the game came with under two minutes remaining in the first half.
| RB Brad Hoover, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0 |
Hoover's only carry came on a third and one play early in the second quarter on Carolina's only touchdown drive. After appearing to be stopped for a loss on the play, Hoover's second effort resulted in a Panthers first down.
| WR Steve Smith, Rec: 4 - 70 - 0 (10 targets) |
Smith saw his first action of the regular season and was QB Jake Delhomme's most popular target in the game. In addition to hauling in a 16 yard pass on the team's first play from scrimmage, he also had first half catches of 15 and 29 yards. On the play that went for a gain of 29, Smith made a nice leaping catch as he took the ball down to the Vikings 41 yard line. His only other catch came with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, but he was targeted a number of times on deeper passes that fell incomplete.
| WR Muhsin Muhammad, Rec: 3 - 25 - 0 (6 targets) |
Despite catching only three passes, Muhammad was the second most targeted Carolina wide receiver. He was the intended receiver on a number of deeper passes, including one down near the goal line, but all of those passes fell to the ground incomplete.
| WR D.J. Hackett, Rec: 2 - 37 - 0 (5 targets) |
Hackett's biggest contribution to the offense came on a play in which he didn't catch the ball. On Carolina's touchdown scoring drive, Hackett drew a 20 yard pass interference penalty on a third down play that extended the drive. Both of his catches came at insignificant points in the game. Hackett's first reception came with six seconds remaining in the first half and his second grab was with under 30 seconds remaining in the game.
| WR Mark Jones |
Though not involved in the offense, Jones averaged ten yards on five punt returns.
| TE Jeff King, Rec: 3 - 22 - 0 (3 targets) |
King caught all three of the first half passes that were thrown his way.
| TE Dante Rosario, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (3 targets) |
Rosario's long catch of the day came on Carolina's touchdown drive. On a third and nine play, the tight end gained 14 yards as he took the ball down to the Minnesota two yard line.
| PK John Kasay 1 - 1 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
Kasay connected on his only field goal attempt of the game from 43 yards out. He also made good on his only extra point attempt.
| CAR Rush Defense |
The Carolina run defense gave up 119 yards on 32 attempts for an average of 3.7 yards per rush. Neither Adrian Peterson or Chester Taylor broke any real big gainers, but the two combined to rush for 121 yards.
| CAR Pass Defense |
Gus Frerotte finished the game completing 16 passes for 204 yards and one touchdown. Chris Gamble picked up the first Carolina interception of the year when he grabbed a ball that deflected off the hands of WR Bernard Berrian in the first half. Gamble was able to return the pick down to the Minnesota 46 yard line, but Carolina was unable score any points as the result of the turnover. In addition to the interception, the Panthers' pass defense also sacked Frerotte three times as CB Charles Godfrey and DE Julius Peppers recorded solo sacks, while defensive ends Tyler Braton and Charles Johnson split a sack.
| QB Gus Frerotte, Pass: 16 - 28 - 204 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 4 - -2 - 0 |
Frerotte's best series throwing the football came on the drive that gave the Vikings a 17--10 lead. On a third and seven play with the ball on the Vikings 23 yard line, the Minnesota quarterback eluded the Carolina pass rush and connected with WR Bernard Berrian on a deep pass that went for a gain of 48 yards. Two plays later, Frerotte fired a strike to TE Visanthe Shiancoe who turned the completion into a 34 yard touchdown pass. Later in the game, he led the Minnesota offense on a time consuming, 19 play drive that ended with a Ryan Longwell field goal that put the Vikings up by two scores.
| RB Adrian Peterson, Rush: 17 - 77 - 0 (2 targets) |
Though he averaged over 4.5 yards per carry, Peterson seemed to be limited somewhat by his hamstring injury as he didn't show the explosiveness we've all come to expect when he rushes the football. He did show some signs of quickness as he sidestepped would be tacklers on longer running plays of nine and 14 yards, but nine of his carries went for three yards or less. Peterson's day could have been somewhat better, but 12 yard rush was called back because of a holding penalty.
| RB Chester Taylor, Rush: 11 - 44 - 0, Rec: 3 - 22 - 0 (7 targets) |
Nine of Taylor's 11 rushing attempts came on 19 play drive that consumed 11 minutes and 34 seconds on the game clock. On that series, he picked up 35 of his 44 yards on the ground. In addition to his duties running the football, Taylor was the most targeted Vikings' pass catcher and would have scored on a 13 yard touchdown reception if it wouldn't have been negated due to a holding penalty. He also averaged 22 yards on two kickoff returns.
| RB Naufahu Tahi, Rec: 2 - 6 - 0 (3 targets) |
Both of Tahi's catches came on the second quarter drive that led to the Vikings' first field goal.
| WR Bernard Berrian, Rec: 3 - 79 - 0 (5 targets) |
Berrian's first catch of the game went for a gain of 21 yards, but two plays latter a pass that deflected of his hands was intercepted by Panthers' CB Chris Gamble. His 48 yard catch in the third quarter on a Gus Frerotte deep ball set up the go ahead touchdown. All three of Berrian's catches went for first downs.
| WR Bobby Wade, Rec: 3 - 35 - 0 (6 targets) |
Wade started in the place of injured Sidney Rice and led all wide receivers in targets with six. All three of his receptions resulted in Minnesota first downs.
| WR Aundrae Allison, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets) |
Allison's only catch of the day went for a first down on a second and three play with Minnesota operating from their own 45 yard line. He averaged zero yards on his two punt returns.
| WR Robert Ferguson, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets) |
Ferguson's first catch of the year went for a pickup of nine yards and a first down.
| TE Visanthe Shiancoe, Rec: 2 - 38 - 1 (4 targets) |
Shiancoe's big play of the game came when he hauled in a pass from QB Gus Frerotte that went for a 34 yard touchdown pass. The score was his first of the year. Shiancoe did have a ball in his hands that would have went for a longer gain, but a hard hit by Carolina CB Chris Gamble dislodged the ball and the pass fell incomplete.
| TE Garrett Mills, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (2 targets) |
Mills' only catch of the game came on a third and nine play where he took a screen pass for a 10 yard gain.
| PK Ryan Longwell 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Longwell made good on his first field goal attempt from 28 yards and then connected on his second attempt from 32 yards out. He also was good on both of his extra point attempts.
| MIN Rush Defense |
The Minnesota run defense was superb in this game as it held the Carolina rushing attack to a total of 47 yards on 20 attempts. The Vikings did surrender a two yard touchdown run to RB Jonathan Stewart.
| MIN Pass Defense |
Carolina QB Jake Delhomme finished the game with 191 yards on 17 completions with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Minnesota CB Antoine Winfield forced a fumble by Delhomme that he was able to return 19 yards for a Vikings' touchdown. DT Kevin Williams recorded two sacks on the day with LB Chad Greenway, DE Jared Allen, and Winfield all recording solo sacks.