The Carolina Panthers (6-8) played great defense all game, helping them take down the NFC North champion Minnesota Vikings (11-3).  Julius Peppers looked like a man on a mission yesterday, blowing past and through every offensive lineman the Vikings threw at him.  Looking at his stat-line you wouldn’t know it, getting only 1 tackle, 1 sack, and 1 pass deflection.  He was getting penetration on nearly every play though, so the Vikings were forced to double team him most of the time.  They kept Brett Favre out of the endzone, holding him to 224 yards on 17/27 passes and intercepting him once.  They also shut down the Vikings’ running game, containing Adrian Peterson to 35 yards on 12 carries.  This was a great effort by the Panthers’ defense.

Matt Moore had a great game for the Panthers, throwing for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns (including 2 in the 4th quarter) on 21/33 pass attempts.  Moore found Steve Smith for some big plays in this one, and Smith had one of his best games of the year.  He had 1 touchdown and 157 yards on 9 catches.  Jonathon Stewart also pitched in for the Panthers’ running game, getting 109 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.  The Panthers offense looked a little out of sync for most of the game, but they really woke up in the 4th quarter and had three touchdowns in that final quarter.  This was an impressive win for the Panthers, but they will be missing the playoffs this year.