Here are some interesting quotes regarding the Panthers vs. Vikings game from various sources around the web. Let's start with our Head Coach John Fox. When asked abou the play call that resulted in the sack, fumble and TD, Fox got a little testy in his response:

Vikings players said there were two keys to the play. First, the Panthers had no idea what was coming; the Vikings hadn't run such a play on tape. Second, Delhomme was on an island, with no one there to help him account for a player attacking from the strong side.

In his postgame news conference, Panthers coach John Fox was testy when asked about the thinking behind the play.

"We mixed things up," he said. "We get criticized when we run it, and we get criticized when we pass it, so maybe we'll start punting.

"The key is whether it works or not, and obviously it didn't."

I don't think you've received much criticism this year until now Coach. I think he's being a little sensitive for someone who's obviously been down this road before. I have no problem with the play call, just the execution. Jake Delhomme seems to think the play was one second short of a big play the other way:

"The disappointing thing is I was cocking back to throw it to Steve, who was open on a corner route," Delhomme said. "[Cornerbacks Griffin and Charles Gordon] jumped down on D.J. Hackett, so we were going to have a big play. ... I don't think Steve was going to catch it and go out of bounds. So I guess you have to use your imagination as to what he was going to do when he had the ball in his hands."

Just another reminder the difference between winning and losing is only a few degrees of separation.

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Charlotte.com Releases their Position Grades

These grades are a different from the ones I will issue later this week in that it's by position versus objective. Here's the one grade I take issue with:

DEFENSIVE LINE: C plus
This group continues to play better than expected. Julius Peppers had his first sack of the season, and Tyler Brayton and Charles Johnson each had half a sack. Brayton and Damione Lewis each had five tackles, including four solos. Darwin Walker batted down a pass.

I'm sure I'll grade this one a little more severely. The three sacks were an improvement yes, but they didn't get one when they really needed it. The Vikings effectively picked on our rookie safety Charles Godfrey late in the game and won the game via the pass. The line played well against the run but the pass rush was typically a step late.

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Jamming WR Steve Smith

As one of my 5 questions to the Vikings blogger over at The Daily Norseman I wondered how the Vikings would defend a ‘jacked-up' Steve Smith. Though Smith caught three balls in the first half he only had one meaningless catch in the 2^nd:

''We tried to jam him at the line and not let him get a clean release,'' Winfield said. ''He didn't really catch any deep balls on us. That's the key today.''

I think you can chalk that one up to being rusty because jamming a WR at he line is nothing new. Smitty is one of the harder WR's in the league to jam because he is so strong. I think the Panthers picked bad times to throw to Smith deep. He seemed to always be double covered and as a result of being jammed the passes were overthrown. I expect he will be working on getting off the line all week in practice.

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LT Jordan Gross vs. DE Jared Allen

We knew going in that this was a key match-up as Little King pointed out in his post. Gross contained Allen for first half but then in the second Allen got it going and made some big plays.

''Their down four is, I think, the best group we've faced so far,'' Gross said. ''So that demands a lot of attention. They started blitzing, and we didn't pick it up well. It's hard for Jake to hit anybody downfield when he's got people in his face.''

Gross also got hit for three penalties, 1 hold and 2 false starts; not the performance you expect from a 'franchised' player. Those Williams boys up front are a load as well and they played inspired ball when the Vikes needed a stop late. Who's got a better front four than the Vikings? I bet by the end of the season you will agree they are Top 3 at least.

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Can We Get a Copy of Brett Favre's Playbook Next Time?

I guess the Panther game planners didn't review the right tape:

Yes, the Vikings' vicious pass rush was the story of the game. It created five sacks, seven hurries, three batted balls, six false starts and, oh yeah, a forced fumble that Antoine Winfield returned for a game-tying touchdown that changed everything right before the half.

But the Panthers also played into the Vikings' hands by not countering with quicker passes. The situation begged for those Favre-ian slant passes that used to drive the Vikings crazy. Yet Carolina continued to send receivers much deeper than their ability to pass protect.

I can't argue with that. The Panthers rarely throw to their RB's on the swing play. I think both Williams and Stewart have shown the ability to catch the ball. Why aren't they getting more passes in the flat? Where all those screen passes OC Jeff Davidson is supposed to be known for?