Sunday, October 13, 2013-Following the week after the Cardinals smacked the Panthers in a 22-6 defeat in Arizona, both team and fan morale were at a all time low. It seemed as if the Panthers were yet doomed for their fifth straight losing season. The overall atmosphere of CSR appeared as if fans were ready give up, as the pain could no longer be tolerated. Luckily, the Panthers strolled into a Minnesota defense that would eventually finish last in the league in points allowed and 31st in yards allowed per game.
The Panthers got off to a fast start when Cam Newton tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith to put the Panthers up 7-0 in the first quarter. The touchdown was one of four that Cam would rack up, as he would throw for two more and run for another. The Panthers would go up 14-0 with another 10-yard touchdown toss from Cam Newton to Mike Tolbert in the second quarter. The Vikings cut the deficit to eleven points with a 22-yard field goal from Blair Walsh to end the second half. And that was the only scare Panther fans received from Minnesota, as Carolina would go on to score 21 unanswered points in the second half. Matt Castle was able to get seven points back with a late 23-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Rudolph and bring us to the final score.
Final Score: Carolina 35, Minnesota 10
The victory was full mixed emotions for both teams, as Viking's running back Adrian Peterson suffered a tragic loss of his son just two days before the game. Peterson was limited to only 62-yards on 10 carries that day. And though Peterson was still brave enough to play on Sunday, emotions had to overcome his performance that day. As far as Panthers fans were concerned, it was nice to see the second win of the season but too soon to get any hopes up.
In yet another rather comical statement posted by BW Smith on the game's Panthers 35, Vikings 10 Recap, BW wrote: "I'll go ahead and eat crow now. The Panthers won when I thought they would lose. They played very well today, despite how good or bad the Vikings are. They need to keep this up in the upcoming weeks though. If they can do that, then we can start thinking about a possible Wild Card berth."
BW was somewhat right about keeping up it and maybe reaching a Wild Card Berth. Instead, the Panthers were able to take this game and build on a eight game win streak that would lead to a NFC South Championship season instead of a Wild Card berth. The Panthers-Vikings game represented a great performance from the team that led to something that not even most die hard Panther fans could even dream of after such as routine slow start. The team was on its way to a record tying 12-4 season, even though after Week 6 the team was only 2-3.
Editor's Note: This series is a flashback of the 2013 season game by game by new, aspiring applicant authors to CSR. If you find one that you think is well written please give it a Rec. We will use the Rec as one of the measures to evaluate and select our new authors.