The Panthers suffered their first loss of the 2008 season at the hands of the Vikings this past Sunday. My initial reaction was that there was little positive to review and after digging in to the game stats it appears my initial reaction was right on the money. Consequently my weekly report card for the Panthers is going to reflect the poor performance the Panthers demonstrated. Let's get started:

Rushing Offense:           Grade C

The Panthers did little running the ball against a stout Viking front seven. RB's DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart rushed for 42 yards combined on 17 carries for a 2.4 average, definitely not impressive. Yet I find myself not faulting it too much because the Panthers preferred to throw the ball early and never committed to the run at any point. I think the offensive play calling is as much to blame for the lack of rushing success as the players themselves. When you continue week after week running the same running plays the defense does actually pick up on which gaps to rush.

Passing Offense:           Grade F

Against the Vikings the Panthers passing game had the perfect storm of poor pass protection and inaccurate passes. When QB Jake Delhomme did have time to throw he was mostly off on any plays that might have made big gains. When the WR's were open the pass blocking broke down one count too soon. It's hard to pin this one strictly on Jake or the front line; getting less than two hundred yards passing is bad no matter what defense you are playing. When you combine that with two fumbles, 5 sacks and a TD for the other team you get the failing grade.

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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

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