I mentioned last week that I get these casules emailed to me and so I'm going to share them as they have some good info in them. Here's the latest one:

CAROLINA PANTHERS (3-8) AT TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (4-7)

SERIES

Stats and additional interesting info after the jump...

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Something has to be wrong. There has to be an explanation for the fact he’s quickly transformed from an elite running back into -- just another guy.

He did get a big, fat contract in the offseason. Maybe he got paid and checked out.

Or maybe he’s just done. It’s happened plenty of times with running backs, the position with the shortest shelf life in the NFL.

So who is it?

After his less-than-stellar start to the season, many Carolina Panthers fans would answer: DeAngelo Williams. Through eight games, he’s gained just 363 yards. But at least he has a couple good excuses: splitting carries in a new system.

Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson doesn’t have similar alibis, but he does have some similar stats. He’s gained 366 yards. That’s three more yards than Williams. And Johnson’s had the benefit of 46 more attempts. 

So while Williams may just be a victim of a new, pass-first offense, there’s no clear reason for Johnson’s quick fade.

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Earlier today I looked at the offensive side of the ball that looks quite favorable to Carolina, but what does the defense hold for the boys in black and electric blue?

X-Factor: Percy Harvin

While Adrian Peterson is definitely the most feared aspect to the Vikings' game, it's Harvin who's the wild card on Sunday. Doing a little bit of everything for Minnesota he is tied with Michael Jenkins leading the team in receptions with 27, he's run the ball 16 times for over 10 yards per carry and is gashing teams on special teams averaging 31.1 yards per kick return.

While I have no doubt Chris Gamble will eat him alive in the passing game it's this added utility that scares me a little. The Panthers' young defense doesn't deal with trick plays very well and the Vikings could use a heavy dose of trickery on Sunday to keep them off balance. This coupled with almost certain favorable field position on kickoffs could give the Panthers some major headaches.

Edge: Vikings 

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I haven't forgotten about you Panther faithful! You'll need to forgive my absence from the blog the last two weeks or so, but the perfect storm of bad cold (read: flu), new job (yep, CSR isn't my only gig) and insanely busy social life (who'da thunk I have friends?) have converged to make this an insane time to say the least. I'm using my brief window of DayQuil clarity to give you a game preview before I slip back out of lucidness.

The Carolina Panthers have a very real opportunity to get back to back wins this week. They have a swagger following the win over Washington and Cam Newton was absolutely out of his mind at home last week. The offense are clicking on all cylinders, and as potent as Chud's offense is it can carry the Panthers to a win.

X-Factor: Jared Allen

Allen is a player I would always compare Julius Peppers to when I was frustrated with Pep's lack of performance. Whether Allen is on a poor team or not he's always giving 110% and doing everything he can to disrupt the opposing QB. In 2011 no defensive player has been more disruptive than Allen, and it's not even close. Think about this for a second: Jared Allen has 11.5 sacks so far... yes, you read that right and he's on pace for 26.5 on the season. He has the ability not only to batter QBs, but get inside their head too.

While Cam Newton has done very well to avoid pass rushers in the past, he still hasn't seen anyone like Jared Allen this season an it could very well lead to some ill advised passes. This is a situation where Cam has performed great, but Allen is the best in the NFL.

Edge: Vikings

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We are back with Blogger Q & A, this week with Christopher Gates from The Daily Norseman. Chris is here to give us a little insight on the current state of the Vikings and what we can expect from them on Sunday.

Question 1: Did you agree with the decision to bench McNabb and what did you think of Ponders first start?

Chris: At the beginning of the season, I thought McNabb would be a good one-year fix while Christian Ponder was learning the offense, but as the first few games went by, it became clear that it wasn't. I was in favor of keeping McNabb in at first, but it just got to the point with the offensive ineptitude that a change needed to be made. This is a lost season for the Minnesota Vikings, barring an absolutely miraculous run over the last nine games of the season, and so this team needs to start finding out what they have at the quarterback position going forward.

As far as Ponder's first start, I was incredibly impressed. For all of the people that bagged the pick when Minnesota made it, I think a lot of them were convinced that, hey, it's the Vikings. They've obviously made another mistake at the quarterback position. Yes, while the numbers weren't eye-popping or anything, he was extremely good on third downs last Sunday, which had been one of the Vikings' biggest deficiencies, and did a lot of good things in general. As he gains experience, he's only going to continue to get better, and is giving people in Minnesota good reason to think we might have something special at the QB position for the first me in a long time.

I certainly liked Ponder coming in the draft but thought at the time they reached for him. Turns out all of the QB's in the draft went earlier than many thought they should. Though I think Newton has proven he belongs in the NFL I think the remaining rookie QB's still have something to prove.

Question 2: Is the offense and specifically the QB position to blame for the Vikings slow start? If not, please explain. If so, what else needs to improve besides QB play?

Chris: The quarterback position was a big part of it while McNabb was in there, yes. More specifically the fact that the team simply didn't convert third downs in the second half with McNabb at quarterback. In the fourth quarter of the first five games of the year, all started by McNabb, the Vikings were 4-of-15 converting third down situations in the fourth quarters of those games. Christian Ponder converted 5-of-7 of those last Sunday alone. . .four of them from completing passes, and one of them from a 12-yard scramble. Ponder just gives this team more chances, and I think we're going to see that going forward.

That isn't to say that the defense is without fault here. While the Vikings' defensive line remains as good as any in the league despite the losses of Ray Edwards and Pat Williams, their back seven is a mess. We love E.J. Henderson for the way he came back from the devastating injury he suffered a couple of years ago, but his knees look like they're going on him. Cedric Griffin tore both ACLs in the span of ten months in 2010 and fought like heck to get back, too, but he's having his struggles as well. The Vikings need to completely overhaul the entire back seven, and that simply isn't going to happen this season. Along with the offensive line, I think the secondary needs to be the Vikings' biggest focus this off-season.

Certainly the Panthers will look to throw early and often against the Vikings and hopefully pop a big play and open up the running game.

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This morning I looked at the Panthers offensive chances against the Falcons on Sunday, and now we're turning it around to see how the Falcons will move the football on Sunday.

X-Factor: Tony Gonzalez

I can safely say without hyperbole that this could be one of the most important games in Gonzalez's tenure with the Falcons. With Julio Jones out due to injury Gonzo becomes the bonafide #2 receiver for Atlanta, and the stakes are incredibly high for him. The catalyst for his move to Atlanta was to be on a contender and get the ring he so definitely deserves, but thus far that plan has gone sideways a little.

Last week the Panthers were completely unable to cover Jimmy Graham, and the same situation could occur with Gonzalez. We have no reliable linebacker in coverage, and he'll be able to eat up the middle of the field.

Edge: Falcons

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A tough division match-up, the first time the Falcons see the new look Panthers and Cam Newton's homecoming- these are but three story lines that will dominate this weekend's game against Atlanta. Despite those three elements being what fans will talk about on Monday, in reality this game boils down to one base desire per team: The Panthers are desperate for a win, and the Falcons are desperate not to lose.

Superficially these seem very similar, but in practice their very different. The young, brash Panthers are desperate to hang their hat on a good, soild win against an established team like Atlanta, after coming so close for so many weeks. Meanwhile, the Falcons can't afford to lose if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive; with the Saints surging, and the NFC being as talented across the board as its been in a decade there's a legitimate fear a wild card wont come out of the NFC South. So what makes this Sunday tick? Let's take a look.

X-Factor: DeAngelo Williams' big play ability

Any talk of Williams being 'done' has been silenced now with back-to-back stellar performances. While the Falcons have been quite stout against the run in 2011, (allowing just 3.5 yards per carry on the year) DeAngelo Williams will need to be on point to help the offensive balance. Cam Newton is going to get his yards regardless, but there are times when he puts too much pressure on himself and that's when he starts to force the ball. If Williams can contribute some big gains and keep the defense off balance then the play action can start working and it's here that Cam is at his most deadly.

Ultimately I feel DeAngelo's big play ability is just starting to be tapped into and with creative play calls like last week's option I think it will be too much for the Falcons to handle.

Edge: Panthers

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Matt Bowen with National Football Post echoes the sentiment on the coverage schemes the Bears will utilize to slow down the Panthers passing game (nope, still not used to saying that). Just as the Jaguars played two deep safeties the Bears will do the same for as long as it works.Reference the route tree below, again courtesy of Bowen:

Against the Jags Newton had the out patterns and curls all day long. But he had trouble connecting on them. He rarely if ever tried the deep fades or posts we saw in weeks 1 and 2. The fact Newton recognized the coverage and instead went with the underneath routes speaks to his ability to read coverages. Funny we were told that was one of the things he was certain to struggle at.

So how do the Panthers attack this defense to get the WR's involved? As Bowen said in a piece addressing the high passing numbers in the 2011 season, it's partly due to the RB's being added to the route tree. 

Five-man protection schemes: What does that mean? The running backs are a big part of the passing tree. Woodhead in New England, Sproles in New Orleans and even Forte in Chicago. Forget the standard check down here. We are talking about the option route vs. a LB, the angle route or the rail route. A major part of the passing game and running backs are getting out into the route scheme.

He forgot to mention Stewart in Carolina! This trend is similar to the differences in the Panther offense we've seen from Panthers OC Rob Chudzinski.The Panther RB's, in particular Jonathan Stewart have played a significant role in the passing game and I don't expect that to change going forward.

In my view it won't matter whether RBs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart take hand offs or catch short passes. We need to make those safeties keep an eye on the backfield, at least early in the game. Ideally we love to get back to that 5 yard per carry average. That would certainly make it easier and force the Bears to put a man in the box. That would be our ideal scenario. But look for the Panthers mix it up with hand-offs and short passes.

Then look for Newton to try Smitty or Olsen on the fade or post patterns. They are two of the best at their positions on those routes and should be able to bring at least a few down. Newton needs to take his shots.