Carolina up 3-0 early

The Panthers jumped ahead first, 3-0, on a run-oriented drive to open the game. The majority of Carolina’s yardage came from usual suspect DeAngelo Williams, who carried four times for 40 yards on the march.

However, Williams came out of the game twice during the march – apparently, he was tired or had an equipment problem – and the Panthers didn’t do so well when he wasn’t in there. A false start on wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad turned a third-and-12 into a third-and-17 from the New Orleans 34, and from there John Fox played it safe, ran a draw to DeAngelo for six yards and took the points. In that case, I would have done the same thing -- Jake Delhomme wasn't throwing the ball particularly well on that first drive, and third-and-17 is tough against anybody.

John Kasay’s 46-yard FG made it 3-0, Carolina. It was Kasay’s 28th straight field goal from under 50 yards – the longest active streak in the NFL. (Kasay's miss that would have beaten the New York Giants last week was from 50).