Carolina gets safety; Buffalo leads 7-2

The Panthers just got their second safety of the season (after not having one since 2006 prior to that) and have cut Buffalo's lead to 7-2.

The safety was set up at first by Jason Baker's excellent punt, which pushed Buffalo to its own 4. After a false-start penalty on the Bills, the ball was placed at the 2. Then Carolina called a quick timeout to avoid getting its own flag for 12 men on the field.

Following the timeout, nose tackle Hollis Thomas and several others piled onto Buffalo tailback Fred Jackson, who didn't come close to making it out of the end zone. So the Panthers' defense is trying to inspire its anemic offense, which hasn't scored in its first 5 possessions (see previous blog post below).

One other note: Muhsin Muhammad left the game briefly with what was described as a knee injury, but he's now back in the game.