Panthers take early 3-0 lead

Quite a lot of action in the early minutes as the Panthers and Saints begin in Charlotte:

It's sunny and 50 degrees -- lots of coats in the stands today, and not a bad day to be seated on the sunny side of the stadium.

New Orleans' first offensive play, from a running back named Julius Jones, went for 54 yards. Talk about an opener.

On New Orleans' fourth offensive play, however, Panthers CB Richard Marshall intercepted a tipped ball after WR Robert Meachem deflected it. Marshall flew 67 yards with the pickoff, giving Carolina a huge break. (Drew Brees had fumbled the snap to begin the play and then made a poor throw, compounding his mistake).

The Panthers quickly got inside New Orleans' 10 after Marshall's return, getting a 14-yard run from Jonathan Stewart to the Saints' 8.

On first down, Stewart ran for 2. On second down, Moore threw a fade route to rookie David Gettis, who had it deflect off his hands in tight coverage. On third down, out of the shotgun, Moore threw short to Brandon LaFell, who only got to the 3.

That brought in John Kasay's, whose chip-shot field goal gave Carolina a 3-0 lead with 10:20 left in the quarter. Carolina still hasn't scored a first-quarter TD all season.