The Minnesota Vikings (11-3) had their worst game of the season by far, losing to the Carolina Panthers (6-8) by 19 points.  Brett Favre played terrible, but he got very little protection from his offensive line.  Favre and head coach Brad Childress got into a “heated discussion” in the third quarter, as Childress wanted to bench Favre and protect him from all the hits he was taking.  Being the fierce competitor he is, Favre was having none of that and kept himself in the game.  It wasn’t much help though and Favre finished with 224 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception on 17/27 passes.  Panthers DE Julius Peppers was getting to Favre all night and helped the Panthers sack him four times.  Adrian Peterson didn’t give Favre much help running the ball either, rushing for only 35 yards on 12 carries.  He did have a touchdown along with 3 catches for 73 yards, but the Vikings needed Peterson to have a big running day with the passing game struggling so much.

The Vikings’ defense played very solid for three quarters, but they collapsed in the fourth quarter and gave up three touchdowns.  They let Panthers’ quarterback Matt Moore throw for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns on 21/33 passes.  They could not keep wide-receiver Steve Smith in check, with Smith having his best game of the season.  He caught 9 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown.  They also failed at stopping Panthers’ running back Jonathon Stewart, who rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.  This was an ugly one for the Vikings, but it didn’t matter too much as they had already clinched the NFC North before the game with the Pittsburgh Steelers beating the Green Bay Packers earlier in the day.