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© St. Petersburg Times, published September 23, 2002
PANTHERS
Carolina entered ranked second in the league in yards allowed after facing the less-than-potent offenses of Baltimore and Detroit. But the Panthers likely will stay near the top after the Vikings gained 250. "As the game wore on, they wore us down and proved they were a better defense than we are a better offense," Minnesota coach Mike Tice said.
New Orleans has scored at least 29 points in consecutive weeks; in 2001 it did that twice all season. No wonder Chicago's 20-0 lead wasn't safe. "You never want to put yourself in that kind of a hole, but with the way we can score, we don't think we're out of it," quarterback Aaron Brooks said.
Atlanta has a bad history against current AFC Central teams. Going into Sunday's game the Falcons were 2-7 against the Bengals and 3-20 combined against the Ravens, Browns and Steelers. Then again the entire AFC hasn't been kind; only San Diego and New England own losing records against the Falcons.