Smith humiliated Smoot and the Minnesota
defense for a franchise-record 201 yards and a touchdown in Carolina's
38-13 victory that kept the Vikings winless on the road.
"Fred does talk a little bit; it's just his nature," Carolina
quarterback Jake Delhomme said. "And it
doesn't take much for (Smith) to get fired up, I can tell you that much."
Smith, who has a long history of letting opposing players take him out
of his game, reversed the trend on Smoot and beat him all over the
field. He also took a shot at Minnesota by pretending to row a boat
after a big catch -- a reference to the Vikings' infamous boat cruise.
"Whatchamacallit was talking to me in the pregame," Smith said about
Smoot. "When somebody is banging on your door, I am not going to hide in
the corner ... I am going to open it."
Smith helped the Panthers (5-2) to their first complete game of the
season, as Stephen Davis ran for two
touchdowns and Delhomme threw for 341 yards and three scores while
stretching Carolina's winning streak to four games.
The Vikings (2-5) showed little emotion in this one, and had no
leadership after Daunte Culpepper left
with a sprained right knee on the final play of the first quarter. Tice
said the team feared Culpepper will miss the rest of the season.
"The quarterback doesn't appear to be in good shape," Tice said. "Things
happen that are devastating. This certainly, if it's as serious as it
appears, is devastating to our football team."
The Vikings dropped to 0-4 on the road this season, continuing a
five-year trend for futility: Minnesota is 9-32 away from the Metrodome
since October 2000.
"We get outside and we act like we've never been outside in our whole
lives," coach Mike Tice said.
Behind backup Brad Johnson, the Vikings
had only three first downs and 76 total yards while allowing the
Panthers to build a 24-0 halftime lead.
"When Daunte went out, they lost their leader," Carolina defensive end Mike Rucker said. "He's the head of that dragon and when he's not
there, it takes the air right out of them."
|
|
Mike Tice can only watch as Steve Smith helps lead Carolina's rout of Minnesota.
|
|
The Vikings would normally turn to Smoot, their defensive leader, for a
pep talk. But the cornerback was too busy trying to contain Smith and
his own frustrations.
Smith embarrassed Smoot on two quick plays in the third quarter, juking
past him at the line of scrimmage to make a one-handed leaning grab for
a 24-yard gain. One play later, Smith ran past Smoot on a sideline hitch
for 11 yards that left Smoot face down on the grass.
When Smith was done, he had 11 catches and broke the franchise
single-game record of 192 yards, set by Muhsin
Muhammad in 1998.
"The first thing Smoot did wrong was he talked a little too much in
pregame," Carolina cornerback Ken Lucas
said. "He brought this upon himself."
Smoot, meanwhile, accounted for four of Minnesota's 10 penalties --
including a holding call in the fourth quarter that negated a fumble
recovery by the Vikings. His head hanging, Smoot walked off the field
midway through the fourth quarter with a right shoulder sprain.
Smoot declined to speak to reporters after the game.
Delhomme finished 21-for-30 before giving way to Chris Weinke with 5 minutes left in the game.
Delhomme used eight different receivers, opening up Carolina's passing
game beyond Smith for the first time this season. More importantly,
Delhomme was mistake free for the first time this season. He came into
the game with eight interceptions, third most in the NFL.
It was an important victory for the Panthers, who have failed to impress
this season despite lofty expectations. Before this victory, Carolina
either needed a game-winning final drive or defensive stop in three of
their victories.
GAME NOTES:
-
Davis briefly left in the first quarter after his surgically repaired
right knee was hit on a tackle. "That was a good hit, I was pretty
scared for a minute," he said.
-
Delhomme also threw touchdown passes to Kris
Mangum (1 yard) and Keary Colbert
(25 yards).
-
Carolina kicker John Kasay made a
44-yarder, but missed a 56-yard attempt.
-
Minnesota kicker Paul Edinger missed
his only try, a 33-yarder that went wide right.
-
Vikings wide receiver Koren Robinson
sustained a concussion.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
Copyright 2005, The
Associated Press, All Rights Reserved