The Carolina Panthers took a little while to respond, but respond they did, and they have tied the Minnesota Vikings at seven early in the second quarter in Charlotte.

After a nice punt by Chris Kluwe pinned the Panthers down at their own 10-yard line, Carolina went to work, mixing in passes from Cam Newton to Steve Smith with some nicely designed run plays. On an end-around to Smith, he appeared to have a hold of Cedric Griffin's face mask as he went out of bounds, but it was Griffin that was called for the 15-yard penalty instead. A couple of plays later, Newton and Smith appeared to connect for a 27-yard touchdown pass, but Smith was ruled down at the 1-yard line.

Two plays later, Newton found Jeremy Shockey in the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown pass, and the Panthers had tied the Minnesota Vikings with 13:22 remaining in the first half of play. Adrian Peterson really hasn't gotten going, having only carried three times for minus-three yards, and Christian Ponder is just 2-for-5 for 35 yards, 22 yards of which came on a shovel pass to Peterson. It really has been all Carolina since the Vikings got their touchdown early.

With 13:00 left in the first half of play in Charlotte, the Minnesota Vikings and Carolina Panthers are tied at seven.