There certainly hasn't been any shortage of action in this one so far, ladies and gentlemen.
Both of Minnesota's touchdowns have come as a result of strip/sacks of Cam Newton that have set the Vikings up on a short field. The first one came courtesy of E.J. Henderson, who got to Newton on Carolina's first offensive play and set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Percy Harvin that gave the Vikings a 7-0 lead early. Allen recovered the fumble that Henderson forced, and he got the strip/sack on the second one to set the Vikings up at the Carolina 39. Two completions to Adrian Peterson later, and the game was tied at 14.
Newton has two touchdown passes thus far, a 1-yarder to Jeremy Shockey and a 39-yarder to a wide open Greg Olsen. Olsen and Steve Smith have combined for 137 of Newton's 152 yards passing on the afternoon.
Peterson really hasn't gotten it going on the ground, having only carried eight times for 14 yards so far, but he's having a nice game catching the ball with three grabs for 61 yards and the touchdown.
Also, Jared Allen's sack of Newton gives him 12.5 on the year, and is his tenth consecutive game with a sack going back to last season. Michael Strahan's single-season record of 22.5 is definitely in play at this point.
We're getting ready for the third quarter of play from Bank of America Stadium, and the Minnesota Vikings and Carolina Panthers are tied at 14.