Submitted 09/22/08 19:22:19 by Easy from Sumter, SC.

Q Scott, I have heard all the excuses, and I read how it's not a disgrace to lose on the road at Minnesota? I believe it is the way THEY prepared for and played that game! The penalties of the last TWO weeks and the excuse that the 'dome was too loud' screams out 'NO discipline' and 'NOT prepared'! I blame the coaches for not having the team ready and for not having themselves ready to adjust as required. I also worried about Smith coming back because I feared Jake would forget the lessons of the last 2 weeks - about all his new weapons and focus too much on Smith, which he did! He was holding that ball too long and staring Smith down when he was dropped at the end of the 1st half, losing the ball and resulting in the game-changing Vikings TD! I read the team got their wake-up call and will become more focused after this loss. I think any team that NEEDS a loss to 'refocus' and to 'get motivated' isn't mentally ready to become champions...yet! What does Fox do to keep this from happening again and taking the team (mentally) to the next level?

Answered 09/22/08 21:58:55 by Scott Fowler

A: Probably he needs to be a little tougher on them, especially on all those "pre-snap" penalties. Carolina has 13 "false start" penalties this season so far and had six vs. Minnesota -- if you're curious, Dante Rosario leads the team with 4. Fox says he's going to emphasize it heavily this week. We'll see.