CHARLOTTE Greg Van Roten Jersey 2019 , N.C. — pots in the NFC, but the Carolina Panthers haven’t given up on that thought either.The teams meet Sunday afternoon at Bank of America Stadium, insisting their focus is on each other and not the big picture with four games remaining in the regular season.The Vikings (10-2) are contending for a spot that could result in home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.“We’ve got four games left,” Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer said. “My only thoughts are on the Carolina Panthers and trying to get a win this week. All that stuff is nice to talk about, but for us we’ll go about our business.”The Vikings are on the verge of wrapping up the outright NFC North title, needing just one more victory to do that.The Panthers (8-4), who face a divisional leader for the second week in a row, missed their chance to move to the top of the NFC South standings with last week’s loss at New Orleans. Still, they could rise to first place with a strong finishing stretch.“There’s still things in our future that can get us on the right track again,” Carolina quarterback Cam Newton said.But Panthers coach Ron Rivera isn’t interested in discussing how his team stacks up in the standings.“I think what’s most significant is that we have to take one at a time and focus on the opponent,” Rivera said. “It doesn’t matter what happens anywhere else.”The Vikings are coming off a 14-9 road victory against the Atlanta Falcons, who are one of Carolina’s NFC South rivals.The combination of quarterback Case Keenum and receiver Adam Thielen has been one of the strongest in the NFL this season.But Minnesota running back Latavius Murray David Mayo Jersey 2019 , who has 75 or more rushing yards in each of the past three games, has turned into a consistent option.“Running the ball is important for us, not just getting yards but play-action,” Keenum said. “I think there has been good balance.”The Vikings will be counting on that type of mixture against a Carolina defense that’s bound to be anxious to crank up the pressure.“If they want to not rush, that would be great by me,” Keenum said. “We’re going to expect them to rush the passer. That’s something we have to work on … and be ready to get the ball out.”Rivera said he’s wary of Minnesota’s explosiveness, a concern that’s probably heightened because the Panthers have been victims of big-yardage plays the past couple of weeks and they might be without linebacker Shaq Thompson (foot injury).On offense, the Panthers will want to re-establish a ground attack. They’ve found that the most effective way to make headway overall on offense. That could be the key to cracking the Vikings.“Our guys take a lot of pride in playing the run,” Zimmer said. “They all take a lot of pride in it. It’s important to try to make teams one-dimensional.”Newton said too many three-and-outs have hindered the offense and impacted the Panthers in general.“We have to get our defense more rest time,” Newton said.Rivera said the Panthers are expecting a heavy dose of man coverages from the Minnesota defense.Zimmer said the Vikings looked faster on special teams last week and that’s an area that he has hoped would show strides. The Panthers had several mishaps with the special-teams units last week, so that’s an area worth monitoring.There are several connections between the Vikings and Panthers.Look for some of the spotlight to fall on Carolina left tackle Matt Kalil, who was a Minnesota first-round draft pick in 2012. He left the Vikings during the past offseason to sign with the Panthers.It hasn’t always been smooth transition Blue David Mayo Jersey , but he drew praise this week.“He’s a guy who fights,” Rivera said, noting there are often interesting elements emerging with a player faces his former team. “I think he’s learning to develop into our system.”Carolina cornerback Captain Munnerlyn spent the past three seasons with the Vikings before returning to the Panthers prior to this season.Vikings right offensive tackle Mike Remmers started 42 consecutive games with Carolina before joining Minnesota for this season.Those storylines aside, both teams understand the importance of the matchup.The Panthers want to rid the taste of a defeat that might have seemed devastating but doesn’t have to be the end-all.“One game doesn’t define you,” Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly said.The Vikings see the next few games as providing an avenue to better things.“These December games are really going to be important as we continue to move forward,” Zimmer said.I’m an official “Bonna-fan” of the Carolina Panthers Reggie Bonnafon Every year there is at least one random, unknown preseason player who comes out of nowhere to capture my heart. This year it was Reggie Bonnafon. Even as an educated Panthers fan I had never heard of him until the third quarter of the final preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. In just two glorious (though meaningless) quarters of preseason football he did the following:Rushed for a touchdownCaught all six of his targets for 56 receiving yardsConverted four first downs in the fourth quarterCame up with a memorable 75-yard chase-down tackle at the 1-yard lineWas named the Keep Pounding Player of the Game by the Panthers broadcasters.Let’s start with the chase-down tackle. I absolutely loved it. These are exactly the types of plays unheralded UDFAs like Bonnafon need to make. The Panthers were getting killed and playing like trash (you’re welcome for the expert analysis), but Bonnafon never gave up on the play. Plus, he looked faster than Nanu outrunning a cheetah in Disney’s The World’s Greatest Athlete, which is a great way to get noticed. But the chase-down tackle was only the beginning. While Bonnafon was bottled up in the running game (five attempts for four yards), he spent most of the third and fourth quarters catching passes out of the backfield (six receptions for 56 yards) and moving the chains. He did a good job finding open spaces on his routes, giving the quarterback an open window Blue Dontari Poe Jersey , then picking up yards after the catch. His play impressed me enough to look up his bio and he sounds like Joe Webb 2.0. Bonnafon played quarterback, running back, wide receiver, and punt returner during his four years at Louisville. Check out his crazy college stats:Passing: 75 of 145 (51.7%) for 1,056 yards, seven touchdowns, five interceptions Rushing: 215 attempts for 805 yards (3.7 YPC) and 12 touchdownsReceiving: 44 receptions for 446 yards and six touchdownsReturner: 12 punt returns for 81 yardsAt the time of this writing Bonnafon’s fate with the Panthers hasn’t been determined. He definitely won’t make the 53-man roster but perhaps he showed just enough against the Steelers to get consideration for the practice squad. And if the Panthers aren’t interested perhaps his effort turned a few heads across the league and he gets a chance somewhere else. While the third and fourth quarters of the last preseason game are the most meaningless thirty minutes of NFL football, it was great to watch a random, unheralded guy like Reggie Bonnafon steal the spotlight. His opportunities were limited but he maximized them which is the best a UDFA can do, so kudos to him for that.Thanks for a great half of football, Reggie. All the best from here.