The Carolina Panthers are out of the playoff hunt, but they stymied a playoff team on national television Sunday night at Bank of America Stadium.

Matt Moore had easily his best game since taking over for the injured Jake Delhomme and Carolina played smothering defense to earn a 26-7 victory over Minnesota, which clinched the NFC North title earlier in the day by way of Green Bay's loss to Pittsburgh.

Here are five points to ponder following the Panthers' victory.

1. Moore to come? -- In his third straight start in place of Delhomme, Moore was far from perfect. He missed some passes, including one on a two-point conversion attempt in the fourth quarter. Nonetheless, he completed about two-thirds of his attempts, didn't turn the ball over and made a few big plays. It was the kind of game that would make Moore a steady starter in the NFL, but it seems likely the Panthers will want to see more of the same in the final two games before considering the third-year pro's 2010 status.

2. Surprising run stoppers -- Coming in to Sunday's game, Carolina had the seventh-worst run defense in the NFL, giving up nearly 140 yards per game. Just like week, the Panthers surrendered 185 yards on the ground to New England. With the Vikings and Adrian Peterson coming to town, those numbers did not seem likely to improve, yet they did, and by a lot. Peterson managed only 35 yards on 12 carries, although he did score a touchdown, and Minnesota had a total of 41 yards rushing. The question is, was this a fluke or something the Panthers can carry forward?

3. Smith's glorious return -- One big reason why the Panthers have struggled this season has been their inability to take advantage of one of their most lethal weapons. Steve Smith has had at least 80 catches and 1,000 yards in five straight seasons -- not counting 2004, when he played one game -- yet he had only 42 grabs for 608 yards in 2009. Those numbers took a big leap Sunday, as Smith caught nine balls for 157 yards, including a 42-yard touchdown and a 45-yard reception that set up another score. Going forward, the Panthers need to continue finding ways to get the ball in Smith's hands.

Steve Smith has had a quiet season by his standards but was out in full force Sunday to help Carolina upset Minnesota.

4. The upside of injuries -- Obviously, you never want to see players get hurt. There is a silver lining, however, which is that injuries give backups a chance to step up and show what they can do. The Panthers have had their share of players go down this season, but Sunday, the fill-ins performed admirably. Besides Moore, running back Jonathan Stewart replaced a banged-up DeAngelo Williams early in the game and became the first player to run for more than 100 yards against Minnesota since 2007. The offensive line, missing both starting tackles, made a couple of mistakes in pass protection but mostly gave Moore time to throw the ball. Linebacker James Anderson, forced into starting duty in recent weeks after injuries to Thomas Davis and Landon Johnson, recorded a career-high 11 tackles and notched his second career sack.

5. Sly Fox -- Despite their win Sunday, the Panthers are assured of not making the playoffs for the third time in four seasons, with the lone appearance in that span resulting in one blowout loss. Considering the 'What have you done for me lately?' nature of the NFL, that naturally means coach John Fox's seat is getting pretty toasty. That being said, Sunday's win could be the opening act of Fox's last stand to keep his job (or of his players' last stand to help him do so). Consider that Carolina just knocked off previously 11-2 Minnesota in convincing fashion. Now look ahead and see that the Panthers' final two opponents are the playoff-contending Giants and the one-loss Saints. If the Cats have managed to turn some sort of corner and can win those two games, it would make it much more difficult for the team brass to send Fox packing.

-- ANDREW SIMON