Quintin Mikell: 'We shut Santonio Holmes up'

Carolina Panthers safety Quintin Mikell believes that he and his teammates did a good job of keeping New York Jets receiver Santonio Holmes quiet.

Holmes stated last week that he thought the secondary of the Panthers was their "weakest link", but they responded by holding him to just two catches for 14 yards and intercepting a pass from quarterback Geno Smith in their 30-20 victory.

Mikell told the club's official website: "With what Santonio said earlier in the week, we had to come out and shut him up. I think we did a good job of that.

"Our thing all year has been that people point the finger at the secondary, and that's fine. We drive the bus from the back.

"We've had some good games and we've had some bad games. Tonight we had a good one and just shut them down."

The Panthers now have the same record as the New Orleans Saints and can steal the NFC South division away from them with a win in their week 16 clash.