One week after shutting down the league's top passing game in Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, Carolina's defense faces a similar challenge this Sunday with Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals.

Warner comes into the game as the league's third-highest rated passer, leading the NFL's second-best passing game and highest-scoring offense.

"Very similar to the team we played last week as far as the production offensively," coach John Fox said of the Cardinals. "I think they might be second in the league in passing; I know they're first in the league in scoring offense. They have the ability to do both. They can run the ball; they are physical up front.

"They've got a quarterback (Kurt Warner) that's got a 102 quarterback rating, one of the tops in the league, and they've got the skill people. It sounds like they are going to get Anquan Boldin back; they've got Larry Fitzgerald; and (Steve) Breaston is playing good as far as the third wideout. They are a very, very potent offense."

But the Panthers have handled all comers so far - running teams and passing teams.

Their worst effort of the season came against Tampa Bay when they lost 27-3. But even that week the defense only allowed 20 points and they were put in bad situations by an offense that struggled.

"For the most part they've been consistent," Fox said. "We're not even halfway through our body of work yet, so I don't like anointing anything until we're done, but we've been fairly consistent so far and we've played good team defense."

The Panthers are hoping for another big game from Julius Peppers, who turned in his best effort in more than two years with a dominating performance against New Orleans. Last week the Panthers jammed the Saints receivers and threw off their timing.

But one of the major reasons for Carolina's improved play this season is its consistent play in the secondary. Ken Lucas, Chris Gamble and Richard Marshall have been together for three years now and they feel they're as good as any trio in the league.

"I feel that we stack up great against anybody we play," said Marshall. "It's one thing to say we stack up great, but it's another thing to come in and actually show what we can do."

"We just talk about every week coming in and playing hard and trying to earn some respect. That's what we've been doing, just trying to earn some respect out there. There are other secondaries out there getting a lot of publicity. We're just trying to earn our respect, also. And we just come in and try to play hard as a secondary and try to make some plays. I'm surprised (at the lack of respect). For us it's good because it has us going in with a chip on our shoulders before the game."

SERIES HISTORY: 8th regular season meeting. Panthers lead series 5-2. Carolina has won the last four meetings, including a 25-10 win last year at the University of Phoenix Stadium. That was the game were Vinny Testaverde was signed three days before the game and came in and led the Panthers to a victory after a cross-country road trip.