The Associated Press
Steve Reed
CHARLOTTE, N.C.–Cam Newton delivered the body blow while Jonathan Stewart provided the knockout punch for Carolina.
Newton’s 62-yard run set up Stewart’s one-yard touchdown leap–his third TD run of the day–with 1:47 to go to lift the Panthers to a 31-24 victory yesterday afternoon, snapping the Minnesota Vikings’ eight-game win streak.
Stewart accounted for 103 of Carolina’s 216 yards rushing, including a 60-yard touchdown burst in the first quarter, against the NFL’s second-ranked defence as the Panthers prevented the Vikings (10-3) from clinching the NFC North division title.
But it was Newton’s run that turned out to be the play of the game.
After Carolina squandered an 11-point fourth-quarter lead, Newton rolled out to his left, saw an opening, and the 6’5″, 245-pound quarterback was off to the races before being pulled down from behind at the Vikings’ eight-yard line.
Newton joked after the game that he got tackled on purpose.
“It was very strategic, when I think back,” the 2015 league MVP smiled.
“Because if I would have scored, they would have had all of their time-outs left,” he noted.
“So I felt like, hey, let me flip this car back into third gear.”
The Vikings did use all of their time-outs but the Panthers still scored.
The Vikings turned the ball over on downs on their final possession.
“There’s only one guy in the league that is doing that,” tight end Greg Olsen said of Newton’s scramble.
“We had everything against us and we had struggled our last three possessions,” he noted.
“And for him to pop something that like, that was huge.”
Newton threw for 137 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 75 yards as the Panthers (9-4) recorded their third 200-yard rushing game of the season to move into a tie with the New Orleans Saints atop the NFC South.
Carolina’s defence did its job, too. They sacked Case Keenum six times, forced three turnovers, and came up with a crucial stop late to force a field goal.
“We turned the ball over three times and gave up 200-plus yards rushing. That’s not like us,” said Vikings’ coach Mike Zimmer.
The Panthers seemed in control midway through the fourth quarter leading 24-13, but the Vikings came charging back to tie it as Keenum hooked up on a 52-yard scoring strike with Adam Thielen on a crossing route.
Blake Bell added two-point conversion catch to cut the lead to three.
On Carolina’s next possession, Vikings’ safety Andrew Sendejo intercepted Newton on a ball that sailed off the hands of Christian McCaffrey and returned it to the Carolina six-yard line.
But Carolina’s defence had a huge stop, holding the Vikings to minus-three yards on three plays to force a field goal with 3:07 left.
Even with the loss, the Vikings could have wrapped up the division had the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions also both lost.
Instead, both division foes won in overtime.
“We need to get this division wrapped up but to do that, we have to play better football,” stressed Vikings’ tight end Kyle Rudolph.
Elsewhere in the NFL, Green Bay edged Cleveland 27-21 (OT), Detroit shaded Tampa Bay 24-21 (OT), Dallas beat the N.Y. Giants 30-10, Chicago bombed Cincinnati 33-7, Kansas City downed Oakland 26-15, Buffalo upended Indianapolis 13-7 (OT), and Denver blanked the N.Y. Jets 23-0.
San Francisco beat Houston 26-16, Arizona downed Tennessee 12-7, the L.A. Chargers dumped Washington 30-13, Jacksonville edged Seattle 30-24, Philadelphia topped L.A. Rams 43-35, and Pittsburgh nipped Baltimore 39-38.
