Panthers star Newton was relieved to have clinched victory after New York’s fight back.
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Carolina improved to 14-0 with a 38-35 victory over the Giants. Newton, who threw for five touchdowns to further state his case for the NFL’s MVP award, wasn’t quite sure what he had just been through.
“It was kind of a weird feeling in that locker room, and I’m still feeling kind of weird, but not enough to (not) celebrate”, Newton said.
Another NFL season is in the books and we’re just two weeks away from the postseason. Three plays later, Newton found Wayne native Greg Olsen with a 37-yard touchdown pass to give Carolina a 14-7 lead with 2:14 left in the second.
Carolina hasn’t lost at all, of course.
Carolina visits Atlanta and hosts Tampa Bay to finish the schedule.
The Panthers needed all of that to become the NFL’s fourth 14-0 team, joining the 1972 Miami Dolphins, 2007 New England Patriots and 2009 Indianapolis Colts.
Officials have also come under criticism for not putting a stop to the cheap shots earlier in the game, which escalated as the contest wore on.
The family was in NY for a Christmas trip and got tickets for the game back in October. He leads the AFC with 116 catches and is one of two players to catch at least 110 passes three seasons in a row.
Then Newton calmly guided the Panthers 49 yards to the winning kick.
“Anyone who has a passion for football is going to go as hard as they can”.
Play ranged from chippy to vicious, particularly as the Panthers banged Beckham around. At one point Norman crashed into him and Beckham wrestled Norman to the ground.
Norman also was flagged for unnecessary roughness but contends he was within the rules on the play he was penalized on. When Beckham scored the tying touchdown with Norman in coverage in the final minutes, he stepped over the Panthers corner.
Giants head coach Tom Coughlin expressed disappointment over Beckham’s loss of composure – something he had addressed with the player in the days leading up to Sunday’s match.
Beckham is responsible for his behavior, but he should have been either benched by the Giants until he cooled off, or ejected from the game altogether.
TC: Because I didn’t take him out.
Norman later called for action against Beckham.
“Anyone whose played sports, you’re competitive”.
“It’s unfortunate we lost”, he said, refusing to acknowledge Norman, who held him to six receptions for 76 yards, all of which came in the second half. I will go on record as saying that general manager Jerry Reese deserves more blame for the past few seasons than Coughlin, but today was eye-opening in the sense that someone who preaches discipline as much as Coughlin does could not control his best player.
Newton completed 25 of 45 passes for 340 yards and set up Carolina’s first touchdown with a 47-yard rumble to the two-yard line. Against Buffalo he threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns and almost had a ideal passer rating, finishing at 153.7. But Manning’s accurate pass went right through Beckham’s hands. Against New York, Artis-Payne had 59 yards on 14 carries, including a 26-yard run.
In Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger passed for 380 yards and three touchdowns as the Steelers rallied for a 34-27 win over the Broncos.
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