“I never saw this coming myself”.
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“I tried to take me out of it, but you know it meant a lot to me”, he said.
“Carson didn’t lose the damn game”.
Wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr.’s 32-yard punt return set up Carolina at the Cardinals’ 49-yard line for its second possession. Defensive tackle Calais Campbell was offsides twice. Cornerback Justin Bethel struggled.
“Playing the sheriff”, Newton said of Manning.
“It hurts to say it but it’s true”.
Both teams could turn to the running game if the weather is problematic, which might be an advantage for the Panthers, with Jonathan Stewart over Arizona rookie David Johnson. Newton tops the drive with a 1 yard score out of the shotgun to put Carolina up 24 to 7 over Arizona.
Peterson raced up, hoping to grab it on the dead run past a Carolina cover unit that had left a sideline alley.
The Panthers claimed a 27-16 victory over the Cardinals in their Wild Card Weekend matchup last season, blowing away a small point total of 38. By the end of the first quarter, Carolina had piled on a 17-point lead, and the team’s turnover-happy defense kept feeding quarterback Cam Newton the ball.
The scoring started quickly, as it did for the Panthers against the Seahawks. Palmer heaved up a bad pass into double coverage that was picked in the end zone.
“They had a good game plan and they did some good things”, Campbell said. It led the league with 39 takeaways, and at times it made an Arizona team that gained more yards than anyone look amateurish. Every player thinks about it; you think about it, but you just don’t let it affect your play or whatever. He just did as he pleased while completing 19-of-28 for 335 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 47 yards on 10 carries.
Two former SEC quarterbacks drafted No. 1 overall, Newton the brash Super Bowl newcomer vs. Peyton Manning, the beloved old guy looking for a little more postseason redemption.
THE PASS RUSH: In his weekly radio interview Monday, general manager Steve Keim said his first order of business will be finding a pass rusher. The Patriots fell to 2-3 in those games but won last year’s Super Bowl in Phoenix. The winning ways, the atmosphere is established now.
Both franchises have been to the Super Bowl and lost close contests.
Arians couldn’t help but feel the same.
“(Head coach) Ron (Rivera) and his staff do a great job getting people ready”, general manager Dave Gettleman said amid the joyous locker room.
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“We’ll pretty much try to keep it a normal work week, like we did two weeks ago (during the bye week leading up to the NFC Divisional Playoff versus Seattle). For us to beat that team today, a very special win”.
