FOXBOROUGH, Mass. _ Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton erred early, but he didn't implode.
In fact, he did quite the opposite.
Kicker Graham Gano missed an extra point later, but he didn't implode.
In fact, he did quite the opposite.
Newton came back from an egregious early interception into double coverage to finish 22 of 29 with 316 yards, three touchdowns and an interception (plus ran in a score himself), and Gano's 48-yard field goal with four seconds left gave the Panthers a 33-30 victory over the New England Patriots.
After Newton's interception late in the first quarter, he finished the half a perfect eight for eight with two touchdowns, with 189 yards and a 126.3 quarterback rating. And he led a Panthers offense that had struggled all season to an average of over eight yards per play against New England.
But one fourth-quarter drive, with the Panthers (3-1) up seven, did implode on Carolina as Newton took a third-down sack for a 12-yard loss.
A poor punt gave Patriots quarterback Tom Brady the ball at midfield, and he marched his offense to the shadow of the Panthers' goal line. Carolina held Brady off through three downs, but on the fourth he found Danny Amendola a half-step ahead of Collin Jones in the end zone to tie the game at 30.
That set the stage for the Panthers, who drove to the New England 30 before Gano's winning kick.
Newton's early interception, a forced pass to speedy receiver Damiere Byrd and picked off by Malcom Butler, was the quarterback's mistake. With 3 yards to gain on third down, Newton looked deep for Byrd and completely missed a wide-open Devin Funchess on a short screen. Brady capitalized on the turnover with a touchdown.
But Newton seemed to make up for missing Funchess later in the second quarter when he found Funchess wide-open in the end zone for the receiver's first touchdown of the year.
Earlier in the quarter, scat back Fozzy Whittaker scored on a beautiful misdirection play. Newton set rookie running back Christian McCaffrey in motion, and most of the Patriots defense shifted to track McCaffrey. Whittaker scampered open on the opposite side and caught a short pass from Newton, and ran it in for a 28-yard touchdown.
Funchess scored again on a physical 10-yard catch late in the third quarter.
