Panthers lose CB Benwikere for the season to broken leg

The Carolina Panthers encountered what they called a “wake-up call” last week during their comeback victory at New Orleans.

Quarterback Cam Newton threw three touchdown passes and his Carolina Panthers pummelled the Atlanta Falcons 38-0 to earn an National Football League playoff first-round bye.

The Panthers are 13-0 for the first time in franchise history.

The Panthers now join the 1972 Dolphins, the 1998 Broncos, the 2005 Colts, the 2007 Patriots, the 2009 Colts and Saints and the 2011 Green Bay Packers and teams to start 13-0 in the Super Bowl era.

Carolina’s Newton connected on scoring strikes of 74 and 46 yards to Ted Ginn Jr., and Jonathan Stewart ran for a touchdown as the Panthers scored on their first three possessions. AJ Klein stepped in for one play to relieve Luke Kuechly and he forced a fumble. He rolled up 265 yards passing on 15 of 21 completions and passed for three touchdowns without an interception.

However, there were some scary moments for Carolina on the injury front.

Newton nonetheless continued to put up MVP-type numbers. The New York Giants (5-7) could make it a three-way tie with a victory at Miami tonight. The Atlanta native spoke this week about how special it is to play the Falcons, even in Carolina. I grew up watching this team. All six of them seemed OK after the game, but nickel cornerback Bené Benwikere was lost for the rest of the season with a fractured leg. That will force another roster adjustment in the Carolina secondary. Sundays I would come home from church and the Atlanta Falcons would be on, dating back to Chris Chandler, Michael Vick. Anderson played again late in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter of the romp, and it’s possible he could receive quite a bit of playing time in the last three regular-season games in an effort to keep Newton healthy. ‘He’s got a great feel for things and his reads and decision making has been really good this year. “For me, it comes down to that”. Atlanta’s longest pass play through the first three quarters went for 14 yards.

He rushed for 75 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries in the first half.

Bills running back LeSean McCoy had 74 yards rushing and 35 receiving in his return to Philadelphia.

“They came out on fire”, Falcons linebacker O’Brien Schofield said.

“We’re not there yet, ” Falcons head coach Dan Quinn told reporters this week, “in terms of the mindset of finishing and the attitude of where we want to go”.

ABOUT THE FALCONS (6-6): Atlanta’s 5-0 start is a distant memory, as it has dropped six of seven and slipped a game behind Seattle for the final wild-card spot in the NFC. This time their defense coughed up 38 points to Drew Brees and the Saints, yet Can Newton managed to maneuver his team into position to kick the winning field goal for a three-point victory.

Of course, the Panthers’ 13 win of the season looked so utterly dominating it’s extremely hard not to imagine a deep, deep playoff run.