Panthers hang on against Giants

Ten minutes into the third quarter Sunday afternoon, Cam Newton threw his fifth touchdown pass of the day to put the Carolina Panthers up 35-7 on the New York Giants, just another stunning chapter in the Carolina Panther quarterback’s season for the ages.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) Cam Newton stayed away from the nastiness around him, shrugged off a record-tying Giants comeback, and did what he does best: carry Carolina to victory.

Of course, the other part was because of the Panthers QB.

The Carolina Panthers are still undefeated, but their ideal season almost ended in historic fashion.

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. Led by Mario Williams, Marcell Dareus and Jerry Hughes, the team added Coach Rex Ryan, a defensive specialist, and was expected to get even better.

Sure, the Giants fought back from a 28-point deficit late in the third quarter to even matters in the final two minutes, before falling, 38-35, on Graham Gano’s 43-yard field goal as time expired.

The New England Patriots, who were 16-0 in the regular season in 2007, fell just shy by losing to the underdog Giants in the Super Bowl.

Cam Newton: With one more five-touchdown game, Newton will tie 2004 Peyton Manning for most all-time in one season with four.

It looked oh so easy when NFC South champion Carolina led 35-7 with 5:32 left in the third quarter. NY was down 28 points and then came roaring back.

The Giants (6-8) on the other hand are getting closer and closer to being mathematically eliminated from the NFC playoff tourney. The Philadelphia Eagles (6-7) host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night. It was the longest active streak in the NFL at the end of the game – Seattle has 24 straight – and is the sixth-longest streak in the NFL since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. Beckham has exploded onto the scene the past two seasons and is arguably the most talented receiver in the entire game.

“We started to get scrappy for no reason….” But we’ll find a way to keep fighting.

Beckham caught six passes for 76 yards and a late game-tying touchdown while matching up primarily against Norman.

As expected, Odell Beckham, Jr. refused to acknowledge Josh Norman while giving his post game interview with the media. Oh, and did I mention he rushed for 100 yards on only EIGHT carries?

Then Newton calmly guided the Panthers 49 yards to the winning kick. He disappointed the entire Giants’ organization by engaging in a series of completely self-indulgent confrontations with Panthers cornerback Josh Norman. Beckham gave back, too, especially during one sequence when Norman crashed into him and Beckham wrestled Norman to the ground. Most of the time it appeared Beckham was the instigator. The most notable of the penalties was the final one, in which Beckham lunged at Norman’s head.

This one really hurt because the Giants trailed 35-7 before improbably scoring four consecutive touchdowns to tie the game at 35-35 with 1:46 remaining.

“You got two bulls going at it in a physical sport, a field full of alpha males, they’re not going to be playing patty-cake, patty-cake”. “I thought we did that better than anything for quite some time today”, said head coach Tom Coughlin. But I think you saw the character of our team at the end of the game – the true character of what we can do.

Beckham tried to explain his actions. “You are a competitor; I’m a competitor we are always going to go at it. Anybody who has played sports – you are competitive and you are going to go as hard as you can”.

“If you’re going to be out here and you’re going to dance around and prance around like you are a ballerina, that goes to show you … what kind of player he is”, Norman said. “You hear it and you enjoy it. It’s cool to come play at home – you ask anybody who has done it. To score and win a game like that was fun”.

National Football League spokesman Michael Signora said disqualifying players is a judgment made by the on-field officials.