Cam Newton celebrates the Panthers becoming the only undefeated team in America

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. But none of them have scored five touchdowns in five out of five years like Newton, and unless Lynch comes back from his injury and scores two touchdowns in the next three games, none of them will.

The results of the MRIs are unclear, but Stewart, who injured his ankle, was seen in a protective walking boot in the parking lot by a reporter.

Their next game for the Panthers is next Sunday against the Giants in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The game will be broadcast on FOX 46 WJZY.

If the Panthers lock up the No. 1 seed, Rivera isn’t sure if he’ll continue to play his top players, as Bill Belichick did in 2007 season during New England’s quest for perfection, or rest them, as Jim Caldwell and the Indianapolis Colts did in 2009 after starting 14-0.

It was a devastating loss for the slumping Falcons (6-7), who started 5-0 but have lost six consecutive. Thomas Davis leads the Panthers with 88 tackles, Kawann Short has nine sacks and Josh Norman has 16 pass deflections.

“We have a saying on offense, ‘Let’s take turns making plays, ‘” quarterback Cam Newton said.

Both teams could still be chasing a playoff spot, but the Panthers’ offense racked up 424 yards against the Falcons during Sunday’s win and with home advantage against the Bucs, neither should pose too many problems.

The Pittsburgh Steelers won a bad-tempered AFC North clash with Cincinnati 33-20 to close the gap on the divisional leaders to two games.

Falcon quarterback Matt Ryan did complete 22-of-34 passes, but managed just 224 yards and threw his 14th interception of the season, which is the most of any passer in the NFC. Carolina has scored 20-plus points in every game this season. Carr threw two touchdown passes and the visiting Raiders (6-7) beat the Broncos for the first time since September 12, 2011, despite being held to minus-12 yards in the first half – the worst performance by a team heading into halftime in almost a quarter-century. Newton said his hand went numb, but he returned to finish the drive with a touchdown pass to TE Ed Dickson.

Analysts who doubted Carolina’s 4-0 start pointed to their matchups with two young quarterbacks (Blake Bortles, Jameis Winston) and two career backups (Ryan Mallett, Luke McCown) as reasons for the early success.

Alex Smith threw for 191 yards and a touchdown, along with his first interception after a franchise-record 312 attempts.

The Kansas City Chiefs stretched their winning streak to seven games with a 10-3 victory over the San Diego Chargers. Tyler Lockett caught TD throws of 8 and 49 yards.

It’ll be one of the top storylines for the next three weeks. Quarterback Jay Cutler completed 19 of 31 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears (5-8), who dropped to 1-6 at home.

Seattle moved into position for an NFC wild card by winning 35-6 at an injury-depleted Baltimore.

Golden Tate caught two touchdown passes for Detroit. Before his injury, Freeman was averaging 114.7 yards per game from scrimmage and had 11 combined touchdowns.

The New Orleans Saints ended their four-game losing streak as quarterback Drew Brees went to 421 career touchdown passes – passing Dan Marino for third in National Football League history – in a 24-17 win over the the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Raymond James Stadium.