Panthers Win 7th Straight By Beating Miami 20-16
MIAMI GARDENS (AP) — Make it seven wins in a row for the Carolina Panthers, and two consecutive late comebacks led by Cam Newton.
The Panthers quarterback converted a fourth-and-10 situation at his own 20 with a completion to keep alive the Panthers' final possession, and they went on to score a touchdown with 43 seconds left and beat the Miami Dolphins 20-16 on Sunday.
Newton hit Greg Olsen with a 1-yard pass for the winning score to cap a 12-play drive. Carolina also rallied past the New England Patriots with a late drive last Monday.
The Panthers (8-3) overcame a 16-3 first-half deficit to extend their longest winning streak since 2003. Miami (5-6) fell to 2-2 since tackle Jonathan Martin left the team and the Dolphins' bullying scandal began to mushroom.
Miami's Ryan Tannehill nearly connected with Mike Wallace for a 60-yard score in the final seconds, but the pass fell incomplete at the goal line. Tannehill and Wallace earlier teamed up for a 53-yard touchdown and a 57-yard completion to set up a field goal.
The Panthers trailed 16-13 when their winning drive began at their own 20 with 4:13 left. With no timeouts remaining, they went for it on fourth down, and Newton threaded a pass between two defenders to Steve Smith for a 19-yard gain.
Carolina then converted two third downs before Newton hit Olsen for the winning score.
Coach Ron Rivera's willingness to take chances has earned him the nickname Riverboat Ron, and his daring paid off in the third quarter with the Panthers trailing 16-6. From the Panthers 41, Newton ran for 8 yards to convert a fourth-and-1, and they went on to score a touchdown.
The Panthers drove 52 yards for a field goal in the final 61 seconds of the first half even though they had no timeouts left, taking advantage of Miami's soft coverage to cut their deficit to 16-6.
They took the kickoff to start the second half and scored again, mounting an 83-yard touchdown drive.
For the second game in a row, the Panthers' Luke Kuechly made a big play in the end zone that was disputed. He appeared to make helmet-to-helmet contact when he broke up a potential touchdown catch by Rishard Matthews, and an official threw a flag, but the referee determined there was no penalty and Miami settled for a field goal and a 16-3 lead.
Kuechly bear-hugged the Patriots' Rob Gronkowski on the final play of the Panthers' victory at New England last Monday.
Newton threw an interception that led to a field goal and had a quarterback rating of only 60.6. But he led the Panthers with 51 yards rushing.
While Tannehill threw for 280 yards, Carolina held Miami's running backs to 16 yards on 13 carries.
Tannehill, who had repeatedly underthrown the speedy Wallace this season, was told this week by coach Joe Philbin to "let it rip" and did so in the first half, twice hitting the Dolphins' $60 million receiver deep.
Tannehill also overthrew an open Wallace deep in the third quarter.
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