Panthers 33, Patriots 30: 10 observations from stunner

Despite no one giving them much of a chance, his Panthers went into Foxborough and gave the New England Patriots everything they had, escaping with a win on a last-second field-goal. In the receiving end, Marvin Jones Jr. posted 42 yards in two receptions while Darren Fells added 40 yards in four receptions. The first of which also negated a third down stop for the defense. Newton was 22 of 29, throwing for three touchdowns (his first TD passes since the opener) and running for one – becoming the first National Football League quarterback to rush for 50 scores. It’s always been their safety net, and a place opposing teams never liked coming to play. “If we can’t play somewhat decent defense, it’s going to be hard to win games – you have to be concerned”.

Running back Jonathan Stewart’s five-yard run in the fourth quarter gave him the most rushing yards in Carolina franchise history. “It has happened in all three games: We’ve missed opportunities to complete big plays – big passes for big plays”, Carolina coach Ron Rivera said.

Coach Bill Belichick’s reigning Super Bowl champions looked surprisingly vulnerable on that side of the ball yet again in a 33-30 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. “We’re expecting great things as a team. This is the 2017 Carolina Panthers”, he said. He’s been making good decisions. With only Trey Flowers delivering consistent pressure among the starters, New England needs to increase Wise’s workload significantly and overlook the rookie errors that follow.

The second, on the game’s final drive, wiped out a sack by Deatrich Wise Jr. that would have made it fourth down on the Panthers 16-yard line.

But that doesn’t account for all of the Patriots’ shortcomings.

“We’re beating ourselves”, said cornerback Malcolm Butler. “We were on the same page, we were clicking (offensively)”, he said.

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger said last week that “the quarterback needed to play better”. It was about the execution part. The Vikings rookie out of Florida State (above) suffered a left anterior cruciate ligament injury during the third quarter of the Vikings’ 14-7 loss to the visiting Lions.

Los Angeles running back Todd Gurley rushed for 121 yards and caught a 53-yard touchdown pass, and kicker Greg Zuerlein booted a career-best seven field goals to lift the Rams (3-1) to the victory at Dallas (2-2).

It was the first time since 2012 that Brady lost two games at home in a season. The highlight of his afternoon was drilling a career-high, 58-yard field goal at the end of the first half to pull the Patriots to within one.

JETS 23, JAGUARS 20, OT: In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 41-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in overtime to lift NY (2-2).

The Panthers had their best offensive game of the season thanks to the return of Superman, Cam Newton. “It’s already hard enough to win games on the road, and we’ve dropped two at home”.

Stewart ran 14 times for 68 yards and broke Williams’ record of 6,846 yards in the fourth quarter.

Newton finished 22 of 29 passing for 316 yards and an interception, picking apart a New England defense that was allowing an NFL-worst 461 yards and 31.7 points a game.

Benjamin caught passes of 43 and 39 yards – with nary a Patriot defender near him when he received the ball.