Ground Game

With the way the run game had been going this year, if I told you the Panthers rushed for more than 200 yards against the Eagles, how many would you say Newton picked up? The answer: 20. That total and his four carries were his fewest since he rushed just twice for six yards during last November’s blowout loss in Philadelphia.

Newton’s legs got a rare night off because others took over the ground game.

Ginn sprinted a career-high 43 yards on a reverse, FB Mike Tolbert added 16 yards plus a score while Stewart was the workhorse. He carried 24 times for 125 yards, the first time a RB rushed for more than 100 yards against the Eagles since Frank Gore did it with the 49ers 13 months ago.

The Panthers came in ranked 3rd in rushing at 132.8 yards per game. The Eagles’ defense was ranked 8th in rushing yards allowed, giving up 94.2 per game. One had to give. The Panthers totaled 204.

“Jonathan Stewart right now is running very strong and doing some really good things as is Mike Tolbert,” coach Ron Rivera said. “One thing I would like to see us do is if we can keep that balance we don’t have to rely on the quarterback and just use him sparingly.”