Cam Newton threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Greg Olsen with 1:22 remaining as the Carolina Panthers completed the biggest comeback in franchise history to defeat the host Philadelphia Eagles 21-17 on Sunday afternoon.
The Panthers (4-2) were dominated for the first three quarters before scoring three touchdowns in a 9 1/2-minute span after punting on all their other possessions. They overcame a 17-0 deficit in the fourth quarter after never previously escaping more than a 10-point, fourth-period hole.
Philadelphia's final possession ended at the Carolina 14-yard line on a failed fourth down.
Trailing 17-14, the Panthers gained possession at their own 31 with 2:17 to play. Three incompletions later, they faced fourth down but Newton, while under heavy pressure, hooked up with ex-Eagle Torrey Smith for a 35-yard play.
Newton finished 25-for-39 for 269 yards and two touchdown passes.
Carson Wentz threw two touchdown passes and directed the Eagles (3-4) on time-consuming drives that appeared to put them in ideal shape.
Wentz completed 30 of 37 passes for 310 yards. He had a stretch when he completed a career-best 15 consecutive passes.
Wentz threw an 11-yard touchdown strike to Alshon Jeffery to open the scoring in the second quarter. The Eagles went up 10-0 on Jake Elliott's 46-yard field goal less than five minutes later.
The Eagles drove 94 yards on 17 plays in the third quarter. Wentz's fourth-and-1 sneak at the Carolina 2-yard line kept the drive alive. Two plays later, his 1-yard toss to tight end Dallas Goedert helped Philadelphia extend the lead to 17-0.
Carolina had only one possession plus one snap in the third quarter. But the Panthers made the most of their second second-half drive, with receiver Curtis Samuel running 14 yards on a misdirection play for a touchdown. It marked the team's first possession that didn't end in a punt.
But for the second week in a row, Graham Gano missed an extra-point kick.
The Panthers were right back at it, moving 87 yards on their next possession. Newton threw 18 yards to Devin Funchess for a touchdown with 4:08 left, then threw to Jarius Wright for the two-point conversion.
The Panthers, who were in danger of falling to 0-3 in road games, managed only 72 yards of offense in the first half. They were shut out in the opening half for the first time since the fifth game of the 2016 season.
Philadelphia's first drive of the game consumed 15 plays and more than eight minutes, but Elliott missed on a 36-yard field-goal attempt.
The Panthers went 3-1 in games against NFC East opponents this season.
--Field Level Media
Carolina | Philadelphia | |
Cam Newton | Player | Wendell Smallwood |
7 | Attempts | 9 |
49 | Yards | 32 |
7.0 | Avg Yards | 3.6 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
14 | Long | 10 |
Carolina | Philadelphia | |
Devin Funchess | Player | Zach Ertz |
6 | Receptions | 9 |
62 | Yards | 138 |
10.3 | Avg Yards | 15.3 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
18 | Long | 27 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Carolina | 371 | 121 | 250 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 2 |
Philadelphia | 342 | 58 | 284 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 |