Cam Newton threw a pair of touchdown passes against the NFL's top defense and the Carolina Panthers ended the Houston Texans' seven-game winning streak with a 28-13 road win Sunday at Reliant Stadium.
The Panthers (5-9) have had a tough time holding on to late leads, but they closed this one out when DeAngelo Williams had a 24-yard touchdown run. James Anderson then thwarted the Texans' rally by intercepting a T.J. Yates pass in the end zone.
The AFC South champion Texans (10-4) couldn't get anything going in the first half, as Newton threw touchdown passes to Steve Smith and tight end Jeremy Shockey. Richie Brockel added a 7-yard touchdown run for a 21-0 lead.
The Texans rallied to get within 21-13, but Williams finished off an 80-yard drive with his touchdown run to seal it.
Houston's Arian Foster rushed for 109 yards to surpass 1,000 yards for the second consecutive season.
Carolina | Houston | |
DeAngelo Williams | Player | Arian Foster |
15 | Attempts | 16 |
61 | Yards | 109 |
4.1 | Avg Yards | 6.8 |
1 | Touchdowns | 1 |
24 | Long | 22 |
Carolina | Houston | |
Steve Smith | Player | Arian Foster |
5 | Receptions | 5 |
82 | Yards | 58 |
16.4 | Avg Yards | 11.6 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
26 | Long | 25 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Carolina | 316 | 166 | 150 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2.0 | 1 |
Houston | 358 | 150 | 208 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 |