For a short stretch in the fourth quarter, the Carolina Panthers appeared to be headed down the same dark, dead-end road they’d traveled a few times this season.
The offense was stalling, the defense was hurting and the noise was bouncing off the walls and roof at Reliant Stadium as the Houston Texans [team stats] pulled within a score.
But after blowing big leads to Detroit and Atlanta in recent weeks, this time the Panthers bowed up and pulled away for a 28-13 victory Sunday to snap the Texans’ franchise-record, seven-game win streak.
The Panthers (5-9) won their third consecutive road game — their longest streak away from home since winning four in a row at the start of the 2007 season.
After beating four opponents with a combined record of 14-42, the Panthers took down a Texans team featuring the league’s top defense and bound for the postseason after clinching the AFC South title last week.
"For us to come in and beat this team, No. 1 ranked defense, the quality running game, it does speak to our abilities and what we can become,"
first-year coach Ron Rivera said. "This really shows we have the type of potential, we have the people we need inside this locker room. We’ve just got to continue to grow."
Houston (10-4) missed a chance to improve its playoff positioning by committing three turnovers — a fumble by running back Arian Foster on the opening series and two interceptions by former North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates, including a back-breaker inside the Panthers’ 10-yard line in the fourth quarter.
Linebackers Jordan Senn and James Anderson had a hand in all three takeaways. Senn forced a fumble and had a first-half interception, and Anderson recovered Foster’s fumble and thwarted the Texans’ comeback hopes by picking off Yates at the goal line with 7 minutes, 25 seconds remaining.
Those were huge plays for a defense that lost starting defensive backs Charles Godfrey and Captain Munnerlyn to injuries during the game, and saw middle linebacker Dan Connor and backup safety Jordan Pugh also miss time while shaken up.
Backup cornerback R.J. Stanford shifted to safety when Pugh went out, and rookie cornerback Brandon Hogan was thrown into a pressure situation in the first game of his career.
Though the Texans outgained Carolina 358-316, the Panthers’ defense forced enough turnovers and field goal attempts to hang on.
"We’ve been dealing with injuries all year,"
Anderson said. "Some guys who weren’t expecting to play came out and played well. And we played well as a defense."
After Foster scored on a 1-yard run to bring the Texans to 21-13 with 13:48 left, the Panthers responded with an 80-yard drive — the last 24 coming on a DeAngelo Williams touchdown run that put the Panthers up 15 again.
Yates had the Texans moving on their next drive. On third-and-goal from the 9, he scrambled to his right and tried to find Jacoby Jones in the end zone.
Anderson read it and picked off the pass for his second interception of the season.
"When he started scrambling, I just tried to find a receiver and read (Yates’) eyes and locate him,"
Anderson said. "When he got ready to throw the ball, I just broke on it."
