CLEVELAND The Carolina Panthers had a season-high rushing day, and probably re-established the natural order of their depth chart in Sunday's 24-23 loss to Cleveland.

Mike Goodson started after recording back-to-back 100-yard games in the injury absence of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, but it was Stewart who posted the big numbers, the kind that will likely earn him his job back.

Stewart finished with a season-high 98 yards on 12 carries, and Goodson added 55 yards on 14 attempts and scored his first career touchdown. The 151 team rushing yards were the highest of the season by 24 yards, even though it's below last year's per-game average (156.1).

The Panthers have only topped 100 rushing yards as a team in six games all season, and they're averaging 101.4 per game. Getting Stewart back after he missed two weeks with a concussion was a key in a game played near the line of scrimmage, as his physical style was evident on a number of inside-out runs.

"It was good to have Jonathan back out there," Panthers coach John Fox said. "He had a couple of heavy runs and moved behind the pads pretty well. It was good to have that one-two punch out there."

Fox acknowledged he didn't think it was right to take the job away from Goodson, saying: "It's been his ball for the last couple weeks, and I didn't think it was time to take it away from him."

A fine time

The Browns built an early lead in part because of the Panthers' penchant for third-down penalties. Cleveland's first two touchdowns were directly set up by penalties on Sherrod Martin (unnecessary roughness), Chris Gamble (holding) and Charles Johnson (roughing the passer).

Martin was flagged when he jarred the ball loose from tight end Evan Moore on a third-and-19 pass near the goal line.

"Everybody told me they thought it was a clean hit," Martin said. "Actually, I was going for the ball first and he was on his way down. I don't know what more they want me to do, besides when I'm trying to make the tackle, he's going down and I'm going down."

Martin was fined $5,000 by the league for a helmet-to-helmet hit on New York Giants tight end Kevin Boss in the opener, and he's likely in line for another, larger fine based on his repeat offender status.

"From how they do it, they throw a flag and you get a fine," he said. "But I'm definitely going to appeal it."

Not a chance

Fox said he did not consider going for a two-point conversion after Captain Munnerlyn's touchdown in the third quarter, even though a kicked extra point left them trailing 21-20.

Fox and most coaches won't go for two until it's absolutely necessary, and with more than 27 minutes of game time left, there was no chance he was going to. He even referred to a mistake he made in his Super Bowl XXXVIII loss, when he went for two after DeShaun Foster's touchdown run with 12:39 left to play.

"You don't go for two that early in the game," Fox said. "That's typically a fourth-quarter (thing). I got destroyed once doing it too early in the fourth quarter. I don't think that was any factor whatsoever in the game. If we made that (last) field goal, it would have been enough to win."

Back to the kids

The Panthers were left with nothing but rookie quarterbacks again, as Brian St. Pierre was too sore to throw a week after his unexpected start against Baltimore. St. Pierre was present, but was on the game-day inactive list.

The Panthers stuck with rookie Tony Pike as the backup, and listed wide receiver conversion project Armanti Edwards as the third quarterback. It didn't matter ultimately, as Jimmy Clausen had a season-high 195 yards and got through the entire game.

Also inactive for the Panthers were left guard Travelle Wharton, safeties Marcus Hudson and Jordan Pugh, running back Tyrell Sutton, linebacker Abdul Hodge and defensive tackle Andre Neblett.

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"It's been there every week, and that's what's frustrating. You hear about a lot of teams in the league right now that are struggling with their record, and there's drama in the locker room. And we don't have any of that. Guys want to win, guys work hard, practice hard. It's just not working out." Panthers left tackle Jordan Gross, on the effort that was evident throughout the day.

"When you get in a game like this, you look at different plays, different moments when you had the opportunity to make a play to change the outcome. With the lead, second and long, I have to make that tackle to give ourselves a chance to get them into a third-and-long situation where we have the opportunity to get off the field. A captain makes that play, a Pro Bowler makes that play, an All-Pro makes that play.

"I've got big shoulders, and that's how I look at it. I think if I make that play, the game's different, regardless anything else that went on the other 60 minutes. That stands out as an opportunity to make a game-changer." Panthers linebacker Jon Beason, on missed opportunities .

"Today ran the range of emotions for me, including disappointment because I thought we didn't execute at all today. I thought we should have had a killer instinct when we had control of the game early. The sign of a championship team is understanding your opponent and when you have a killer mentality, you attack and don't let it become like the situation we had. This is something that we need to address and it starts from top to bottom. As a veteran, we will address it, watch the film and get better." Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown (Lewisville), on the small frustrations that went with his win.

"Nothing surprises me anymore. I have said it before, you can mis-hit a ball and it goes through, you can hit a ball great and miss it. Browns kicker Phil Dawson, on kicking in these elements.