Week 2: Panthers 24, Texans 17

The details

It wasn’t always pretty, and it was surely long.

Playing without middle linebacker Luke Kuechly, out with a concussion, the Carolina defense held tough against the Texans in Ryan Mallett’s third career start. After blocking a 53-yard field-goal attempt by the Panthers, the Texans drove to the 14 before an intentional grounding penalty moved them back. Mallett’s desperate end zone throw to DeAndre Hopkins on fourth down fell incomplete.

The win was the longest regulation game in Carolina’s 21-year history (3 hours, 39 minutes).

Cam Newton had 195 yards passing, but his 77 rushing yards helped the most. Newton got a chunk of his rushing yards on read option plays.

“(The read option) opens up some things as far as running the ball because it really is a triple threat,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “You are going to hand the ball off, you are going to keep the ball or you’re going to throw the ball. If you can catch them at the right defense, freeze them at the right time, we have a chance for a nice play every time.” Jonathan Jones

They said it

“That is a tremendous defensive front, and I think that football team has some good football players across the board. For us to contain them, to do a nice job to give our quarterback time ... I mean heck, we rushed for over 170 yards and threw for over 170 yards. That’s a pretty successful day against a very good defense.” – Rivera

“He’s going to get his plays, that’s for sure. The most important stat is we got the W.” – Panthers tackle Mike Remmers, on blocking J.J. Watt, who had five tackles, two passes defensed and one sack.

The weirdness

Oh no, he didn’t!

Oh yes, he did.

That was the collective reaction at Bank of America Stadium when Newton made one of the most spectacular plays of his NFL career, scoring on a 2-yard quarterback draw by doing a full front flip into the end zone over a hapless defender.

“My heart was in my socks, “ Newton said. “As I was flipping, I was like, ‘Hey, I wonder how this is going to end?’ And then I’m coming down and said, ‘Hey, I can stick this!’”

Those kinds of plays are why Carolina signed Newton to a $103 million contract extension in the offseason. Newton accounted for all three Carolina touchdowns – throwing perfect strikes of 25 yards to Ted Ginn Jr. and 36 yards to Philly Brown for the other two.

But it was the flip that everyone was flipping out about later.

“Superman, huh?” Panthers cornerback Josh Norman said. “He went up and over and almost landed on his feet! Hey that’s our guy.”

Said tight end Greg Olsen of Newton: “I told him the Russian judge gave him a 3, but everyone else gave him a 10.”

Hot takes

Scott Fowler: I had an exchange with Newton in his press conference after the game that went like this.

Q. Why did you flip over the safety instead of trying to run him over?

A. “Well, I think you would have had something to say if I tried to run him over, too.”

Q: But wasn’t the degree of difficulty higher on a flip?

A. “Well, not necessarily. My thinking is there’s an imaginary line right there, and if I cross the plane with it, with the ball, it’s a touchdown. Flip, no flip, fumble, no fumble, as long as I get across the plane with the ball. ... I kind of eyed the safety and he was gearing up, scrunching his face like that (Newton then made a squinty face). I didn’t want to read in The Charlotte Observer the next day that Cam has to be smarter running. So I just gave you all an extra thing to write about.”

That he did, and put in a plug for the newspaper as well. Thanks for both, Cam.

Tom Sorensen: The Carolina Panthers are 2-0. What do you make of them?

They haven’t been terribly impressive. All they’ve done is play well enough to beat teams they should beat.

Joseph Person: The Carolina Panthers’ best defender watched the game on TV in a room in the bowels of the stadium.

Their top pass rusher was out of the game for Houston’s final offensive series with cramps.

No Luke Kuechly. No Charles Johnson. No problem.

At least not on this day, a scorcher played under a relentless sun that sent fans seeking shelter on the shady side of Bank of America Stadium and prompted several Panthers players to get intravenous fluids at halftime.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Week 2: Panthers 24, Texans 17."