Week 8: Panthers 29, Colts 26 (OT)

The details

Sloppy. Nasty. Ugly.

And the weather was bad, too.

The Carolina Panthers gave up a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter to Andrew Luck and the Colts, then they got a 52-yard field goal from Graham Gano to beat Indianapolis 29-26 in overtime on a rainy Monday night.

Luck’s pass intended for tight end Coby Fleener was deflected by safety Roman Harper and intercepted by linebacker Luke Kuechly at the 39.

After the interception, “all we needed to do was pick up 5 more yards and let Graham kick the game winner,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said.

Earlier in overtime, Indianapolis’ Adam Vinatieri made a 50-yard field goal that gave the Colts a 26-23 lead before Cam Newton drove the Panthers from their 20 to the Indianapolis 23. Gano made a 42-yarder to tie it at 26.

The victory gave Carolina a 7-0 start, the best in the franchise’s 21-year history, and a 1 1/2-game lead over Atlanta in the NFC South.

Scott Fowler

They said it

“Teddy said he would come back and make a play, and he did. He’s going to make some big-time plays for us. He just didn’t make that one.” – Rivera, on what Ginn told him after dropping a potential touchdown in overtime.

“Everybody is missing extra points, but guys are still making kicks. I guarantee you he wasn’t even thinking about that.” – Rivera, on his confidence in Gano on the winning kick after a missed extra-point attempt.

The weirdness

It’s still a howdunit.

After environmental activists rappelled from the upper deck on a nationally televised “Monday Night Football” game, the Carolina Panthers remain uncertain how the group entered Bank of America Stadium with climbing gear.

Panthers security director Lance Emory and his team continued to review surveillance video, but they had not yet spotted the four activists entering the stadium, said team spokesman Steven Drummond.

Early in the third quarter, John Nicholson, 29, of Lewisburg, Pa., and Erica Madrid, 35, of Washington, D.C., went over the rail in Section 538.

They unfurled a banner calling on Charlotte-based Bank of America, which has naming rights on the stadium, to quit financing Dominion Resources, which is building a liquefied natural gas facility in Cove Point, Md., on the Chesapeake Bay.

Nicholson and Madrid dangled for about 30 minutes. After they refused to come down, Charlotte firefighters lowered them.

They were arrested by police along with two confederates, Angela Vogel, 30, of Philadelphia, and David Baghdadi, 38, of Hot Springs, N.C.

They were charged with trespassing and resisting police and were released.

Authorities have determined the four purchased tickets through the NFL Ticket Exchange, but how they got the climbing gear inside through bag screening remains a mystery.

“If you see a rope, that should raise red flags,” Drummond said.

Mark Washburn

Hot takes

Scott Fowler: On a rainy, rumpled, remarkable night for Carolina Panthers fans and players – as “Monday Night Football” became “Tuesday Morning Football” and sleep became an afterthought – no one symbolized the Panthers’ 29-26 overtime victory over Indianapolis better than tight end Greg Olsen.

Like the Panthers, Olsen had an elevator night – up and down. Like the Panthers, Olsen ended up going the right way as Carolina won an overtime game at home for the first time in its history.

The game was so slipshod, so untidily epic, that it didn’t end until 12:20 a.m. Tuesday. It finished on a 52-yard field goal from Gano – whose missed extra-point try had helped the Colts force overtime.

Jonathan Jones: After the game, Rivera did his usual postgame trip around the locker room. He started with the specialists.

“Nice snap,” he said to J.J. Jansen.

“Nice hold,” Rivera said to holder Brad Nortman.

“Great finish,” the coach said to Gano as he shook his hand.

“Thanks, Coach,” Gano replied.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Week 8: Panthers 29, Colts 26 (OT)."