By Nick Bowton
nbowton@salisburypost.com
CHARLOTTE ó The Carolina Panthers left the field to a smattering of boos midway through the third quarter Sunday, their chances of winning looking bleak and their perfect home record at stake.
What a difference a minute makes.
The Panthers scored two touchdowns in 44 seconds, re-energized both themselves and their fans and rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 at Bank of America Stadium.
“It was one score, then another score, then another score, then defense gets a turnover,” said Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams, who rushed for 108 yards and scored the touchdown that jumpstarted Carolina after halftime. “We scored, what, 21 points in the third quarter?
“It was just an offensive explosion on both sides.”
It was an explosion the Panthers needed after a lackluster first half and a poor start to the second.
After going 2-6 at home last season, the Panthers entered their game Sunday 4-0 at Bank of America Stadium for the first time since 1996. The boos of 2007 had been replaced by cheers in 2008, but Carolina (6-2) didn’t inspire its fans through the first 37 minutes.
Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner got better as the game went on, and he went 5-for-5 for 58 yards on the opening drive of the second half ó a drive that ended with a Tim Hightower touchdown run to give the Cardinals a 17-3 lead.
Carolina responded to the ensuing boos with its best drive of the game.
“Just more or less, hey, we needed to get the crowd back in this game, we needed to get going,” said Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme, who went 7-for-8 for 156 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. “We need to get something going, get some juice going, give the defense time to rest.
“That drive, to me, gave us some life.”
That drive, which went 80 yards in six plays and ended in Williams’ 15-yard touchdown run, indeed gave Carolina an energy boost, but a defensive play cemented momentum in the Panthers’ favor.
Two plays after Williams got the Panthers within 17-10, defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu stripped Arizona running back Edgerrin James in the backfield. Kemoeatu looked to make sure a teammate had recovered the fumble, then started stomping away from the pile, raising his arms as he celebrated.
That energy-zapped first half? History.
“I was just happy I made a play,” Kemoeatu said. “I hadn’t made any plays all day. Our defense was feeding off our offense. It was kind of a turning point in the game that the offense drove down and scored.
“So the defense, we had to come in there, try to stop them, get a turnover, do whatever we could do.”
After the defense delivered the ball back to Delhomme, he needed just one play to connect with Steve Smith on an 18-yard touchdown pass to even the score.
“Whenever you turn the ball over on the road, period, it’s tough to win,” said Arizona wideout Anquan Boldin, who caught two touchdown passes in his first game back since fracturing his sinus Sept. 28. “I think we moved the ball up and down the field the way we wanted to. We didn’t feel like they had answers for us, especially when we were in the four-wide, no-huddle package.
“We just hurt ourselves.”
No play hurt the Cardinals (4-3) as much as linebacker Jon Beason’s interception on the first drive of the fourth quarter.
Arizona trailed 24-23 when the quarter started, as Smith scored a go-ahead touchdown just before the third quarter ended. The score would have been tied, but Cardinals punter Dirk Johnson botched the hold on an extra point earlier in the third quarter.
As Warner had done all game, he drove the Cardinals down the field with relative ease. But a pass over the middle went through the hands of a leaping J.J. Arrington and into the arms of Beason, who raced from the Panthers’ 5-yard line to their 49. Warner finished 35-for-49 for 381 yards, two touchdowns and that one interception.
“I tell you, man, that guy Kurt Warner, he’s special,” Beason said. “Getting in his face, he was quick-gaming us, and their receivers were making big plays. We had tight coverage, but I don’t know what happened.
“The ball got tipped, I saw it, and I made a play on it.”
Carolina kicker John Kasay converted Beason’s interception into a 50-yard field goal for the final points, and the Panthers were able to run out the clock on their final drive thanks to a third-down catch by Dwayne Jarrett and a third-down run by Williams.
“It was a character win,” Panthers coach John Fox said. “They don’t lead their division for (no reason). We knew we were going to have our hands full defensively and did. Our offense came out and sparked us in the second half.”