Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers battled Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at Foxborough Sunday, with the two teams putting up quite a few touchdowns. When all was said and done, Newton had compiled an impressive stat line, and achieved some history, in a 33-30 win over the Patriots. Here's the latest Panthers vs. Patriots recap, including the top performers, game stats, a standings update, and what's next for these two teams.
NFL game recap
In today's 33-30 win, the Cam Newton show was on full display for the Carolina Panthers. The former NFL MVP quarterback completed 22-of-29 for 316 yards passing and three touchdowns. Newton would add another by ground, which gave the Panthers QB a historic 50th rushing TD of his career, the most by any quarterback. Leading the way for the receiving core was Kelvin Benjamin with 104 yards on four catches, while Devin Funchess had seven catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns. Fozzy Whitaker had the other receiving TD early in the second quarter.
Tom Brady put up a solid passing effort as well with 32-of-45 completions and 307 yards to go with two touchdowns.
Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola were the recipients of Brady's TD passes, while Rob Gronkowski led all receivers with 80 yards on four catches. Dion Lewis added another TD for the Patriots on the ground.
The two teams exchanged field goals in the first quarter before Brady found Chris Hogan on a two-yard pass for the score and a 10-3 New England lead. The Panthers erupted for two touchdowns in the second quarter, though, with Whittaker and Funchess scoring on passes from Newton. Funchess would catch a second TD pass in the third quarter. In the fourth, Newton recorded a seven-yard touchdown run for his history-making 50th.
Standings and what's next
Today's win brings the Carolina Panthers to 3-1 for their season and also gives them a confidence boost moving forward.
The team had looked like they were having trouble scoring in their previous games, but Newton and company silenced those concerns against a top contender. Next up on the schedule for the Panthers will be an away game against the Detroit Lions. That game is scheduled for Sunday, October 8 at 1 PM ET.
The loss for the New England Patriots brings their season record to 2-2 overall and their home record to 1-2. They'll try to bounce back but have a short week as they visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday beginning at 8:25 PM ET.