Midway through the fourth quarter on Sunday, Julius Peppers of the Carolina Panthers smiled at the empty seats in Raymond James Stadium.
"It's always good to have the fans leave early when you're on the road," said Peppers, Carolina's star defensive end. "That's one of our goals, to make them leave early."
That goal never seemed in doubt as the Panthers (6-2) claimed their fifth consecutive victory by dominating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 34-14. Carolina remained tied with Atlanta atop the National Football Conference South, while the fading Buccaneers (5-3) lost for the third time in four games.
PHOTO: AFP
The Panthers entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations, but they started 1-2 and took a major blow in their opener when defensive tackle Kris Jenkins was lost for the season with a leg injury. Instead of panicking, the Panthers regrouped, and they have shown qualities similar to the 2003 Carolina team that reached the Super Bowl.
"We just got beat by a better football team," said Buccaneers quarterback Chris Simms, who is 0-2 as a starter since replacing Brian Griese, who sustained a season-ending knee injury. "With a great defensive line like that, you get down, 34-7 or 24-7, it's going to be tough."
Simms was sacked five times, twice by Peppers, and he threw two interceptions and fumbled once.
Simms' biggest mistake came early in the third quarter, with Tampa Bay trailing, 17-7, but driving in Carolina territory. He threw a short sideline pass, but he never took his eyes off the receiver, Michael Clayton. Defensive back Chris Gamble read the play perfectly, stepped in front of Clayton and made the interception. Gamble ran untouched 61 yards into the end zone, and the Panthers were never seriously threatened after taking a 24-7 lead.
"I had watched a lot of film, and I knew he was going to run the out pattern," Gamble said, describing the interception. "He gave it away."
A mistake also set up Carolina's first touchdown, when Tampa Bay's Cadillac Williams lost a fumble. Mike Rucker picked up the ball and rumbled to Tampa Bay's 32-yard line. Five plays later, Stephen Davis scored on a 4-yard run, and Carolina led, 10-0, in the first quarter.
Carolina's next touchdown was set up by Jake Delhomme's 62-yard pass to Ricky Proehl, who beat Shelton Quarles in single coverage. Davis later scored from the 1.
Proehl, 37, is one of the NFL's oldest receivers, but he is still effective. "At my age, I think they sleep on me a little bit," Proehl said. "They don't expect me to go deep."
Carolina's best receiver is Steve Smith, who entered the game leading the NFL in receptions with 50, and he caught five more passes for 106 yards and a touchdown. After his 35-yard touchdown catch put Carolina ahead, 34-7, he celebrated by waving the ball from side to side as if brandishing a sword.
"Just a little sword fight out here with the Buccaneers," he said. "I had it last week, but I saved it for this week."
Obscured by more flamboyant receivers like Terrell Owens and Randy Moss, Smith has become a premier pass catcher. He has recovered from the broken left fibula he sustained last season.
"I wouldn't say I lost any speed," he said.
But defense remains Carolina's strength; Williams was held to 29 yards on 11 carries. He was averaging 93 yards a game.
Peppers had only one sack coming into the game, but he controlled the line of scrimmage Sunday despite playing with a broken right hand. During one Tampa Bay drive in the second quarter, Peppers induced guard Kenyatta Walker into moving before the snap three times in a four-play span. Walker knew that if he did not move quickly, he could not block Peppers.
"When you're going against arguably the best defensive lineman in the game, you're going to lose some sleep at night, especially when you're feeling that he's in a zone," Carolina defensive tackle Brentson Buckner said. "It's human nature. If you see me ball up my fist to hit you, you're going to move out the way, right? Just imagine that. When you start taking those punches, sooner or later you're going to jerk back."
The Panthers played down the notion that they made a statement with their winning streak, which includes their fifth consecutive victory over the Buccaneers.
"We don't want national cameras," Buckner said. "We just want to play football."
Redskins 17, Eagles 10
With or without Terrell Owens, the Eagles are losing and in danger of slipping out of the playoff race.
The Eagles (4-4) fell to sole possession of last place in the NFC East because of their anemic running game and an offense that produced only one touchdown. The Redskins, rebounding from the worst loss of coach Joe Gibbs' career, rode a more balanced attack and touchdown runs by Mike Sellers and Clinton Portis.
The day was filled with off-field Eagles news: Owens, suspended indefinitely for comments he made about the organization and Donovan McNabb, was also involved in a locker-room fight with former teammate Hugh Douglas last week; and running back Brian Westbrook, pining for a new contract since training camp, was given a five-year extension.
But Westbrook gained only 24 yards in 17 carries, more evidence why Philadelphia entered the game with an unseemly imbalance of passing the ball a league-high 72 percent of the time.
Washington's passing was precise as Mark Brunell completed 21 of 29 passes for 224 yards. H-back Chris Cooley caught seven passes for a career-high 85 yards. The victory ended Washington's seven-game losing streak against Philadelphia and moved the Redskins (5-3) into a tie with Dallas for second place in the division, one game behind the Giants.
Owens was suspended on Saturday for conduct detrimental to the team. Owens disparaged McNabb on Thursday during an interview with ESPN.com. He said the Eagles would be undefeated if Green Bay's Brett Favre were their quarterback.
Owens also said that he was upset because the Eagles did not congratulate him on the scoreboard at Lincoln Field after he scored the 100th touchdown of his career on Oct. 23 against San Diego.
Owens has been Philadelphia's best receiver by far, with 47 catches for 763 yards and six touchdowns. The rookie receiver Reggie Brown replaced Owens in the lineup on Sunday.
Chiefs 27, Raiders 23
Larry Johnson dived over the goalline from 1 yard out on the final play of the game Sunday and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders 27-23, rewarding coach Dick Vermeil who gambled by deciding not to kick a field goal and send the game into overtime.
Randy Moss, who hadn't caught a pass all day, beat Dewayne Washington in the corner of the end zone for a 7-yard reception with 1:45 left, giving the Raiders (3-5) the lead. Then Trent Green, who attended his father's funeral four days earlier, drove the Chiefs (5-3) 72 yards to the Oakland 1-yard line with five seconds remaining.
Placekicker Lawrence Tynes already had two field goals and hasn't missed in 13 straight attempts. But Vermeil chose to try for the victory, and called Johnson's run, which gave the Chiefs their sixth straight victory over the Raiders.
Steelers 20, Packers 10
In Green Bay, Wisconsin, Troy Polamalu returned Brett Favre's fumble 77 yards for a touchdown, and Tyrone Carter's interception set up the offense's only touchdown in Pittsburgh's win over Green Bay.
The Steelers (6-2) became the first team since the 1989-90 San Francisco 49ers and the fourth team overall to win 11 straight road games.
Bears 20, Saints 17
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Adrian Peterson and Cedric Benson combined for 137 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown in place of the injured Thomas Jones, and Robbie Gould kicked the winning field goal with 6 seconds to go for Chicago. Kyle Orton set up the field goal with a 22-yard, third-down completion on a sideline route to Muhsin Muhammad at the 10-yard line.
Giants 24, 49ers 6
In San Francisco, Eli Manning passed for 251 yards and a touchdown, Brandon Jacobs rushed for two short fourth-quarter scores and New York yielded just 138 total yards to beat San Francisco.
Plaxico Burress had five catches for 79 yards in the third straight victory for the Giants (6-2), who maintained their lead in the NFC East by suffocating the 49ers' offense, which hasn't scored a touchdown in its last 13 quarters at home.
Chargers 31, Jets 26
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, LaDainian Tomlinson scored a career-high four touchdowns -- three rushing, one receiving -- and San Diego held off New York. Tomlinson had 25 carries for 107 yards for the Chargers (5-4), helping the Chargers to a 28-17 lead late in the third quarter.
Drew Brees was 20-of-27 for 270 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and Antonio Gates added eight catches for 132 yards. Brooks Bollinger replaced Vinny Testaverde at quarterback late in the third quarter for the Jets, throwing two touchdown passes to rally New York.
Seahawks 33, Cardinals 19
In Tempe, Arizona, Shaun Alexander gained 173 yards on 23 carries, including touchdown runs of 88 and 14 yards, and Seattle won its fourth in a row by beating Arizona.
The 88-yard run, on the first play of the second half, tied the franchise record Alexander set against Oakland on Nov. 11, 2001. In the last three games against Arizona, Alexander gained 467 yards and scored nine touchdowns.
Neil Rackers kicked field goals of 23, 31, 50 and 44 for the Cardinals (2-6) and is 26-for-26 this season.
Falcons 17, Dolphins 10
In Miami, Michael Vick led four drives of more than 70 yards, and Keion Carpenter's interception stopped a scoring threat with less than three minutes left to help Atlanta beat Miami for its third win a row.
Vick completed 22-of-31 passes for a season-high 228 yards and added 38 yards on eight rushes. The Falcons (6-2) converted 11 of 17 third-down situations, while the Dolphins (3-5) were 0-for-9.
Jaguars 21, Texans 14
In Jacksonville, Florida, Byron Leftwich directed two long scoring drives in the fourth quarter to rally Jacksonville over injury-riddled Houston.
Jacksonville (5-3) also tied the NFL record for consecutive games played without scoring 30 or more points. The Jags matched Cleveland's mark of 58 games set between 1995 and 2002 (the Browns didn't field a team in 1996-1998).
Bengals 21, Ravens 9
In Baltimore, Carson Palmer threw two touchdown passes, Rudi Johnson ran for 97 yards and a score, and Cincinnati's defense limited Baltimore to three field goals.
The Bengals (7-2) led 14-6 before Palmer capped a 91-yard drive with a 3-yard TD pass to Chris Henry with 6:05 to go.
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