Allen showing a propensity to go for it

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CHARLOTTE -- , N.C. - For the second time in four games, Raiders head coach Dennis Allen chose to go for a touchdown when kicking a field goal late in the game might have improved his team's chances of winning.

Oakland trailed 14-6 with 5:24 left and faced a 4th-and-4 at the Carolina 24. Allen decided against a 41-yard field-goal try - practically a sure thing with kicker Sebastian Janikowski - and went for it in hopes of getting a touchdown and a tying two-point conversion.

Matt Leinart's pass for Darren McFadden was swatted away by defensive end Greg Hardy.

"My thought process was we needed a touchdown no matter what," Allen said. "I thought since we had the opportunity, and we were down there. ... We'd kicked the field goal a couple of times down there, and I felt like we needed a touchdown. So I wanted to try to go for it and see if we (could) get it."

On Dec. 2 against Cleveland, Allen, down 10 points, kept going for a touchdown until Oakland got one with a second left and lost 20-17.

Un-ejectable: Panthers quarterback Cam Newton finished with 171 passing yards, 60 rushing yards and the lasting impression that maybe his early-season pouting was a result of more than immaturity and dealing with losing. He is not a very nice winner, either.

He angrily confronted referee Jerome Boger and drew a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct in the fourth quarter. Boger announced that Newton had bumped him - which should lead to ejection - but after the game, he said he meant to say Newton "disrespectfully addressed him."

"The words that I said were very disrespectful and I apologized to him during the game, but I'm going public and apologizing again," Newton said. "It was something in the heat of the moment."

CHARLOTTE, NC - DECEMBER 23: Head coach Dennis Allen of the Oakland Raiders watches on from the sidelines during their game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on December 23, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) less CHARLOTTE, NC - DECEMBER 23: Head coach Dennis Allen of the Oakland Raiders watches on from the sidelines during their game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on December 23, 2012 in ... more Photo: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images Photo: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Allen showing a propensity to go for it 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

Newton didn't apologize for kicking Tommy Kelly after a sack, saying he was "just trying to get up as fast as I can to the next play." (The next play, by the way, was fourth down.)

Kelly then shoved Newton in the face and was called for unnecessary roughness.

"Yeah, he kicked me," Kelly said. "I wasn't fixing to take that. I'm a grown-ass man."

Making case for Tarver: The 17 points were the fewest allowed by the Raiders to a team not from Kansas City, as defensive coordinator Jason Tarver might be off the hot seat.

"I thought our defense played outstanding," head coach Dennis Allen said. "Our defense kept us in the game. ... That was an explosive offense that we played. I thought Jason Tarver did an outstanding job of calling his defense, keeping the pressure on them."

Briefly: Safety Tyvon Branch left the game with a foot injury, and cornerback Phillip Adams left with a groin injury. ... Carolina's defense held the Raiders to three points on two turnovers in Panthers territory - one coming on a Newton interception and another on a fumbled punt return by Joe Adams.