Jonathan Stewart's somersault, Philip Rivers' spoiled return to North Carolina and Greg Olsen gets it rolling

Philip Rivers struggles in return to North Carolina

The last time Philip Rivers threw a pass in this state, it was Nov. 22, 2003 - his final home game in an North Carolina State uniform, a 26-24 loss to Maryland. He was a couple weeks shy of his 22nd birthday then. Now he’s 35, and his return to North Carolina didn’t go as he planned.

“We turned it over five times,” Rivers said in the postgame press conference, before correcting himself.

“I turned it over five times.”

Those five turnovers - three interceptions and two sack-fumbles - along with Carolina’s defensive pressure on Rivers were keys to the Panther win. When San Diego was making a fourth-quarter comeback attempt and cut it to ten, Mario Addison leveled Rivers in the end zone for a safety.

“Today we did a great job. We had Philip off his mark, off his X, guys did a great job making him move around,” said safety Tre Boston. “Philip’s getting a little older now, he’s not able to move how he used to, so getting him off his mark was very important and you saw what it did for us today.”

Rivers’ only other trip to Charlotte in his career came in 2004 as a rookie, when he backed up Drew Brees and did not get into the game. Rivers said it was nice to see a few of his red Wolfpack No. 17 jerseys around the stadium, but he was unhappy if he let those fans down.

“I didn’t play as good as I usually played in that red 17 today,” he said.

Amid turbulent season, Panthers’ defensive front has been a bright spot

After sacking Rivers five times Sunday, the Panthers are now first in the league in sacks with 39. The defensive backfield has struggled, especially early in the year, but the Panthers have been able to apply consistent pressure on the quarterback. They’ve tallied at least one sack in every game this season.

The stellar defensive performance was especially welcome after Seattle gashed the Panthers for 534 yards of offense last week.

“We just knew last week wasn’t good enough and last week was not us. We came out today and we wanted to show everybody that our defense is still good. Last week was just a fluke,” said linebacker Shaq Thompson.

Thompson was one of two players, along with cornerback Daryl Worley, to grab his first career interception Sunday. The Panthers’ five forced turnovers were a season high.

Greg Olsen gets it rolling

Cam Newton and Olsen seemed to get on the same page Sunday afternoon for the first time in weeks. Olsen had gone over 50 yards receiving just once in the last six games. Sunday, he had seven catches for 87 yards.

“These last couple weeks haven’t been typical from a production standpoint. As I’ve said a lot, that’s sometimes that’s just the way it goes,” Olsen said. “You keep battling, there’s other things to do besides catch the ball.”

In the Panthers’ first possession of the third quarter, Newton and Olsen connected twice on explosive plays, one for 36 yards and another for 21. This is the sixth season together for the two in Carolina - every year of Newton’s career - and their bond means a great deal to Olsen.

“You guys know how I feel about Cam. He’s my guy. We’ve been through a lot, we’ve had a lot of good plays, some bad ones. I know me personally, I always try to be there when he needs me. That’s what makes this sometimes so hard. If you don’t, you feel like you’re letting people down,” Olsen said.

Panthers show some fight despite flickering playoff hopes

After the Washington Redskins’ victory Sunday afternoon, the playoffs became an even more distant possibility for Carolina. Washington is 7-5-1, two and a half games up on the Panthers, and there are at least three additional teams - Minnesota, Green Bay and the second-place NFC South team - the Panthers would have to get through as well.

Around the league, it’s clear some teams with nothing left on the line have given up the fight. The Panthers proved on Sunday they’re not in that group. Tre Boston said that starts with Ron Rivera.

“He comes into meetings every day, ‘I believe in you young man.’ I know we’re still in it,” Boston said.

“When you have a coach who believes in you through thick and thin, you get your butt whooped, you’re whooping other people’s butts, you want to fight for a guy like that. We have nothing but fighters around here, we got dogs.”

Jonathan Stewart does a somersault

The Panthers running back pulled off one of the most impressive moves of the Carolina season in the second quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Stewart absorbed a hit from Chargers safety Jahleel Addae. Stewart rolled over on Addae, but no part of his body ever hit the ground. His helmet touched Addae’s foot, and while everyone else on the field thought the play was over, Stewart got up and ran for a few more yards.

Recalling the play brought a smile to Cam Newton’s face - something we haven’t seen much of in the last few weeks.

“He’s like a cat. A pudgy cat. House cat,” Newton said.

Asked if he thought the play would catch some eyeballs on social media, Stewart said he’d do his part.

“I’ll retweet it and put it on my Instagram,” he said.

Oh. Ok. WOWWWWW.@Jonathanstewar1 somersaults OVER the defender. Never goes down. And keeps on going! #KeepPounding https://t.co/xSHH2p8BLK

— NFL (@NFL) December 11, 2016