Football

UNDEFEATED: Gano's 52-yard FG lifts Panthers over Colts in OT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Cam Newton tries to distract Graham Gano in practice sometimes, walking over to the veteran kicker and whispering in his ear, "Just a little bit of pressure."

Gano answered that pressure on a rainy Monday night. He connected on two field goals in overtime, including a 52-yarder that lifted the undefeated Carolina Panthers to a 29-26 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Carolina (7-0) earned its 11th consecutive regular-season win and opened a two-game lead over the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South.

Gano, who missed an extra point in the fourth quarter, came through when the Panthers needed him the most. After Adam Vinatieri kicked a 50-yard field goal for Indianapolis in OT, Gano was good from 42 yards and then again from 52 after Roman Harper deflected an Andrew Luck pass over the middle and Luke Kuechly came up with the interception.

"I had the ball back a yard from where it was supposed to go," Gano said of the setup. "I looked up and saw (long snapper) J.J. (Jansen) waving at me as he was waiting to snap the ball. I thought, 'Oh, we've got to scoot it up!' I looked up and the play clock was at 10."

Gano made it anyway.

"Never a doubt," Newton joked of Carolina's latest win, which came after they surrendered a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter. "We are one of the lucky few to say we're 7-0. We're not content."

The Panthers didn't make it easy on themselves.

Luck, limited to 40 yards passing in the first three quarters, threw two touchdown passes in the final 7:11 of regulation and also led the Colts (3-5) to a tying field goal in the final seconds. The Panthers could have won it with 2 seconds left, but Kuechly dropped a potential interception in the end zone and Vinatieri kicked a 24-yarder for the third of his four field goals.

"It just slipped through my hands," Kuechly said.

Newton was 16 of 35 for 248 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran for 41 yards.

After Vinatieri gave the Colts a 26-23 lead in overtime, the Panthers had another chance to close it out but Ted Ginn Jr. dropped a 56-yard touchdown pass. Greg Olsen then bailed his teammate out with a one-handed catch to help set up Gano's tying field goal.

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Luck finished with 231 yards passing and two touchdowns with three interceptions, giving him an NFL-high 12 on the season.

"It's my problem, and it's hurting the team," Luck said. "I've got to fix it. It's tough to win like that, and I'm disappointed in myself. Mentally, I feel all right. It's tough to overcome in the game. The points, the short field position, that's the important thing."

Luck refused to discuss a report that he has been battling rib injuries in addition to a shoulder problem.

He started to look like the Luck of old in the fourth quarter, throwing an 18-yard touchdown pass to Andre Johnson and an 8-yard TD strike to Fleener to bring the Colts to 23-20.

"It's a long season, and our goals are still attainable," Luck said. "It doesn't make this loss any easier to swallow. We keep grinding, pick our heads up and get back to work. We've got to fix these things in practice, and fix these things in games."

Playing in a steady rain, the Panthers' defense put the clamps on Luck while jumping to a 10-0 lead.

Newton threw an interception and also fumbled on the Colts 3-yard line, but rallied late in the third quarter. Leading 10-6, Newton threw touchdown passes to Greg Olsen and Philly Brown to give the Panthers a 23-6 lead.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: " "Countdown to the CMA Awards" was taped and teh show aired at 1:35 am. 

Kuechly, Panthers find ways to win, beat Colts 29-26 in OT

Luke Kuechly is the first to admit the Carolina Panthers don't always win pretty.

Seems the team's gritty star middle linebacker wouldn't have it any other way.

"That's not what we do," Kuechly said after Carolina's 29-26 overtime win Monday night over the Indianapolis Colts. "We just find a way to win at the end of the game, and that's what makes it fun here is we keep it exciting. You never know what to expect."

Kuechly had a chance to put away the Colts at the end of regulation, but he dropped Andrew Luck's pass in the end zone.

The 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year allowed a wet football to slide through his hands with 2 seconds left in regulation. Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal from there to send it overtime.

Kuechly would make the most of another opportunity, ultimately intercepting Luck on a tipped pass by teammate Roman Harper to set up Graham Gano's game-winning 52-yard field goal with 5:22 left in overtime.

"Roman made a great play and it really just popped right to me and all I had to do was catch it, and that time I was like, 'All right, just catch it this time,'" Kuechly said. "It was a great play by those guys up front; I was just in the right spot."

The Panthers forced four turnovers.

The win moved the Panthers to 7-0 for the first time in franchise history and extended the team's regular season win streak to 11 games. It also left the Panthers as the only unbeaten team in the NFC with a big home game looming this Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.

"We just know that you've got to step up in big moments and we were able to do that today," Kuechly said.

Things we learned from Monday night's Colts-Panthers game:

LUCK'S RIBS A MYSTERY: Andrew Luck didn't discuss a report that he's been suffering from a rib injury in addition to a problematic shoulder.

"I'm not going to talk about that right now," Luck said after throwing for 231 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Luck rallied the Colts from 17 points down in the fourth quarter, but his third interception proved decisive.

Luck has thrown a league-high 12 interceptions amid speculation that injuries are hurting his play.

"It's my problem, and it's hurting the team," Luck said of his interceptions. "I've got to fix it. It's tough to win like that, and I'm disappointed in myself. Mentally, I feel all right. It's tough to overcome in the game."

LEAN ON FLEENER: Luck leaned hard on Coby Fleener, targeting the tight end 11 times. He came through with seven receptions for 43 yards and a score. If Fleener can give the Colts more production it might open up some things for the team's other receivers.

Andre Johnson had a productive game — his second of the season — catching four passes for 81 yards and a score.

PANTHERS ON THE RUN: The Panthers recorded 140 yards rushing, marking the 18th consecutive 100-yard rushing game. The 18-game stretch is currently the second-longest active streak in the NFL, behind Seattle's streak of 19.

Carolina ranks first in the league in rushing.

The Panthers did have two fumbles — one by Jonathan Stewart and another by Cam Newton — but the wet field conditions played a role in those turnovers.

OFFENSIVE LINE WOES: The bad news for Carolina is their offensive line is getting banged up. Center Ryan Kalil sat out with an ankle injury and Andrew Norwell left with a leg injury in the first quarter and did not return.

WSOC

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