• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Stewart, Panthers overtake Bears

Sep 14, 2008 - 9:39 PM By Brian Joura PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Jonathan Stewart staked a claim for the Carolina Panthers' full-time starting running back job.

Stewart rushed for 77 yards - all but one of those coming in the second half - and scored two touchdowns to lead Carolina to a 20-17 win over the Chicago Bears at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday.

The No. 13 overall pick, Stewart scored on runs of 4 and 1 yard to help Carolina (2-0) erase a 14-point second-half deficit and remain undefeated.

"Jonathan ran hard," Panthers coach John Fox said. "It's a guy who we are just learning about. Last week he did some good things. We didn't get a chance to look at him a whole lot in the preseason. I think he'll get better every week. He's a very powerful guy and a hard runner."

The Bears (1-1) took a 17-3 lead early in the third quarter when Jason McKie scored on a 1-yard run following an interception by Charles Tillman.

But the Panthers got a turnover of their own when Chris Gamble recovered a fumble by Bears tight end Greg Olsen.

Carolina converted that into a 4-yard touchdown run by Stewart late in the third quarter.

"I think it was huge," Gamble said of the turnover. "At the time things weren't going great for us. We needed some type of spark. We needed a turnover and fortunately I was able to get in there and strip it out and the offense converted.

"It's something I'm trying to do. It's something I learned out in Chicago. They're known for stripping the ball and getting turnovers and now I'm bringing that to Carolina and I plan on getting one every game."

Olsen had two fumbles in the game.

"Both times kind of the same thing happened," Olsen said. "I caught it and as I was bringing it in to tuck it, he reached around and punched it before I could tuck it away. They made a good play. The fact is you can't turn the ball over like that, especially in those situations. You can't do that to your team. You can't put them in the positions."

Midway through the fourth quarter, Jake Delhomme led the Panthers on a 55-yard drive for the go-ahead score. A 23-yard pass to tight end Jeff King brought Carolina down to the 1-yard line, setting up Stewart's second touchdown of the game on the next play for a 20-17 lead with 3:52 to play.

"I think the offensive line came out in the second half and really blew things up," Stewart said. "In the first half we had penalties which kept us on a slow run. DeAngelo (Williams) went in there and pounded the rock. Then I got in there and things started opening up."

Chicago had one last chance with the ball, but Carolina's defense stuffed McKie on a 4th-and-1 rush by McKie.

"It went back to 3rd-and-1," said Fox of the key stop. "We kind of forced them to throw a smoke route out wide. We just got a little more aggressive as the game went on once we saw what they were doing. I thought we got a little tighter and aggressive as the game went on."

The Bears had 256 yards of total offense in the game but only 108 in the second half.

"It seemed like the second half we were getting the ball backed up quite a bit," Chicago quarterback Kyle Orton said. "First half we made some nice drives when were backed up, so that's not an excuse. They played well in the second half and we didn't do enough to win the football game."

Orton finished 19-of-32 for 149 yards.

The Bears got on the board first when Darrell McClover blocked a punt, which was recovered in mid-air by Brandon Lloyd, who ran in nine yards for a score. The block came after Chicago's defense forced a three-and-out on the opening possession of the game.

A 32-yard reception by Lloyd highlighted the next drive by the Bears, who looked ready to add to the lead before Thomas Davis came up with a fumble-causing hit on Olsen, which was recovered by Panthers linebacker Jon Beason.

But Carolina was unable to get anything established offensively and punted after another three-and-out.

Chicago went up 10-0 as Robbie Gould capped a 17-play drive with a 26-yard field goal with 9:09 left in the second quarter.

The Panthers' defense finally showed up late in the second quarter and forced a punt from the Bears' end zone. Mark Jones' 31-yard punt return set up a 37-yard field goal by John Kasay to make it 10-3 at the half.

Bears rookie running back Matt Forte, who rushed for 123 yards in the season opener, gained 92 yards on 23 carries.