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Panthers Power Forward

The Associated Press

Published: December 15, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - In front of their ailing owner, the Carolina Panthers finished off a perfect regular season at home with a dominating performance that had to make Jerry Richardson proud.

Four days after it was announced Richardson needs a heart transplant, he checked out of the hospital and was in his familiar spot in his end zone suite, watching Steve Smith and DeAngelo Williams power the Panthers past the Denver Broncos 30-10 on Sunday.

In clinching at least a tie for the NFC South title and moving closer to their first playoff berth in three years, the Panthers improved to 8-0 at home and prevented the Broncos from clinching the AFC West.

Taking advantage of a thin Denver secondary missing Champ Bailey (groin) and Marlon McCree (ankle), Smith caught nine passes for 165 yards and a touchdown. Williams added a 56-yard touchdown run and the Panthers' defense shut down Jay Cutler and the league's No. 2 offense.
Jonathan Stewart added another touchdown and got most of the carries in the second half after the team said Williams was shaken up.

While Williams and Stewart (140 combined yards) weren't as impressive as six days earlier when they rushed for 301 yards and four touchdowns, it was enough to avoid any letdown a week before the Panthers visit the New York Giants with perhaps the No. 1 seed in the NFC on the line.

Cutler threw for only 172 yards, one touchdown and one interception, but was fortunate the Panthers dropped several potential picks. Brandon Marshall had only five catches for 58 yards, and the running game, decimated by injuries, couldn't pick up the slack.

Denver	10	0	0	0	-	10
Carolina	10	10	7	3	-	30

First Quarter

Den-Pope 7 pass from Cutler (Prater kick), 10:58.

Car-Smith 15 pass from Delhomme (Kasay kick), 8:21.

Den-FG Prater 43, 3:37.

Car-FG Kasay 39, :10.

Second Quarter

Car-Stewart 2 run (Kasay kick), 6:29.

Car-FG Kasay 44, :00.

Third Quarter

Car-Williams 56 run (Kasay kick), 12:49.

Fourth Quarter

Car-FG Kasay 42, 11:22.

A-73,690.

	Den	Car
First downs	15	18
Total Net Yards	279	400
Rushes-yards	23-121	30-147
Passing	158	253
Punt Returns	1-(-3)	2-22
Kickoff Returns	5-116	3-60
Interceptions Ret.	1-34	1-4
Comp-Att-Int	21-33-1	17-26-1
Sacked-Yards Lost	3-14	0-0
Punts	5-48.2	4-39.8
Fumbles-Lost	1-1	0-0
Penalties-Yards	3-25	5-35
Time of Possession	29:10	30:50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Denver, Pope 7-51, T.Bell 7-43, Young 6-19, Cutler 2-9, Scheffler 1-(minus 1). Carolina, Williams 12-88, Stewart 16-52, Smith 1-9, Delhomme 1-(minus 2).

PASSING-Denver, Cutler 21-33-1-172. Carolina, Delhomme 17-26-1-253.

RECEIVING-Denver, Royal 6-48, Marshall 5-48, Graham 3-25, Pope 3-24, Stokley 2-20, T.Bell 2-7. Carolina, Smith 9-165, Muhammad 4-70, Williams 3-3, King 1-15.

MISSED FIELD GOALS-Denver, Prater 47 (WR).

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