Panthers Finish Off Oilers Early

The Carolina Panthers found a cure for their slow starts: the Houston Oilers.

Carolina has been finishing with a flourish. On Sunday, the Panther defense shut down the fading Oilers early and late, while Steve Beuerlein passed for three touchdowns in a 31-6 victory.

“The key in a game like this is to make fewer mistakes and then cash in when they make mistakes,” said Beuerlein, who started in place of injured Kerry Collins and connected with Willie Green on two of his touchdown passes. “We were able to cash in today.”

It was the third consecutive victory for the Panthers (8-4) and kept them in position for a playoff spot.

The Oilers (6-6) lost for the fourth time in five games.

“We played a lot of players, because I didn’t want to take a chance on getting anybody hurt,” Panther Coach Dom Capers said. “But our defensive players didn’t want to come out. I think our defense is continuing to improve.”

The Panthers, who have given up 23 fourth-quarter points, held the Oilers under 100 yards until late in the third quarter, building a 17-3 lead.

But after the Oilers cut the margin to 17-6 with Al Del Greco’s 45-yard field goal on the second play of the fourth quarter, Houston completely wilted against the aggressive Panthers.

Steve McNair, subbing for injured Chris Chandler, fumbled a snap on fourth down at the Oiler 36. Panther linebacker Sam Mills picked up the ball and ran 41 yards for a touchdown with 7:18 left in the game.

Moments later, Willie Davis caught a pass from McNair, but the ball was knocked loose by Eric Davis and Toi Cook recovered at the Oiler 46. On the second play, Beuerlein hooked up with Wesley Walls for a 40-yard touchdown pass play to complete the rout.

“We’re getting stronger, we’re not dying down,” Panther linebacker Lamar Lathon said. “We’re looking forward to the last quarter of the season.

“Going into the game and looking at our game plan, I thought we had a chance to dominate. Our defensive line did an outstanding job up front and gave us a chance to do what we wanted to do.”

With rainy weather outside and the team headed for Nashville, Tenn., after next season, only 20,107 attended the game, the second-smallest crowd in the Astrodome. The record is 20,082 that showed up for the Oilers-Baltimore Ravens game Sept. 15.

“We’ve been talking about close losses, but today we got our butts kicked,” Oiler Coach Jeff Fisher said. “We’re going to find out how we respond, because we got our noses rubbed in it today.”