Panthers Stun 49ers, Expand Their Horizon

Call them underappreciated.

Call them overachievers.

Call them unbelievable.

But don’t ever call them an expansion team. Certainly not to their proud, beaming faces.

Less than two years after their birth as a team, the Carolina Panthers came of age Sunday afternoon in the hostile environment created by a 3Com Park crowd of 66,291, beating the San Francisco 49ers, 30-24, to clinch a postseason berth, move into a tie for the NFC West lead with the 49ers, and grab the first edge against San Francisco in the tiebreaking system.

Hard to believe about an expansion team.

Oops.

“Expansion team?” yelled Carolina tight end Wesley Walls. “I’m tired of this expansion [expletive]. I don’t know if any expansion team has ever won 10 games.”

For the record: no. No other NFL expansion team has even had a winning record in its first two years of existence. The 10-4 Panthers have also reached the postseason faster than any other E-word team. The previous record was held by the Cincinnati Bengals, who made it to the postseason in their third year.

While it was a sweet day for anybody with a Panther painted on his helmet, it was especially sweet for Walls, who spent five years as a 49er and returned Sunday as a true spoiler, catching five passes for 35 yards and two touchdowns.

There were plenty of catches made on both sides on a day when the two quarterbacks piled up huge numbers. The 49ers’ Steve Young connected on 27 of 41 passes for 393 yards and three touchdowns, and also added a game-high 63 yards on the ground. Carolina’s Kerry Collins was nearly as effective, completing 22 of 37 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns.

That the 49ers would lose to Carolina, the third San Francisco defeat in four meetings with the Panthers including both games this season, was surprising enough. But the way the 49ers lost was shocking, considering this is a veteran team that has kept its poise in far bigger games.

San Francisco was:

--Inept, surrendering four turnovers, two on interceptions by Young and two on fumbles, one by Young and one by Dexter Carter on a punt return.

Young’s second interception came on his final pass Sunday, a ball tipped by receiver Terrell Owens into the arms of defensive back Eric Davis, another former 49er enjoying his homecoming.

--Ineffective, despite piling up 450 yards in total offense. But a Panther defense that came into the game having not allowed a touchdown in 10 quarters was able to keep San Francisco out of the end zone on several key drives.

--Undisciplined, committing a team-record 15 penalties for 121 yards. The 49ers looked more like their neighbors across the bay, the Raiders, in drawing more flags than a visiting ambassador. There was trash talking, and pushing and shoving all over the field. San Francisco linebacker Gary Plummer was ejected in the second quarter for unnecessary roughness, costing the 49ers a player they dearly needed to keep the Panther offense in check.

With Carolina leading, 30-24, but the game still hanging in the balance with little more than a minute to play, it appeared San Francisco was going to get one more shot at preventing the upset. On third and six from the San Francisco 41-yard line, Panther running back Anthony Johnson was thrown for a five-yard loss.

Or was he? Instead, the 15th and final flag was thrown against the 49ers, linebacker Ken Norton being penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness.

That enabled the Panthers to maintain possession and run out the clock.

So fitting.

“I am shocked that the 49ers were so upset at seeing us win,” Walls said. “The trash talking and profanity were the worst I’ve ever heard. I felt like I was in a playground basketball game. It was ridiculous.”

The Panthers felt that they couldn’t run on the 49ers, so they came out throwing. With Collins finding holes in the secondary, Carolina zoomed to a 10-0 lead on his five-yard touchdown pass to Walls and an 18-yard field goal by John Kasay, one of three three-pointers he kicked Sunday.

Carolina pulled away to a 27-17 halftime lead, then turned to its defense.

With two games remaining in the regular season, the Panthers haven’t won the division. But an uninformed visitor to their postgame locker room might have thought they had won the Super Bowl. They were passing out cigars and compliments to teammates with equal zest.

And why not?

They have already reached a high unequaled by any other--pardon the expression--expansion team in NFL history.