Panthers Show Steelers How West Was Won

When the Carolina Panthers began to assemble a team two years ago, their target was the San Francisco 49ers.

But even the most optimistic among them didn’t expect the Panthers to supplant the 49ers this quickly, courtesy of an excruciatingly tense 18-14 victory Sunday over Pittsburgh.

“To get to be NFC West champs and to knock the 49ers out of something that they’ve been able to dominate for so long is a great feeling,” said Chad Cota, whose interception in the end zone with 29 seconds left clinched the victory and the title.

It not only was the first division title for a second-year team, but only the third time in 14 years that San Francisco has failed to win the NFC West. The Panthers (12-4) earned it by beating the 49ers twice to ensure they got the tiebreaker against San Francisco, which is 11-4 going into tonight’s game against Detroit.

“It’s fitting, I think, because of those two wins,” said linebacker Sam Mills, 37, who starred for the 1991 New Orleans Saints, the last team to beat the 49ers in the division.

“But this one seems bigger than that one because of how far this team has come.”

Said Mike McCormack, the Panther president: “We wanted to be in the same division with San Francisco because they’re the standard and you tend to play up to the competition. We wanted to replace the 49ers. We’ve at least bumped them a bit.”

The bumping came in the most difficult way against a team that had nothing to play for. Pittsburgh (10-6) already knew it was the AFC Central champion and had no chance for a first-round bye. The Steelers will open the playoffs at home against Indianapolis on Sunday.

But Carolina had all kinds of trouble with what amounted to the Steelers’ junior varsity.

Kordell Stewart, seeing his first extended action at quarterback for the Steelers this season, ran 80 yards for a touchdown in the first half.

Then he drove the Steelers deep into Carolina territory three times in the final quarter, including twice inside the 10 in the final four minutes. The Panthers survived because Pittsburgh’s Ernie Mills dropped a fourth-down pass in the end zone with 3:54 left and Cota wrestled a pass from the arms of Andre Hastings with 29 seconds remaining.

“The way the game ended was fitting, I think, because it showed the strength of the will of our team,” Carolina Coach Dom Capers said.

The Panthers get a week off before playing their first playoff game--against Dallas, San Francisco or Philadelphia. If the Cowboys beat Minnesota, they will come to Carolina; if the Vikings win, the Panthers play the winner of the 49ers-Eagles game.

The Panthers scored on their opening drive against the Steelers, going 58 yards in 10 plays, capped by Kerry Collins’ six-yard touchdown pass to tight end Wesley Walls. They increased the lead to 9-0 when Steeler quarterback Mike Tomczak, who played 1 1/2 quarters, was called for grounding in the end zone, a safety.

But Pittsburgh, locked in as the AFC’s third-seeded team when New England rallied to beat the New York Giants, 23-22 Saturday, struck for two touchdowns during a 2:25 span in the second quarter.

The first came on a six-yard touchdown pass from Tomczak to Hastings after Willie Williams recovered Howard Griffith’s fumble at the Carolina seven. On Pittsburgh’s next series, Stewart took over at quarterback and on the first play scrambled up the middle and raced 80 yards, the longest run by a quarterback in NFL history. Stewart finished with 102 yards rushing, 77 passing.

Pittsburgh led, 14-9, at halftime, even though the Steelers were playing without starting linebackers Chad Brown and Jerry Olsavsky and safety Carnell Lake, and used Fred McAfee and newly activated Terry Richardson in place of Jerome Bettis for most of the game.

The Carolina defense, which has given up only 56 points in the second half this season, allowed almost nothing in the third quarter, and John Kasay kicked field goals of 35, 30 and 29 yards to give the Panthers their lead.

The three field goals also gave Kasay the NFL season record of 37, set earlier in the day when Cary Blanchard of Indianapolis kicked his 36th. The previous record was 35 by Ali Haji-Sheikh and Jeff Jaeger.

Pittsburgh eschewed a fourth-quarter field-goal attempt from the Carolina 29, went for it on fourth and three, and failed. Had the Steelers made a field goal, they might have kicked a game-winner when they got inside the 10 in those final four minutes.

But they didn’t--which is the way Carolina’s luck has been going all season.