Carolina dominates Tampa Bay on ground

Given a national stage, the Carolina Panthers made a pretty good case to be included among the NFL’s top teams.

Running all over Tampa Bay with their emerging tandem of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, the Panthers seized control of the competitive NFC South with a 38-23 win over the Buccaneers on Monday night.

Williams rushed for a career-high 186 yards and two touchdowns, Stewart added 115 yards and two more scores and the Panthers set a team record for yards rushing for the second time in a month.

And this time it was against a team that came in having allowed only one rushing touchdown all season.

The Panthers (10-3) avenged their worst loss of the season and grabbed the top spot in the division for themselves, moving one game ahead of the Buccaneers (9-4).

The Monday night game featuring the top teams in the NFC South was billed as a chance for the division to emerge from the shadow of the tough NFC East.

The overlooked contenders played even through three quarters, before the Panthers wore down the Buccaneers’ highly regarded defense in the final period behind their emerging stars in the backfield.

Steve Smith added nine catches for 117 yards and a touchdown, and the Panthers overcame Jake Delhomme’s two interceptions behind their dominating ground game and an effective second-half defensive performance.

Carolina finished with 299 yards rushing, surpassing the team-record 264 it had last month against Detroit. The Panthers moved within a game of the New York Giants for the best record in the NFC. At the Giants’ home in two weeks, the Panthers hold their own destiny for the No. 1 seeding in the playoffs.

The Buccaneers wasted a career day from Antonio Bryant, who caught nine passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns, including an outstanding one-handed grab with 2:29 left.