Cam Newton, Panthers remain unbeaten with 27-16 win over the Eagles

Mike Tolbert has heard the critics question the legitimacy of the Carolina Panthers’ unbeaten start to the season.

The veteran fullback laughs it off, saying he couldn’t care less.

“You can doubt us all you want,” Tolbert said. “We’re just going to keep pounding, just like our motto says.”

Tolbert kept pounding Sunday night — right into the end zone. Tolbert scored two touchdowns — bulldozing over four players to get in on one pass play — and Cam Newton ran for one score and threw for another as the Panthers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-16, on Sunday night to improve to 6-0 for the first time in franchise history.

“That’s the motto of this franchise is to keep pounding and we showed a little bit of that,” Newton said.

Tolbert epitomized that motto. With the Panthers lead 14-6, Tolbert caught a pass in the flat from Newton at the Eagles’ two, got knocked three yards back by Malcolm Jenkins, regained his momentum and bulled his way into the end zone through four Eagles.

With the win, the Panthers became the fifth NFL team this season to reach 6-0, joining New England, Denver, Cincinnati and Green Bay.

The Panthers held Sam Bradford to 205 yards passing and sacked him five times, including two by Jared Allen to help seal the win. Ryan Mathews ran for 97 yards on just six carries, including a 63-yard touchdown, but the Eagles (3-4) were only able to convert three interceptions by Newton into six points.

“We talk about responses to turnovers and we end up kicking two field goals,” Eagles Coach Chip Kelly said. “Our defense did a good job of creating turnovers for us. We’ve got to turn those into seven and not three [points].”