Newton guides Panthers over Eagles

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

Cam Newton threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more to lead the Carolina Panthers to a 30-22 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night in a matchup of teams with the worst records in the NFC.

Bryce Brown set a club rookie record with 178 yards rushing, including TD runs of 65 and 5 yards, but the Eagles (3-8) still lost their seventh straight game.

Brown, filling in for injured running back LeSean McCoy, surpassed Correll Buckhalter’s rookie mark of 134 yards rushing in his first start since his senior year at Wichita East High School in 2008.

But Brown also lost two fumbles, including one in Panthers’ territory.

Carolina (3-8) went ahead 24-22 early in the fourth quarter on Graham Gano’s 23-yard field goal.

Wide receiver DeSean Jackson left the game in the first quarter with what the team called a sternum injury, and rookie defensive tackle Fletcher Cox left in the second quarter with a tailbone injury. Neither player returned to the game. Left tackle King Dunlap also had to leave the game in the third quarter with an injury of some sort, but he was able to return.

Newton finished the game 18-for-28 for 306 yards and two touchdown passes. He also added 54 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 13 carries. And over the past five games, since Juan Castillo was fired as defensive coordinator and replaced by Todd Bowles, opposing quarterbacks are 94-for-125 (75.2 percent) for 1,207 yards, 13 touchdown passes and no interceptions against the Eagles.

This is the Eagles’ first seven-game losing streak since 1994, and they are no longer capable of finishing with a better record than last year’s 8-8 mark that team owner Jeffrey Lurie termed unacceptable before this season began.