Charlotte, NC (SportsNetwork. Minkah Fitzpatrick Jersey .com) - The Carolina Panthers won for the first time in seven games last week, were without Cam Newton due to a car accident this week, but somehow sit atop the much-maligned NFC South. Derek Anderson filled in for Newton and threw for 277 yards and a touchdown as the Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19-17 on Sunday. Newton suffered two transverse process fractures in his lower back in a two- car accident Tuesday afternoon near the teams stadium. He was released from the hospital on Wednesday morning and will be re-evaluated next week. Anderson, who also started for Newton in the Panthers Week 1 win at Tampa Bay, completed 25-of-40 passes. Everything was not as clean as we wouldve liked it. Anderson said. It wasnt perfect by any means ... overall Im very happy with the win. Greg Olsen caught 10 balls for 110 yards and Kelvin Benjamin added 104 yards on eight receptions for Carolina (5-8-1), which is percentage points ahead of the New Orleans Saints (5-8) for first place in the division. The Saints visit the Chicago Bears on Monday night. The Atlanta Falcons came into Sunday tied with the Saints for first place, but they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-20. Josh McCowns 16-yard touchdown scramble on a 3rd-and-11 clawed the Bucs within 19-17 with 3:11 left, but the Panthers picked up a pair of first downs and took the next 2:48 off the clock. Tampa Bay regained possession with 23 seconds remaining, but Luke Kuechlys interception on second down sealed the outcome. McCown completed 13-of-28 passes for 154 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Buccaneers (2-12), who have dropped four straight games. Doug Martin carried the ball 14 times for 96 yards and Vincent Jackson hauled in six passes for 70 yards in defeat. Hung in there throughout, guys fought hard, Bucs coach Lovie Smith said. Carolina outgained Tampa Bay 249-156 and held the ball for 21:04 in the first half, but trailed 10-9 at the break. The Panthers drove into the Tampa Bay 40 on each of their four first-half possessions, but settled for a trio of Graham Gano field goals. The Panthers turned to their defense to finally gain the upper hand in the third, getting a turnover on Tampa Bays first possession and forcing a trio of three-and-outs on its next three drives before getting another takeaway. Tampa Bay was faced with a 3rd-and-15 on its initial possession of the third. A backpedaling McCown was attempting to set up a screen, but Charles Johnson strip-sacked him from behind and Kawann Short made the recovery at the Bucs 5-yard line. Carolina quickly took advantage of the miscue when Anderson flipped a 2-yard TD pass to Jerricho Cotchery in the back of the end zone on a play-action seam pattern two plays later, staking the Panthers to a 16-10 lead. Carolina moved the ball deep into Tampa Bay territory on its next drive, but Stewart fumbled inside the 10. Alterraun Verner stripped the ball away from Stewart, while was fighting for extra yardage, and Akeem Spence pounced on the ball at the 8-yard line. The Bucs offense finally gained some traction late in the third. An 18-yard Charles Sims run off left tackle and a 16-yard Jackson reception helped them move the ball into Carolina territory. But Roman Harper stripped McCown from behind and Bene Benwikere recovered the downfield fumble at the 27. Gano split the uprights from 45 yards out on the Panthers next drive to put them up by two scores, 19-10, midway through the fourth. Earlier, Gano connected on a 29-yard field goal, capping Carolinas opening 13-play, 73-yard possession. The Bucs responded on their first touch. Martin broke off a 63-yard run up the middle and McCown flipped an 8-yard TD pass to Mike Evans three plays later to give Tampa Bay a 7-3 advantage. Gano hit from 49 yards out on Carolinas ensuing touch late in the first quarter, but missed wide left from 50 yards out on its next drive. He nailed a 38-yard field goal on the Panthers final sequence of the half, giving them a 9-7 edge with 1:10 to go. Tampa Bay, though, gained 19 yards on a 3rd-and-10 via a McCown screen pass to Sims, which set up a Patrick Murray 48-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the half. Game Notes Newton was dealing with a rib injury in Week 1 and Anderson went 24-of-34 passing for 230 yards with two touchdowns in the 20-14 victory over the Bucs ... Tampa Bay has turned the ball over in 19 straight games, the second longest streak in the NFL ... Evans 11th touchdown reception of the season tied Mike Williams 2010 franchise rookie record. Durham Smythe Dolphins Jersey . Old times for a defence that has looked just plain old recently? "No," safety Ryan Clark said. "We used to be much better than that. Frank Gore Jersey . -- The Oakland Athletics and free agent right-hander Bartolo Colon have agreed to terms on a US$2 million, one-year contract, bolstering their depleted starting rotation. http://www.officialauthenticdolphinsshop.com/authentic-mike-gesicki-jersey.html . The same cant be said of last Saturdays 2-2 draw at Olympic Stadium against a very weakened New York Red Bulls side and one which had three stalwarts in Henry, Cahill and Olave back home in Harrison, NJ.GLENDALE, Ariz. – Mats Sundin was the captain. Paul Maurice was behind the bench. Andrew Raycroft was starting in goal. And Alex Steen was scoring the game-winning goal as the Maple Leafs reeled off their fifth consecutive win in St. Louis. That was Feb. 6, 2007, a long and often dark run of seven years since the club last won five in a row. But with another standout performance from Jonathan Bernier, among other things, they would finally match the mark again in the Arizona desert on Monday night. “Its always nice to get a couple wins in the backpack,” said Carl Gunnarsson after a 4-2 victory over the Coyotes, “but weve got a long ways to go here. Were not satisfied. We just know that if we keep doing this we can continue this win streak.” The Leafs have been a different team since they were dropped handily by the Hurricanes in Raleigh earlier this month. What was then their third straight loss (en route to four) and a low point in a season veering off the rails seems to have proven a turning point. “We found out winnings fun,” said Jake Gardiner with a large grin. “Practice the other day was light – we had a three-on-three scrimmage and we want more of that. Hopefully we can keep winning.” Though they were outplayed by the Coyotes in the back half of Mondays outing – outshot 29-15 over the final two periods – a once lackadaisical group has found, in recent days, the necessary will to start earning wins with more consistency. Compete was the word head coach Randy Carlyle tossed around repeatedly as the losses mounted in the early days of 2014, but of late, that tenor has changed for the better. “We knew we were a great team – we just didnt compete enough,” said Bernier, who made 39 saves. “Thats the main thing. I think were doing it right now.” Continued brilliance from the 25-year-old between the pipes has also helped, not to mention a scorching run from Phil Kessel, who scored his team-leading 24th goal in the win. “We feel that this group can continue to grow and play to a higher level, but its enough talking about it,” said Carlyle. “Action speaks louder than words. Weve got to continue to grow this group to be a playoff hockey club. That was a statement we made before and were going to continue to make it because we believe in this group; we believe we can play to a higher level; we believe weve got more; and I think they believe theyve got more.” The win streak has nestled the club into the first wild card position, now with 57 points in 51 games. Five Points 1. Berniers Zone Bernier improved to 3-0-0 lifetime against the Coyotes while bumping his save percentage up to .927 this season with the 39-save performance at Jobing.com Arena. His efforts throughout the night were the ultimate difference in the game. “We had some turnovers tonight that were pretty juicy and he definitely bailed us out,” said Gardiner, bailed out in one such instance by Bernier in the opening frame. “I think this is probably one of his better games.” Entrenched as the Leafs first option in goal at the moment, Bernier stopped all 27 shots in the opening two periods, including 15 in a one-sided secoond frame. Daniel Kilgore Dolphins Jersey. His stop on Radim Vrbata with just over eight minutes to go in the third kept the score at 3-1. Nazem Kadri would increase the lead back to three just a few minutes later. “I thought I was seeing the puck pretty good tonight,” said Bernier, who owns a 17-14-4 record this season. 2. Five Straight Only five players from the last Leafs squad to win five straight are even in the league today: Steen, Matt Stajan, Carlo Colaiacovo, Hal Gill, and Nik Antropov. 3. Kessels Scorching Run Phil Kessel had two points before the first period even closed in Phoenix, extending his point streak to six games. The 26-year-old has four goals and 12 points in that span, now up to 50 points in 51 games this season – good for seventh (tie) in league scoring. “When he gets hot hes one of those guys that everything he shoots has a chance to go in,” said Carlyle of Kessel. “Hes got a skill-set that the puck follows him around. Those are signs of great players.” 4. Source of Success Cody Franson described what he believed to be the source of the teams recent success. “I think weve played a tighter brand of hockey,” said Franson before Mondays game. “Weve managed the puck a little better and weve really just had everybody get on the same page and buy in. We havent had any nights where guys were trying to do a little too much or we didnt have any passengers. Just the whole team coming together as one has made it a little easier for us to execute our game-plan.” 5. Gardiners Showing Jake Gardiner had yet to post a multipoint night this season before boasting his fourth goal of the season and an assist against Phoenix. But despite the fine offensive numbers, the 23-year-old had his share of struggles in the desert, especially with the puck. A giveaway early in the first preceded a terrific opportunity for Vrbata – one that was turned away by Bernier – and then later that period another giveaway led to Lauri Korpikoski ringing one off the cross-bar. Gardiner would score the games opening goal moments later. “I had some good plays, had some bad plays,” said Gardiner, who played just under 19 minutes. “Both Morgan [Rielly] and I werent very happy about the way we played, but we got the win and as a team we played pretty well.” Stats-Pack 19-6-3 – Leafs record when scoring first this season. 6 – Consecutive games with a point for Phil Kessel, who has four goals and 12 points in that span. 82 – Games between goals for Carl Gunnarsson, who scored his first of the year on Monday. 6 – Power-play goals for the Leafs in the past five games. 11 – Games between goals for Nazem Kadri, who scored for the first time since Dec. 23 against the Coyotes. 3 – Consecutive games with a point for Kadri, who has five points in that span. 10-7-1 – Record versus the Western Conference this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 2-6Season: 22.8% (4th) PK: 3-4Season: 77.3% (28th) Quote of the Night “We found out winnings fun.” -Jake Gardiner, on the difference in atmosphere around the team in recent days. Up Next The Leafs head to Colorado for a Tuesday date with the Avalanche. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '