The Carolina Panthers had a season-high rushing day, and probably re-established the natural order of their depth chart in Sunday's 24-23 loss to Cleveland.
Mike Goodson started after recording back-to-back 100-yard games in the injury absence of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, but it was Stewart who posted the big numbers, the kind that will likely earn him his job back.
Stewart finished with a season-high 98 yards on 12 carries, and Goodson added 55 yards on 14 attempts and scored his first career touchdown. The 151 team rushing yards were the highest of the season by 24 yards, even though it's below last year's per-game average (156.1).
The Panthers have only topped 100 rushing yards as a team in six games all season, and they're averaging 101.4 per game. Getting Stewart back after he missed two weeks with a concussion was a key in a game played near the line of scrimmage, as his physical style was evident on a number of inside-out runs.
"It was good to have Jonathan back out there," Panthers coach John Fox said. "He had a couple of heavy runs and moved behind the pads pretty well. It was good to have that one-two punch out there."
Fox acknowledged he didn't think it was right to take the job away from Goodson, saying: "It's been his ball for the last couple weeks, and I didn't think it was time to take it away from him."
Goodson had a TD but Stewart made the most, yardage-wise, of his carries. He made for a great pick up last week and if he's still out there it's time to get him before it's too late. He's got a great matchup in week 15 of your fantasy playoffs against a terrible Arizona rushing defense. However, in week 16 he'll face the Steelers.
Steelers news
