Defense never rested

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The laughing and playful pointing in the Panthers' locker room wasn't as much a celebration as it was a sigh of relief because they had subverted the reigning Super Bowl champions yesterday.

And, well, it was no coincidence the Carolina defenders were doing most of the laughing and pointing.

The consensus in the room was this: The Panthers beat New England, 27-17, at Bank of America Stadium only because their vaunted defense, which had been maligned after a season-opening loss to New Orleans, had made a rapid return to dominance with muscle and moxie.

Focusing wholly on running back Corey Dillon, who was limited to a paltry 36 yards (on 14 carries), the Panthers forced the Patriots into an uncharacteristic 12 penalties (for 86 yards), created three turnovers, made quarterback Tom Brady uncomfortable in the pocket, and induced his receivers into dropped passes.

Surprisingly, instead of worrying about the accomplished Brady connecting on deep passes, Carolina let its safeties roam in an effort to deliver hard hits on pass-catchers. When they weren't smashing receivers, they were pressuring Brady, with rookie strong safety Thomas Davis registering the first sack of his career.

It all started, however, with the Panthers forcing Dillon into his lowest rushing output as a Patriot. Until yesterday, Dillon's lowest game total for New England was 73 yards.

''With any offense, if you make it one-dimensional, then you know what they're doing," Panthers defensive tackle Brentson Buckner said. ''The challenge for us was don't let Corey Dillon get started. Because when he gets started, now you've got to bring safeties in the box to stop him. And Tom Brady's play-action is dangerous. We just decided to go hard. And when you couldn't go hard, let the next guy come in so he can go hard. We just rotated players constantly."

This defensive effort from the Panthers hardly resembled the previous week's showing, when New Orleans's Deuce McAllister ran for two touchdowns and the Saints moved the ball virtually at will in Week 1, including a critical late drive that set up a winning field goal with three seconds left. Some fans and media here began to openly question whether this defense, led by Pro Bowl end Julius Peppers, really was one of the league's best, as many experts have said in recent years.

Though Brady completed 23 of 44 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown, the Patriots offense appeared stagnant most of the day. New England could summon just one big play, when Brady hit Troy Brown for a 71-yard gain in the first quarter that set up the team's only offensive touchdown.

The rest of the day was filled with jolting tackles by Carolina and repeated mistakes by New England's usually efficient offense.

''I think they played a very good game and totally brought it to us," Patriots center Dan Koppen said. ''On the other hand, we didn't help ourselves with dumb penalties and mistakes. . . . People were making a lot of mental lapses. And when you start first and 15, which we probably did three or four times, it's hard to make that ground up against a good defense like Carolina."

According to the Panthers, their physical play prompted some poor mental decisions from Dillon, who averaged 2.6 yards per carry.

''We saw Corey Dillon getting frustrated all day," cornerback Ken Lucas said. ''We were chopping his legs down, and no running back likes to get chopped down. So he was kind of frustrated every time he ran the ball.

''I could see him. He would throw the ball down onto the ground after we tackled him. He would always have something to say. He said some things I can't repeat on tape. But we knew he was frustrated. That's what you want as a defense."

Besides the euphoria that comes with defeating a team such as the Patriots, who still are heavily favored to return to the Super Bowl, many Panthers said this game validated their belief that they could return to performing at a high level, even without star defensive tackle Kris Jenkins.

Jenkins, who is widely considered the best in the league at his position, suffered a season-ending knee injury last week against New Orleans. He spent most of last season on injured reserve, too.

''This is a team, and we've been down this road before," Buckner said. ''Last year [when the team finished 7-9] was a big thing, but we're beyond that now. We've got guys who know how to play. We showed that today. It's easy when the coaches just let you tee off and go after them."

Then, he laughed.

''Yeah, sometimes you start questioning yourself," Buckner said. ''But we saved ourselves today."