HOUSTON (AP) — With all eyes on
Cam Newton
, the
Carolina Panthers
turned to a trick play to stretch their big lead in Houston on Sunday.

Newton took the snap, slipped the ball to
Richie Brockel
, and the tight end swung around the left side for a touchdown late in the first half of Carolina’s 28-13 victory that snapped
the Texans’ seven-game winning streak.

Newton also threw two touchdown passes and outplayed opposing rookie quarterback T.J. Yates. The Panthers (5-9) built a 21-0
halftime lead, then ended Houston’s second-half rally when linebacker
James Anderson
intercepted Yates in the end zone midway through the fourth quarter.

But the talk in the Panthers’ locker room after the game swirled around the bold gimmick play from the Texans 7 in the final
minute of the half.

“The offensive coaches have basically been working on different things and things that we can mix with what we do on offense,”
Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “I’m not sure which one of our guys came up with this one, but the timing of it was perfect.”

Houston’s focus on Newton, the top overall pick, created the opportunity to run the play.

“The defense is so keyed up on him and worried about him making the play,” Brockel said, “they sometimes forget about other
things and their assignments.”

By then, Carolina already had the Texans (10-4) on their heels.

Houston looked emotionally flat after clinching the AFC South last weekend, and its top-ranked defense appeared vulnerable
without coordinator Wade Phillips, who’s on medical leave after undergoing kidney and gall bladder surgery this week.

Linebackers coach Reggie Herring made the defensive calls on Sunday, but the Texans could not generate a turnover in a game
for the first time this season.

“I just think the overall theme of the day was, we gave up big plays and there were discipline parts of the game that we were
not very disciplined on, as we have been throughout the year,” Herring said. “We obviously didn’t execute very well.”

Houston gave up only 316 yards, but Carolina converted two Texans turnovers into 14 points.

Arian Foster
fumbled on the second snap, and Newton threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to
Steve Smith
less than 3 minutes into the game. It was the third fumble lost by Foster this year, and
Ben Tate
came in for Houston’s second series.

Yates completed his first seven passes, but the Texans struggled to sustain drives against the league’s 24th-ranked defense.

Newton, meanwhile, completed passes at key moments, despite finishing with a season-low total in yards passing.

He shrugged off two early sacks to make pinpoint passes to Smith and
Greg Olsen
for big gains then found
Jeremy Shockey
for a 9-yard touchdown pass with 12:19 left in the half.

Newton has avoided a turnover in three of four games since throwing four interceptions in a loss to Detroit on Nov. 20.

“I think that’s the key to success for the
Carolina Panthers
offensively,” Newton said. “I look at other quarterbacks across the league and when they do a good job of protecting the football
that’s just the key to the win.”

Yates, in his third career start, made his first key mistake after getting Houston across midfield in the second quarter.
Carolina linebacker
Jordan Senn
intercepted his pass to
Kevin Walter
, and Newton calmly guided the Panthers down the field again.

The Texans’ offense looked better in the third quarter, twice advancing into Carolina territory. But Yates threw incomplete
on two third-down plays and Houston only came away with two field goals from
Neil Rackers
.

Houston’s defense stiffened after the break, and Foster got the offense moving again with a weaving, 22-yard run to the Panthers
24. Yates zipped a pass to Walter to the 11, and Foster scored three plays later.

Carolina produced only 23 yards and one first down in the third quarter.

But Newton quieted the revived crowd with a 26-yard pass to Shockey early in the fourth.
DeAngelo Williams
sprinted 24 yards through a gaping hole on the next snap to put Carolina in front 28-13.

Notes: The Panthers have led in 13 of 14 games this season. … Carolina has scored 40 touchdowns this season after scoring
just 16 in 2010. … Newton finished with 149 yards passing, a season low. … Yates completed 19 of 30 passes for 212 yards.
… The Texans allowed more than 20 points at home for the first time since a 25-20 loss to Oakland in Week 5.

© 2011 STATS LLC

HOUSTON (AP) — With all eyes on
Cam Newton
, the
Carolina Panthers
turned to a trick play to stretch their big lead in Houston on Sunday.

Newton took the snap, slipped the ball to
Richie Brockel
, and the tight end swung around the left side for a touchdown late in the first half of Carolina’s 28-13 victory that snapped
the Texans’ seven-game winning streak.

Newton also threw two touchdown passes and outplayed opposing rookie quarterback T.J. Yates. The Panthers (5-9) built a 21-0
halftime lead, then ended Houston’s second-half rally when linebacker
James Anderson
intercepted Yates in the end zone midway through the fourth quarter.

But the talk in the Panthers’ locker room after the game swirled around the bold gimmick play from the Texans 7 in the final
minute of the half.

“The offensive coaches have basically been working on different things and things that we can mix with what we do on offense,”
Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “I’m not sure which one of our guys came up with this one, but the timing of it was perfect.”

Houston’s focus on Newton, the top overall pick, created the opportunity to run the play.

“The defense is so keyed up on him and worried about him making the play,” Brockel said, “they sometimes forget about other
things and their assignments.”

By then, Carolina already had the Texans (10-4) on their heels.

Houston looked emotionally flat after clinching the AFC South last weekend, and its top-ranked defense appeared vulnerable
without coordinator Wade Phillips, who’s on medical leave after undergoing kidney and gall bladder surgery this week.

Linebackers coach Reggie Herring made the defensive calls on Sunday, but the Texans could not generate a turnover in a game
for the first time this season.

“I just think the overall theme of the day was, we gave up big plays and there were discipline parts of the game that we were
not very disciplined on, as we have been throughout the year,” Herring said. “We obviously didn’t execute very well.”

Houston gave up only 316 yards, but Carolina converted two Texans turnovers into 14 points.

Arian Foster
fumbled on the second snap, and Newton threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to
Steve Smith
less than 3 minutes into the game. It was the third fumble lost by Foster this year, and
Ben Tate
came in for Houston’s second series.

Yates completed his first seven passes, but the Texans struggled to sustain drives against the league’s 24th-ranked defense.

Newton, meanwhile, completed passes at key moments, despite finishing with a season-low total in yards passing.

He shrugged off two early sacks to make pinpoint passes to Smith and
Greg Olsen
for big gains then found
Jeremy Shockey
for a 9-yard touchdown pass with 12:19 left in the half.

Newton has avoided a turnover in three of four games since throwing four interceptions in a loss to Detroit on Nov. 20.

“I think that’s the key to success for the
Carolina Panthers
offensively,” Newton said. “I look at other quarterbacks across the league and when they do a good job of protecting the football
that’s just the key to the win.”

Yates, in his third career start, made his first key mistake after getting Houston across midfield in the second quarter.
Carolina linebacker
Jordan Senn
intercepted his pass to
Kevin Walter
, and Newton calmly guided the Panthers down the field again.

The Texans’ offense looked better in the third quarter, twice advancing into Carolina territory. But Yates threw incomplete
on two third-down plays and Houston only came away with two field goals from
Neil Rackers
.

Houston’s defense stiffened after the break, and Foster got the offense moving again with a weaving, 22-yard run to the Panthers
24. Yates zipped a pass to Walter to the 11, and Foster scored three plays later.

Carolina produced only 23 yards and one first down in the third quarter.

But Newton quieted the revived crowd with a 26-yard pass to Shockey early in the fourth.
DeAngelo Williams
sprinted 24 yards through a gaping hole on the next snap to put Carolina in front 28-13.

Notes: The Panthers have led in 13 of 14 games this season. … Carolina has scored 40 touchdowns this season after scoring
just 16 in 2010. … Newton finished with 149 yards passing, a season low. … Yates completed 19 of 30 passes for 212 yards.
… The Texans allowed more than 20 points at home for the first time since a 25-20 loss to Oakland in Week 5.

© 2011 STATS LLC

While the newly crowned AFC South champion Houston Texans clinched their
first playoff berth last weekend, coach Gary Kubiak’s focus remains on what lies
ahead.

Houston’s immediate future, though, remains a little unsettled with news of
defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ temporary medical leave of absence.

Hoping to persevere through Phillips’ leave, the Texans look to extend their
franchise-best winning streak to eight games Sunday against the visiting
Carolina Panthers.

Three days after leading Houston’s stifling defense in a thrilling 20-19 win
at Cincinnati, Phillips announced he’d be undergoing surgery on his kidney
Thursday morning. He won’t be on the sidelines against the Panthers (4-9) but
expects to return to the Texans within 10 days.

“The team is we, it’s not me. I’ve been getting too much credit, but it’s a
football team, and they’re going to play,” Phillips told the Texans’ official
website. “I haven’t done a good job if they’re not ready to play.”

In his first year with the Texans, Phillips has helped turn their defense
into one of the NFL’s best. Houston, which last season finished 30th in the
league with 376.9 yards allowed per game, is surrendering a league-low average
of 274.9. The Texans are also giving up 16.0 points per game – 10.7 less than in
2010.

Linebackers coach Reggie Herring will take over as interim defensive
coordinator.

“I feel very confident about this,” Herring said. “The players are all in a
good frame of mind right now. We have a lot of things to finish, home-field
advantage and we’re number one in the (AFC) right now. We have a lot to play
for. Players have shown a lot of character and pride. I don’t see any letdown in
these guys.”

While Houston had plenty to celebrate last weekend, it’s one of four 10-3
teams in the conference vying for home-field advantage.

“They’ve got to keep going … they understand what’s ahead of them,” Kubiak
said.

“We don’t have many guys on our team that have been in playoff games. You
probably could count on 10 fingers. I don’t know how many we have, but the few
that we do have need to keep our guys focused on what it’s all about.”

The Texans held a seventh consecutive opponent to under 20 points in Week
14, but it was rookie quarterback T.J. Yates who was instrumental in the win.

The fifth-round pick out of North Carolina threw for 300 yards and two
touchdowns – including a game-winning six-yard TD to wideout Kevin Walter with
two seconds remaining. The Texans won the division with a Tennessee loss to New
Orleans later that day.

“It’s pretty crazy,” said Yates, thrown under center with Matt Schaub and
Matt Leinart out for the season. “A lot of people in this organization have
waited a long time for this. This is a special day for this team and this
organization.”

In addition to Schaub and Leinart being out, star linebacker Mario Williams
(torn pectoral) was placed on injured reserve in October. All-Pro wideout Andre
Johnson, who missed six games with a right hamstring issue earlier in the year,
will miss his second straight contest due to a strained left hamstring.

Starting right guard Mike Brisiel became the latest Texan to go down,
suffering a leg fracture against the Bengals. He is expected to miss at least
three weeks.

After winning back-to-back games for the first time, Carolina let what
seemed like a third consecutive victory slip away last Sunday. The Panthers took
a 23-7 lead into the break but were outscored 24-0 in the second half, falling
31-23 to Atlanta.

Carolina has found itself with a lead in nearly every game but hasn’t been
able to capitalize.

“When you lead 12 out of 13, you have a chance to win games. We’re a lot
better than we’re giving ourselves an opportunity for,” coach Ron Rivera told
the team’s official website. “We’ve got to grow up and get past a lot of things.
We’ve got to get past, ‘It is what it is,’ because it’s not. We are better than
that, and we have to start playing like that. We have to start growing up.”

Rookie sensation Cam Newton completed just 19 of 39 passes for 276 yards and
two TDs. He was also picked off twice, bringing his total to 16 – tied for
third-most in the league.

Much of the Panthers’ struggles can be directly attributed to their
inability to take care of the football. Carolina has committed 20 turnovers in
its losses and one in its wins.

Houston has taken both meetings with Carolina, winning 34-21 on the road in
the last matchup Sept. 16, 2007.

HOUSTON – The setbacks finally seemed to catch up to the Houston Texans in Cincinnati last week.

It had all been going remarkably well — while one key player after another went down with a major injury, Houston somehow continued to win.

At last, the Texans had run into a team good enough to beat them, and the Bengals had them down 16-3 at halftime, and 19-13 with just over two minutes left.

But not even that was too much for depleted Houston to overcome.

Rookie quarterback T.J. Yates, a fifth-round pick, calmly guided the Texans on an 80-yard touchdown drive that ended up lifting the young franchise to its first AFC South title and first playoff berth.

Houston (10-3) has won seven in a row going into Sunday’s game against Carolina (4-9), and with the franchise’s first post-season berth secured, the expansion team with the mostly dismal history is taking aim at the Super Bowl.

And the way this season is unfolding, who’s to say the Texans can’t get there?

“The division was one of our goals, but not our main goal,” running back Arian Foster said, “and there’s a lot more at stake out there for us to go grab. It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come along a lot in the NFL, so you have to take advantage of it, and that’s what we’re working towards doing.”

Of course, the Texans are dealing with more obstacles this week.

Star receiver Andre Johnson is likely to sit out for the second straight week with a strained left hamstring, and defensive co-ordinator Wade Phillips is taking a medical leave following kidney surgery. Phillips expects to miss a week to 10 days, and linebackers coach Reggie Herring will run the league’s top-ranked defence.

Phillips has orchestrated a dramatic turnaround, transforming a defence that ranked 30th last season (377 yards per game) to No. 1 this year (275 yard per game). The 102-yard improvement would be the best in NFL history, and coach Gary Kubiak expects nothing to change in Phillips’ absence.

“Our guys, they’ve showed such maturity all year long, through adversity and any issues,” Kubiak said. “They understand the situation, and also want Wade to be sitting there watching them play Sunday and make him proud.

“I watch guys continue to find a little bit more in themselves, week in and week out,” he said. “That’s what our team is all about.”

The Texans have held their last seven opponents below 20 points, but doing that against rookie quarterback Cam Newton this week will be a major task.

With Newton at the helm, the Panthers have made nearly as drastic a reversal on offence as Houston has on defence. Carolina ranks fifth in total offence (399 yards per game) after ranking last in 2010 (258.4 yards per game).

“It does start with the quarterback,” first-year coach Ron Rivera said. “Quite frankly, that position has really been solidified with Cam, as he’s developing and learning the system.”

Newton needs 167 yards passing to top Peyton Manning’s rookie record, set in 1998 (3,739 yards). The top overall pick in last year’s draft, Newton already set a rookie mark with 432 yards passing in a 30-23 loss to Green Bay in Week 2, and his 13 rushing touchdowns are a single-season record for a quarterback.

“The young man’s everything we hoped he would be,” Rivera said.

The hardest part for Kubiak this week may have been trying to simulate Carolina’s offence in practice. Not only do the Panthers run what Kubiak calls an “unconventional” offence, the Texans have no one who can adequately mimic what Newton does.

“I said, ‘Hey guys, I’d love to tell you we can give you a good look in practice of what you’re going to face this week, but we can’t,’” Kubiak said. “We’re going to do our best. You’ve got to respect what he is, as an athlete and what he can do to you. It’s a different challenge because of what they do and all his ability.”

On top of that, Newton gets to work with one of the league’s top receivers.

Steve Smith leads the NFC and ranks second overall in yards receiving (1,217) and became the 35th player to reach 10,000 career yards receiving in last week’s loss to Atlanta. He needs 10 catches to become Carolina’s career leader, passing Muhsin Muhammad (696).

Smith should match up with top Houston cornerback Johnathan Joseph, who has four interceptions. Joseph remembers three previous encounters with Smith during his five-year stint in Cincinnati.

“He hasn’t changed anything,” Joseph said. “He’s just a guy that goes up and competes on each and every play. In this league, that’s all you can ask for from the guy you’re opposing, a guy that’s going to compete, whether it’s a jump ball or a hitch.

“He can take it 80 or 90 yards, that’s just what he’s about, competing from the beginning to the end of a ballgame.”

Wade Phillips, who’s turned the Houston defense into the NFL’s best, will have surgery this week to resolve a kidney condition and will be away from the team for a week to 10 days.

The 64-year-old Phillips disclosed the medical issue after working with the team at practice on Wednesday. He would not specify the condition, but said it is not life-threatening, is not cancer, and that doctors recommended that he have the procedure.

“I feel good,” Phillips said. “I don’t have any physical problems right now, so if I get this done, this procedure that I’m doing, then I’ll be fine.”

Linebackers coach Reggie Herring will run the defense for Houston (10-3) in Sunday’s game against Carolina (4-9). Herring was Phillips’ linebackers coach in Dallas from 2008-10, then joined Houston’s staff after Phillips was hired last January.

“He’s ready to do it,” Houston coach Gary Kubiak said. “Reggie’s called defenses before. We got a lot of confidence. We just need to keep going.”

The Texans play at Indianapolis on Dec. 22, and Phillips is hoping to return in time for the regular-season finale against Tennessee on Jan. 1. In the meantime, Herring won’t change anything.

“At the end of the day I’m not Wade Phillips,” Herring said, “but it’s Wade Phillips’ system. It’s our calls. It’s what the players know.”

Phillips’ leave is just the latest roadblock for the Texans.

Outside linebacker Mario Williams (torn chest muscle) and quarterbacks Matt Schaub (right foot injury) and Matt Leinart (broken left collarbone) are all out for the season, and star receiver Andre Johnson has a strained left hamstring after missing six games with an injury to his right hamstring.

Starting right guard Mike Brisiel had surgery on his broken right leg on Monday, and Johnson only jogged during Wednesday’s practice.

Somehow, the Texans have managed to win a franchise-record seven straight games and clinch the AFC South for the team’s first postseason berth.

Still, the latest helping of bad luck has everyone in the locker room shaking their heads in disbelief.

“The ‘next man up’ theme is hitting us everywhere,” said two-time Pro Bowl linebacker DeMeco Ryans.

And Phillips has probably made as a big an impact as anyone the Texans acquired this offseason.

Fired as the coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the middle of last season, Phillips talked earlier this season about feeling rejuvenated in Houston, where he played in college and began his coaching career. He took over the league’s 30th-ranked 2010 defense, implemented a 3-4 alignment, moved Williams to outside linebacker and the transformation was swift.

Houston now leads the league in total defense at 275 yards per game, ranks fourth in rushing defense at 91.5 yards per game and third in pass defense at 183.5 yards per game. The Texans have held each of their last seven opponents below 20 points.