CHARLOTTE, N. Eddie Lacy Jersey .C. -- Cam Newton showed he has no intention of changing the way he plays the game. The fourth-year quarterback shook off some early rust and returned to his fearless style of play, helping Carolina defeat the Detroit Lions 24-7 on Sunday, capping a distraction-filled week for the Panthers. In his first start since fracturing his ribs in a preseason game, Newton threw for 281 yards and a touchdown and ran for 19 yards on four carries, He helped the Panthers improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2008 and grab sole possession of first place in the NFC South. Newton shook off a slow start and completed 22 of 34 passes and overcame five sacks. "I felt like I was getting antsy early on and that comes from a lack of playing time," Newton said. "... I was getting my feet back under me and as the game went on I started feeling more comfortable and it showed." Wearing a thick flak jacket, it took a while for Newton to find his stride. He scrambled from the pocket on one second-quarter run and dived headfirst instead of sliding. It was similar to the play against New England on Aug. 22 that left him with cracked ribs and sidelined him for the season opener against Tampa Bay. Later in the fourth quarter Newton ran again, turning the corner inside the 5 and diving toward the pylon. "He is obviously going to be sore," Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. "He cant help himself (and) he ran a couple of times. He did the best he could with it. The thing that Im pleased with is once he got the rust off he settled down and made some really good decisions." Earlier in the day Rivera made a difficult decision to deactivate Pro Bowl defensive end Greg Hardy, saying that the NFL "culture has changed" and the team needed to make the right decision. The decision came one day after the Minnesota Vikings announced they would deactivate Adrian Peterson, who was indicted on child abuse charges on Saturday, Hardy was convicted July 15 on two counts of domestic violence and Rivera didnt think it was right to allow him to play given the events of the week. "It was my decision and it was in the best interest of the Carolina Panthers," Rivera said. Carolinas defence didnt seem to miss a beat. The Panthers had three takeaways, four sacks and held the Lions scoreless in the first half one week after Matthew Stafford and company put up 35 points against the Giants. Mario Addison helped fill the void left by Hardy with 2 1/2 sacks, and cornerback Antoine Cason had 10 tackles, two forced fumbles and a recovery. The Panthers were a plus-3 in the turnover battle for the second straight week. "We turned the ball over too many times, particularly in scoring territory," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. The Lions (1-1) took a 7-6 lead early in the third quarter when Stafford connected on a 1-yard touchdown pass to fullback Jed Collins, who bowled over NFL Defensive Player of the Year Luke Kuechly en route to the end zone. But the lead was short-lived. Newton bounced back, leading the Panthers on an eight-play, 72-yard drive, connecting on his first TD pass of the season, a 14-yard strike to Jason Avant on a slant route. Thomas DeCoud tipped a deep ball from Stafford and Melvin White intercepted to set up Carolinas next score. Rookie wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who struggled with dropped balls all day, hauled in a one-handed grab along the left sideline. Jonathan Stewart capped the drive with a 2-yard run and Newton threw to Jerricho Cotchery for a 2-point conversion to put Carolina up 21-7. The Panthers put the game away in the fourth quarter when Jeremy Ross fumbled a kickoff that kicker Graham Gano recovered. Gano added his third field goal of the game for the final score. The Lions failed to take advantage of their scoring opportunities in the first half, setting the tone for the game. Rookie Nate Freese missed two field goals, Joique Bell fumbled in Carolina territory and Johnson dropped a potential TD catch. "When you dont take advantage of your opportunities you miss chances and turn the ball over, youre not going to have a good day," Stafford said. NOTES: Newton apologized to Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh after the game, saying he didnt mean anything offensive earlier in the week when he referred to him as "Donkey Kong Suh." ... Caldwell said he "wont make any rash decisions" on whether to keep Freese as the kicker after his two misses. ... Lions cornerback Nevin Lawson was carted off the field with a foot injury and did not return. Kadar Hollman Jersey . -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released veteran guard Davin Joseph, a mainstay on their offensive line over the past eight seasons. Roy McKay Jersey . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. METZ, France -- Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will go for his third straight Open de Moselle title when he plays Gilles Simon in an all-French final on Sunday with both players chasing their 11th career title. Tsonga rallied to beat eighth-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals Saturday after the second-seeded Simon had defeated French countryman Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 7-6 (2) to stay on course for his first title of the year. This is Tsongas first tournament since a knee injury forced him to drop out of his second-round match at Wimbledon and his first final since winning the Open 13 in Marseille in February for his 10th career title. Just like in Fridays quarterfinals, Tsonga took time to find his range and dropped the first set. He looked leg-weary and was broken in his first service game, then struggled to hold his next as Mayer pinned him to the back of the court with his looped returns. "Its thanks to the fans that I managed to hang in there and also because Florian Mayer has a little bit of a weakness in terms of endurance," Tsonga said. "It will be a different matter against Gilles. I noticed that he is playing very well." Tsonga leads Simon 5-2 overall. Paul Hornung Jersey. All of Tsongas titles have been on hard courts, half of Simons on clay. Tsonga started the second set aggressively and Mayer had to save two break points early on. In the fifth game, Tsonga paused before serving and then squatted down as if to test the flexibility of his knees. He drew Mayer to the net on the next point and then lobbed him to force another break point, which Mayer saved with a forehand pass. Mayer saved another chance on his serve but Tsonga finally broke him when he returned a weak second serve with a thumping forehand. He held to love, including an ace and a crosscourt winner from the back of the court, to move 5-2 ahead. Tsonga did not face a break point in the third set and in the other semifinal Simon did not face a single break point for the second consecutive match. "I broke him early and was solid from the baseline," Simon said. "Ive been practicing for a month before coming here. I needed to do that and I think that today was a pretty solid match." Simon, who lost the Eastbourne final in June, broke Mahut in the fifth game and took the first set against serve when Mahut planted a weak shot into the net. ' ' '
CHARLOTTE, N. Eddie Lacy Jersey .C. -- Cam Newton showed he has no intention of changing the way he plays the game. The fourth-year quarterback shook off some early rust and returned to his fearless style of play, helping Carolina defeat the Detroit Lions 24-7 on Sunday, capping a distraction-filled week for the Panthers. In his first start since fracturing his ribs in a preseason game, Newton threw for 281 yards and a touchdown and ran for 19 yards on four carries, He helped the Panthers improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2008 and grab sole possession of first place in the NFC South. Newton shook off a slow start and completed 22 of 34 passes and overcame five sacks. "I felt like I was getting antsy early on and that comes from a lack of playing time," Newton said. "... I was getting my feet back under me and as the game went on I started feeling more comfortable and it showed." Wearing a thick flak jacket, it took a while for Newton to find his stride. He scrambled from the pocket on one second-quarter run and dived headfirst instead of sliding. It was similar to the play against New England on Aug. 22 that left him with cracked ribs and sidelined him for the season opener against Tampa Bay. Later in the fourth quarter Newton ran again, turning the corner inside the 5 and diving toward the pylon. "He is obviously going to be sore," Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. "He cant help himself (and) he ran a couple of times. He did the best he could with it. The thing that Im pleased with is once he got the rust off he settled down and made some really good decisions." Earlier in the day Rivera made a difficult decision to deactivate Pro Bowl defensive end Greg Hardy, saying that the NFL "culture has changed" and the team needed to make the right decision. The decision came one day after the Minnesota Vikings announced they would deactivate Adrian Peterson, who was indicted on child abuse charges on Saturday, Hardy was convicted July 15 on two counts of domestic violence and Rivera didnt think it was right to allow him to play given the events of the week. "It was my decision and it was in the best interest of the Carolina Panthers," Rivera said. Carolinas defence didnt seem to miss a beat. The Panthers had three takeaways, four sacks and held the Lions scoreless in the first half one week after Matthew Stafford and company put up 35 points against the Giants. Mario Addison helped fill the void left by Hardy with 2 1/2 sacks, and cornerback Antoine Cason had 10 tackles, two forced fumbles and a recovery. The Panthers were a plus-3 in the turnover battle for the second straight week. "We turned the ball over too many times, particularly in scoring territory," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. The Lions (1-1) took a 7-6 lead early in the third quarter when Stafford connected on a 1-yard touchdown pass to fullback Jed Collins, who bowled over NFL Defensive Player of the Year Luke Kuechly en route to the end zone. But the lead was short-lived. Newton bounced back, leading the Panthers on an eight-play, 72-yard drive, connecting on his first TD pass of the season, a 14-yard strike to Jason Avant on a slant route. Thomas DeCoud tipped a deep ball from Stafford and Melvin White intercepted to set up Carolinas next score. Rookie wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who struggled with dropped balls all day, hauled in a one-handed grab along the left sideline. Jonathan Stewart capped the drive with a 2-yard run and Newton threw to Jerricho Cotchery for a 2-point conversion to put Carolina up 21-7. The Panthers put the game away in the fourth quarter when Jeremy Ross fumbled a kickoff that kicker Graham Gano recovered. Gano added his third field goal of the game for the final score. The Lions failed to take advantage of their scoring opportunities in the first half, setting the tone for the game. Rookie Nate Freese missed two field goals, Joique Bell fumbled in Carolina territory and Johnson dropped a potential TD catch. "When you dont take advantage of your opportunities you miss chances and turn the ball over, youre not going to have a good day," Stafford said. NOTES: Newton apologized to Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh after the game, saying he didnt mean anything offensive earlier in the week when he referred to him as "Donkey Kong Suh." ... Caldwell said he "wont make any rash decisions" on whether to keep Freese as the kicker after his two misses. ... Lions cornerback Nevin Lawson was carted off the field with a foot injury and did not return. Kadar Hollman Jersey . -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released veteran guard Davin Joseph, a mainstay on their offensive line over the past eight seasons. Roy McKay Jersey . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. METZ, France -- Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will go for his third straight Open de Moselle title when he plays Gilles Simon in an all-French final on Sunday with both players chasing their 11th career title. Tsonga rallied to beat eighth-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals Saturday after the second-seeded Simon had defeated French countryman Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 7-6 (2) to stay on course for his first title of the year. This is Tsongas first tournament since a knee injury forced him to drop out of his second-round match at Wimbledon and his first final since winning the Open 13 in Marseille in February for his 10th career title. Just like in Fridays quarterfinals, Tsonga took time to find his range and dropped the first set. He looked leg-weary and was broken in his first service game, then struggled to hold his next as Mayer pinned him to the back of the court with his looped returns. "Its thanks to the fans that I managed to hang in there and also because Florian Mayer has a little bit of a weakness in terms of endurance," Tsonga said. "It will be a different matter against Gilles. I noticed that he is playing very well." Tsonga leads Simon 5-2 overall. Paul Hornung Jersey. All of Tsongas titles have been on hard courts, half of Simons on clay. Tsonga started the second set aggressively and Mayer had to save two break points early on. In the fifth game, Tsonga paused before serving and then squatted down as if to test the flexibility of his knees. He drew Mayer to the net on the next point and then lobbed him to force another break point, which Mayer saved with a forehand pass. Mayer saved another chance on his serve but Tsonga finally broke him when he returned a weak second serve with a thumping forehand. He held to love, including an ace and a crosscourt winner from the back of the court, to move 5-2 ahead. Tsonga did not face a break point in the third set and in the other semifinal Simon did not face a single break point for the second consecutive match. "I broke him early and was solid from the baseline," Simon said. "Ive been practicing for a month before coming here. I needed to do that and I think that today was a pretty solid match." Simon, who lost the Eastbourne final in June, broke Mahut in the fifth game and took the first set against serve when Mahut planted a weak shot into the net. ' ' '
