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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 11:01 a.m., Sunday, December 16, 2007

NFL: Panthers stun NFC West champ Seahawks, 13-10

By MIKE CRANSTON
AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Quarterback No. 4 was just good enough to give the Carolina Panthers an unlikely win against the sleepwalking NFC West champions.

Rookie Matt Moore, becoming the fourth starting QB for the Panthers this season, engineered three scoring drives in the fourth quarter and the Panthers stunned the Seattle Seahawks 13-10 today.

Coming in with six losses in seven games and with coach John Fox sitting on the hot seat, the Panthers (6-8) turned in their best defensive performance of the season and Moore surprisingly outplayed Matt Hasselbeck as the Seahawks had their five-game winning streak snapped.

Hasselbeck's career-best season took a detour with a lackluster performance for Seattle (9-5), which included a fumble with just under 2 minutes left that ended Seattle's chances.

In a game scoreless until the fourth quarter, Moore led the Panthers on two scoring drives, the last ending with John Kasay's 37-yard field goal with 2:59 left that gave Carolina a 6-3 lead.

On the next possession, Hasselbeck fumbled on a sack by Thomas Davis and Carolina's Richard Marshall recovered. That led to DeAngelo Williams' 35-yard touchdown run with 1:20 left that put it away.

Moore, getting his first start after 44-year-old Vinny Testaverde was unable to play due to what coach John Fox called general soreness, completed 19 of 27 passes for 208 yards and did not have an interception after coming into the game with a 21.1 passer rating in six brief appearances.

Hasselbeck was 27-of-41 for 274 yards. But Seattle's only touchdown came on a Hasselbeck's 15-yard pass to Deion Branch with 1 second left, and the Seahawks had no running game.