The Series: With the 23-20 victory, Carolina defeated San Francisco for the third consecutive time and leads the all-time series 10-7. From 1995-2001, the Panthers and 49ers played each other 14 times as members of the NFC West division prior to NFL realignment.
For Starters: Second-year player Garry Williams earned his first career start - opening at right tackle - as the Panthers shuffled their offensive line. Geoff Schwartz, who started the first five games of the season at right tackle, moved to right guard in place of Mackenzy Bernadeau. Also on offense, Matt Moore made his third start this year and 11th career start at quarterback, replacing Jimmy Clausen. Wide receiver Steve Smith returned to the lineup after being inactive versus Chicago with an ankle injury.
Ready For Moore: Quarterback Matt Moore completed 28-of-41 passes for 308 yards - all career highs - and two touchdowns with one interception to produce a 96.4 quarterback rating. He threw touchdowns of 18 and 23 yards to wide receiver David Gettis in the second and fourth quarters respectively.
| VS. SAN FRANCISCO | PREVIOUS | |
| Attempts | 41 | 33 - Twice, most recently at New York Giants (9/12/10) |
| Completions | 28 | 21 - vs. Minnesota (12/20/09) |
| Passing Yards | 308 | 299 - vs. Minnesota (12/20/09) |
Moore engineered his first career game-winning drive that put the team ahead for good in the fourth quarter or overtime. He directed the Panthers 38 yards on five plays in 29 seconds, capped by a John Kasay 37-yard field goal with 39 seconds remaining. During the game-winning possession, Moore completed his only attempt for 35 yards to wide receiver Brandon LaFell to the 49ers' 22-yard line.
In four games with three starts this season, Moore has completed 53-of-100 passes for 650 yards and four touchdowns with seven interceptions.
Gettis Gets It Done: Rookie wide receiver David Gettis paced Carolina with career highs of eight receptions, 125 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He scored his first career touchdown on an 18-yard catch in the second quarter and tied the game with a 23-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.
Gettis became the first Panther other than Steve Smith or Muhsin Muhammad to compile a 100-yard receiving effort since Drew Carter with 132 yards on five catches at Green Bay (11/18/07). It also marked the first 100-yard receiving game by a Panthers rookie since Keary Colbert with 100 yards on four receptions at Seattle (10/31/04).
Gettis leads the team with 18 catches for 244 yards and two touchdowns this season. The sixth-round draft pick from Baylor has played in all six games with four starts.
Kasay Clutch Kicker: Kicker John Kasay connected on all three of his field-goal attempts - converting from 47, 55 and 37 yards - and both of his extra point chances. He made the 13th game-winning field goal of his career and 11th with the Panthers on a 37-yarder with 39 seconds remaining.
Kasay's 55-yard field goal in the third quarter equaled the second longest of his career, previously accomplished for Seattle at Kansas City (1/2/94), and moved him into a second-place tie with Morten Andersen for the most field goals of 50 yards or more in NFL history with 40. Jason Hanson ranks first with 45. Over his 20-year NFL career with Seattle and Carolina, Kasay has made 40-of-78 attempts of 50 yards or more, including 34-of-68 for the Panthers, with a career-long 56-yarder versus Green Bay (9/27/98).
He has been successful on eight-of-nine field-goal attempts and perfect on all seven of his extra-point opportunities for a team-leading 31 points this season. Kasay ranks seventh in NFL history with 416 made field goals and eighth with 1,762 points scored. He is the Panthers' all-time leader with 334 made field goals and 1,421 points scored.
In The Zone: Carolina posted a 66.7 percent efficiency rating in the red zone, scoring one touchdown and one field goal on three trips inside San Francisco's 20-yard line. The Panthers failed to score when they turned the ball over on downs at the 49ers' 16-yard line in the fourth quarter. Carolina has been successful on six-of-12 red zone opportunities, scoring three touchdowns and three field goals for a 50 percent conversion rate and 25 percent touchdown conversion rate, this season.
Takeaway/Giveaway: Carolina forced one turnover on an interception. Cornerback Richard Marshall picked off 49ers quarterback David Carr at the Panthers' 43-yard line with 1:08 left in the fourth quarter to set up the game-winning drive.
The Panthers turned it over three times on two fumbles and one interception to finish with a minus-two turnover ratio. The one takeaway resulted in three points for Carolina, and the three giveaways led to 13 points for San Francisco. The Panthers have a negative-six turnover ratio this season, compiling an 0-2 record when having a positive turnover margin and a 1-3 record when having a negative turnover margin.
Sakrete Sacks: The Panthers collected two sacks against the 49ers and have gathered nine this season. Defensive end Charles Johnson dropped San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith for his team-leading third sack in the third quarter. Defensive tackle Derek Landri sacked 49ers quarterback David Carr for a five-yard loss in the fourth quarter.
During the 2010 season, Sakrete, a leader in concrete and concrete-related products, is donating $100 to the BVC Playground Build for every sack Carolina records. Through six games, $900 has been raised.
Baker's Treat: Punter Jason Baker generated a gross average of 40.7 yards and net average of 32.7 yards with none inside the 20, no touchbacks and long of 44 yards on three punts. His gross average decreased to 43.4 yards and his net average fell to 36.8 yards with nine punts inside the 20, one touchback and long of 57 yards this season.
Lloyd's Of London: Kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd placed all six of his kickoffs in the end zone with four touchbacks, helping limit the 49ers to an average kickoff drive start of their own 20-yard line. He has reached the end zone on 15-of-19 kickoffs with seven touchbacks this season.
Inactives: The following eight players were inactive for the Panthers: wide receiver Armanti Edwards, defensive tackle Andre Neblett, tackle Jeff Otah, quarterback Tony Pike, running back Tyrell Sutton, wide receiver Devin Thomas, linebacker Jamar Williams and cornerback C.J. Wilson.
House Of Blues: The Panthers wore their blue alternate jerseys for the second time this season and 17th time overall since debuting them in 2002. Carolina owns an 8-9 regular season record when wearing the blue tops.
Claw Marks: Running back DeAngelo Williams posted a team-high 44 rushing yards on 19 carries and leads Carolina with 361 yards and one touchdown on 87 attempts this season...Rookie wide receiver Brandon LaFell established career highs with six receptions and 91 receiving yards...Four of tight end Dante Rosario's five catches resulted in first downs. Of his 65 career receptions, 44 (67.7 percent) have yielded a first down or touchdown...Wide receiver Steve Smith returned five punts for 38 yards, including a 32-yarder in the second quarter. They represented his first punt returns since the 2008 season. Smith ranks first in team history with 177 punt returns and 1,644 punt return yards and second with 9.3-yard punt return average.
49ers Nuggets: San Francisco defensive tackle Ray McDonald returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown. It marked the first interception return for a touchdown against the Panthers since a 67-yard return by Darelle Revis for the New York Jets (11/29/09).
