CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There's something about the Carolina Panthers that seems to bring out the worst in the San Francisco 49ers.
The 49ers (10-3) had to overcome a season-high six turnovers a month ago at home to edge the Panthers 25-23, and on Sunday blew a 21-point second-half lead before pulling out a 31-28 victory in overtime.Add a 1996 sweep by the Panthers (2-11) en route to the NFC West title, and the 49ers have to be scratching their heads.
"Those guys have hearts, too. They want to play," said Garrison Hearst, who rushed for 139 yards, including a 71-yard TD run that gave the 49ers a 28-7 lead early in the third quarter. "I don't think anybody on the other team wants to lose."
Wade Richey won the Nov. 8 game with a 46-yard field goal with 33 seconds left. This time around, his 23-yarder 4:16 into the sudden death period following a fumbled quarterback exchange by the Panthers proved to be the difference.
John Kasay missed a 47-yard attempt wide right with 22 seconds left that would have given the Panthers the win in regulation.
The 49ers extended their NFL record streak of 10-win seasons to 16 straight and nailed down a playoff spot for the sev- enth straight season. However, Atlanta still leads the NFC West by one game with three to play.
"Hey, baby, we're 10-3, you take it," coach Steve Mariucci said of his team's close call. "It wasn't what we had hoped for, given the lead we had, and in some ways we feel lucky, but we'll take it.
"We are aligning ourselves up for this division race. We know we're still a game behind, but we avoided disaster."
Mariucci didn't get any arguments from his players, especially a defense that missed injured leader Bryant Young and gave the Panthers -- who are dead last in the NFL in rushing -- a season-high 203 yards on the ground.
"Our legs were just exhausted," said 49ers safety Tim McDonald. "It was a hot day and we played an awful lot of plays."
Wide receiver Jerry Rice was a little more blunt about San Francisco's sloppy second half.
"We enjoy winning, but guys are really ticked off and we're going to regroup," he said. "We're going to look at it, we're going to analyze it, we're going to enjoy the win, but we're going to be very critical of ourselves.