Former Panther helps Panthers finally win a game

Quarterback David Carr finally has helped the Panthers - three years after playing with them. Carr came in to relieve San Francisco's Alex Smith, who was injured, and threw an interception late in the game with the score tied. The Carolina Panthers moved in close enough for John Kasay to kick a game-winning 37-yard field goal.

Carolina moves to 1-5 while San Francisco falls to 1-6.

Carr came in at the third quarter and threw a well underthrown pass on third down. He finished with a 58 quarterback rating going 5 of 13. When he was with the Panthers in 2007, he threw five interceptions and three touchdowns.

Richard Marshall intercepted the pass that set up the game-winning field goal by Kasay, who earlier hit a 53 yarder.

The Panthers, trailing 20-13 late in the game, tied the score when rookie David Gettis, who earlier dropped a pass in the end zone, made a diving TD reception with 1:53 left.

Panthers' QB Matt Moore finished 28 of 41 for 308 yards and two touchdowns and an interception.

Things won't be easy for the Panthers as they play only two teams with losing records the rest of the way, including the 3-4 St. Louis Rams next week.

While neither team is happy with its season, 49er fans seem to be particularly distressed as the 49ers were expected to be a contender for the playoffs.

As David Fucillo, a Bay Area contributor for SB Nation, wrote, "Well, just when I was wondering how the 49ers could find a new way to kick us in the junk, they do it. The 49ers dropped another nail-biter 23-20 to the Carolina Panthers thanks to an incredibly soft secondary and the loss of Alex Smith to a sprained shoulder. While I do think the 49ers probably win this game if Alex Smith does't get hurt, I also think the team could have still won the game if the defense, and the secondary in particular, showed a little bit of aggression on those last couple drives."

The Buffalo Bills, overtime losers to the Baltimore Ravens, are now the only winless team left in the NFL.