Panthers Are Tough Opponent, but 49ers Earn the Tough Win

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - In many ways, the Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers were mirror images of each other during the regular season, so it was fitting that the two teams shadowed each other for most of their divisional playoff game here on Sunday.

From the start, the eagerly anticipated clash between Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton, two of the league's most dynamic quarterbacks, was matched by a showdown between two of the N.F.L. 's most stifling defenses. Just when one team's offense would gather steam, the other team's defense would stop a trickle from turning into a flood. That same kind of pushing and pulling was the theme of their meeting during the regular season, which the Panthers won, 10-9.

This time, the stakes were higher, and the game was in North Carolina, not California. Even so, the 49ers, coming off an uplifting win at Green Bay, were the presumptive favorites.

Ultimately, their experience beat Carolina's enthusiasm. In a hard-fought game that could presage a new rivalry, the 49ers played like the more composed, veteran team, winning, 23-10. They advanced to their third consecutive N.F.C. championship game, to be played next week in Seattle, where they will face the Seahawks for the third time this season.

'It was a real arm-wrestling kind of struggle,' 49ers Coach Jim Harbaugh said. 'We're moving on in the tournament.'

Like their win over the Packers in the wild-card round, which ended in a last-second field goal, the game was a struggle. The Panthers were out to show they did not deserve to be labeled underdogs after winning 11 out of their last 12 games of the regular season to secure the N.F.C. South title and a bye week. They wanted to prove that their revival this season after a half-decade slumber was no accident.

Their first efforts to defend their turf backfired. From the opening kickoff, both teams pushed and shoved, but the Panthers were penalized for a late hit on Vernon Davis and for a head butt by Captain Munnerlyn. The penalties extended the 49ers' first two drives, one of which began after 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis intercepted a tipped pass. The 49ers came away with two field goals.

Playing in his first playoff game, Newton started strong. His passes were crisp, and he moved the Panthers efficiently. But he could not get his team into the end zone during two goal-line stands in the second quarter. In one case, he was repelled on a fourth-down quarterback sneak.

Those failures came back to haunt the Panthers, who went cold for long stretches of the rest of the game. Newton was impressive in spots, throwing a pinpoint touchdown pass to Steve Smith in the second quarter to put the Panthers ahead, 7-6.

That score briefly energized the Panthers and their fans, who had not seen their team play a postseason game since January 2009. The Panthers had steadily improved, though, since the arrival in 2011 of Coach Ron Rivera and Newton, the first overall draft pick that year. Tickets to Sunday's game sold out in minutes, and those being resold online were the most expensive of the four playoff games played this weekend.

Newton tried his best to justify the price. He stood in the pocket and zipped passes down the field, connecting with Smith and tight end Greg Olsen for big gains. And when the 49ers closed in, he scrambled for yards. He led the Panthers in rushing with 54 yards.

Yet as effortlessly as the Panthers rolled down the field during a nearly nine-minute drive in the second quarter, they had to settle for a field goal.

The 49ers seized the momentum. Kaepernick drove his team 80 yards with less than four minutes left in the first half. The drive was punctuated by penalties, including one against Harbaugh, the 49ers' coach, who was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for arguing with the referees after Davis was called out of bounds in the end zone. The play was eventually ruled a touchdown.

The 49ers ran into the locker room ahead by a field goal and, 20 minutes later, picked up where they left off. After the Panthers failed to get a first down on their opening drive, Kaepernick marched the 49ers 77 yards, running for the last 4 yards himself for a touchdown.

The score quieted the crowd, and the encroaching shadows that enveloped the Panthers' sideline during the second half seemed to cool the team and its fans, too. The ensuing drive ended after Newton was sacked on two consecutive plays, pushing the Panthers back to midfield.

The 49ers then did what veteran teams do: put together a long drive - 13 plays over nearly eight minutes, culminating in a field goal - that chewed up time and narrowed the window for the Panthers to mount a comeback. The rock 'n' roll blaring on the stadium speakers no longer whipped the crowd into a froth.

Newton tried to rally his team once more, but after he threw an interception with less than five minutes to go, fans started heading to the exits by the hundreds, and then the thousands. Suddenly, the 49ers fans decked out in red and sprinkled around the stadium were making themselves heard.