The Carolina Panthers are asking quarterback Cam Newton to do less. As a result, he’s doing more.

He did just about everything on Monday night, as he passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more to lead the Panthers over the Philadelphia Eagles, 30-22, at Lincoln Financial Field.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera said he told his quarterback not to try to carry the team on his back, and instead lean on other players more than he has in the past.

“We put a lot on his plate early in the year and then we took some of it back,’’ Rivera said. “And he’s really responded. The last few weeks, he’s played like the guy we know he can become.”

The Eagles (3-8), who played without their top three playmakers -- quarterback Michael Vick (concussion), running back LeSean McCoy (concussion) and wide receiver DeSean Jackson (bruised sternum) -- came back behind rookie running back Bryce Brown, who made his first NFL start a memorable one. Brown rushed for 178 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, but he also fumbled the ball away twice -- and both times the Panthers (3-8) turned them into points.

When the game turned: The Panthers were clinging to a 24-22 lead midway through the fourth quarter and the Eagles faced fourth-and-inches from the Carolina 40-yard line. The Eagles gave the ball to rookie Brown, but the Panthers defense, led by defensive end Frank Alexander and defensive tackle Dwan Edwards, stopped him short and Carolina took over the ball on downs. That play seemed to suck the life out of the Eagles. And the Panthers drove for another touchdown that salted the game away.

Highlight moments: TE Gary Barnidge’s 24-yard reception for Panthers’ first TD. … WR Brandon LaFell’s 43-yard reception for Panthers’ second TD. … Brown’s 65-yard run for his first NFL TD. … Panthers WR Louis Murphy’s tumbling 55-yard reception in the third quarter that set up a 1-yard TD run by Newton. … The defensive stop by Carolina on fourth-and-inches in the fourth quarter.
 
Top-shelf performances:

  • Eagles rookie RB Bryce Brown -- making his first NFL start, rushed for 178 yards, including a 65-yard TD. That breaks the Eagles’ rookie single-game record of 134 yards, set by Correll Buckhalter in 2001 against Arizona.

  • Panthers quarterback Cam Newton -- threw for 306 yards and two TDs and finished with a QB rating of 125.0. He also ran for two TDs.

  • Eagles kicker Alex Henery -- kicked three field goals and has now made 19 straight. He’s also 20 for 21 on the season.

What they said about the Panthers’ fourth-down, fourth-quarter stop:

  • Panthers DE Frank Alexander: “A play like that is just a matter of forcing your will on the other team. You just try to go as low as you can and as hard as you can and we won that battle, and that’s a big reason we won the game.”

  • Eagles RB Bryce Brown: “I never really got going and somebody hit my legs and stopped my momentum. I don’t know what I could have done differently, but I wish I had another shot at it because that was a big play.”

  • Panthers DT Dwan Edwards: “I think that was the biggest play of the game. Both teams were moving the ball pretty good, and I was pretty sure the game would come down to the team that made the big defensive stop. And it was us.”

Numbers you should know: Henery kicked three field goals and has now made 19 straight, which breaks the team record of 17 he shared with David Akers. … Panthers WR Steve Smith caught a 14-yard pass in the first quarter to go over 11,000 yards in his career, just the 27th player in NFL history to do so. … Brown’s 65-yard TD run in second quarter was the Eagles’ longest since McCoy’s 66-yarder in 2009 and it’s the seventh-longest TD run by a rookie in Eagles history. … The Eagles have lost seven straight games, their longest losing streak since they lost their final seven games of the 1994 season.

Injury update: Panthers -- DT Ron Edwards left the game in second quarter with an elbow injury and did not return. … RB Jonathan Stewart left in the third quarter with an ankle injury and did not return. Eagles -- WR DeSean Jackson left the game late in the first quarter with a bruised sternum and did not return. … DT Fletcher Cox left in the second quarter with a bruised tailbone and did not return. … Vick and McCoy did not play because of concussions.

Going forward: Panthers -- If it’s possible to get a break in the NFL, the Panthers get it next week when they play at Kansas City, which is probably the worst team in the league. Of course, the Chiefs may be saying the same thing about Carolina. Then the Panthers have a divisional match-up vs. Atlanta, followed by a home game against the underachieving San Diego Chargers. Eagles -- Next week, the Eagles have a rematch with Dallas, which beat them 38-23 two weeks ago, the game in which Vick suffered his concussion. Then the Eagles travel to Tampa Bay and this isn’t the easy win it seemed like when the schedule came out in April -- the Bucs are 6-5 after losing 24-23 to Atlanta, a team that hammered the Eagles 30-17 a month ago.

For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the Philadelphia Eagles from blogger Kevin Noonan, follow @CBSEagles.