"I kept digging us in a hole and we just couldn't come out of it," Palmer said.
Ginn's 32-yard punt return set up the Panthers at the Arizona 49. Six plays later, he took a pitch from Newton, headed left and broke a tackle by Justin Bethel. Just as quickly as he was surrounded by red shirts, the swift Ginn emerged to cut across the field into the end zone for a 10-0 lead.
Nearly as swiftly, it was 17-0. Newton fired a dart to Philly Brown. Another botched tackle, this one at the Carolina 47 by Rashad Johnson, left Brown with nothing but unprotected turf.
Arizona finally moved into Carolina territory, only to see Kawann Short sack Palmer and strip the ball.
The Cardinals kept trying, and put together a 79-yard scoring drive on which David Johnson starred after an ignominious start. He was plastered by All-Pro linebacker Thomas Davis for a 6-yard loss on the first play of the series, then came back to gain 25 yards, including a 1-yard TD dive.
Davis, who already had six tackles, left with a broken right forearm during that drive.
"I will do whatever it takes (to play)," he said of the Super Bowl.
Peterson made a huge muff trying to field a punt later in the second period. Jonathan Stewart ran for 17 and 23 yards — more missed tackles by the Arizona defense — and Newton leaped to extend the ball over the goal line from the 1.
He followed with a dab or two, handed the ball to a fan in the end zone, and ran to the sideline to chants of "MVP! MVP!"
There were plenty more of those during the trophy celebration, and fans danced in the stands as the loudspeaker played "Shout."
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