In short, these aren't your old Panthers.

Behind a revamped and beefed up offensive line, Carolina racked up 142 yards on the ground, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. DeAngelo Williams, who started the game over rookie Jonathan Stewart, looked very strong, gaining 86 yards on 18 carries. Stewart also did well for his first NFL game, picking up 53 yards on 10 carries.

Even since owner Jerry Richardson declared last January that his team would be patterned after the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Panthers have placed an emphasis on being a physical, in-your-face running football team. And that attitude showed against the Chargers right off the bat as Williams gained 15 yards on his first two carries.

By halftime, the Panthers had already run the ball 19 times for 112 yards.

"I think the biggest thing that stands out is putting all of the talk into action," said center Ryan Kalil. "We talked all off-season about what kind of offense we were last year and what we wanted to do different this year. We wanted to have more of an attitude. We wanted to be more physical. We wanted to be more consistent in what we do.

"We had a lot of good runs last year but we weren't consistent with it. The biggest thing that stands out in my mind is just talking about those things in the off-season and coming out and putting those words in action. We took care of everything we wanted to get done. We studied hard and they didn't do anything we didn't expect. So that said I think we have the makings of being a great football team. We just have to keep working hard."

Williams, in particular, seemed to find running room when there appeared to be none.

"We had some holes there, but not only that - our backs ran the ball extremely hard," said quarterback Jake Delhomme. "They made some guys miss when there were some guys in the hole. They ran through some tackles so that was encouraging.

"On the flip side, I expected them to run the ball well. They have done that (in training camp). DeAngelo is going to get a chance to show what he can do this year. And I think Jon is going to be very special. And DeAngelo will get a chance to show why we drafted him where we did."

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the Panthers threw the ball more (41 times) than they ran it (29) despite playing without Steve Smith.

The Panthers hope to be more balanced in the future.

They will face a stiff test this week when they face the Chicago Bears, a team that held Indianapolis to just 53 yards rushing in the season opener.

"Both of our running backs are still relatively young and I think just getting better," coach John Fox said. I've seen a big jump from DeAngelo from last year to this year. Jonathan, to be honest with you, we're still learning about. He is a very talented young man. He's a good guy that wants to be great, and I think as time goes on we'll just see how he develops.

"But I can't go without mentioning our offensive line and the blocking element. I think our tight ends, Brad Hoover, our fullback, the offensive line. We had to shuffle a couple of guys there, and I thought both Geoff Hangartner and Jeremy Bridges stepped in and did a good job when some guys (Travelle Wharton and Jeff Otah) went down. Overall, I was pleased with the line of scrimmage play on both sides."

SERIES HISTORY: 5th meeting. Series tied 2-2. The last time these two teams met it was in the NFC Divisional Playoffs in January of 2006. The Panthers, who had lost earlier in the season 13-3 in Chicago, exploded on offense and won the game 29-21 to advance to the NFC Championship. Steve Smith had his best game as a pro that day with 12 receptions for 216 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran three times for 26 yards.