PHILADELPHIA -- Three hours before I hopped into an Uber, six Philadelphia Eagles fans hopped into the very same car outside Lincoln Financial Field early in the fourth quarter on Sunday. Their team was up 17-0 over the Carolina Panthers, and they wanted to beat the traffic. They were deliriously happy the Eagles seemed to be on their way to an impressive victory.

Then the driver turned on the radio. The lead had been cut to three.

"I was, 'Whaa-aat?'" recalled the driver, also an Eagles fan. "What happened?"

What happened was the Panthers went to a no-huddle offense that turned quarterback Cam Newton and an anemic offense into a scoring machine.

The Panthers scored three touchdowns and a two-point conversion over the final 10:41, including a 1-yard touchdown pass from Newton to tight end Greg Olsen with 1:22 left, to turn certain defeat into a 21-17 victory.

Newton completed 16 of 22 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter after going 9-for-17 for 68 yards in the first three periods.

"Early on, we couldn't do anything right," Newton said. "And then ... it felt like we couldn't do anything wrong."

It all happened after offensive coordinator Norv Turner turned his quarterback loose in a hurry-up scheme that kept the Eagles from consistently putting fresh pass-rushers on the field, which in turn kept Newton from being consistently harassed like he was for three quarters.

Newton was sacked twice in the first half, none in the second.

"Anytime you run no-huddle, it puts them on their heels a little bit, tends to put them in their base stuff, allows us to take the tempo and do what we want to do," center Ryan Kalil said.

Which begs the question? Why not use the no-huddle more often when Newton is struggling to find his tempo?

It's not the first time this question has come up. In 2014, former offensive coordinator Mike Shula occasionally opened in the no-huddle to help get Newton in the flow early. He admitted Newton was best in that situation.

"I have been doing it my whole career to a degree," Newton said when asked why the no-huddle was so effective on Sunday.

Newton ran no-huddle his entire college career and exclusively in 2010, when he led Auburn to an undefeated season and the national title. He also won the Heisman Trophy that year.

In the no-huddle, Newton feels the sense of urgency that allows him to take his game to another level. He's able to dictate the pace, whether it's with his arm or legs.

He doesn't have time to think. He just reacts and makes quick decisions.

That helps keep the pass-rush that was so effective through three quarters off Newton, in part because the no-huddle features more read-and-react-type plays. It allows the Carolina offense, particularly the line, to take advantage of the conditioning done in the hot, humid climate in Charlotte.

It wears the defense down.

"We thought in that no-huddle tempo, [we] kind of had them on their heels," Olsen said.

Shula once said he learned most of what he knows about the no-huddle offense from Newton. He credited the no-huddle for Newton's improvement during the 2014 season, noting that his quarterback never huddled up or called a play at the line of scrimmage at Auburn.

"I don't know if he ever had a snap count," Shula said. "He just looked over [at the sideline] and the rest of the team looked over, got the signal, then he lifted his leg and got the ball."

Newton never went to the no-huddle full time under Shula for the same reason he won't under Turner: because controlling the clock and having a solid balance between the run and pass is core to both of their philosophies.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera said there are advantages to going to the no-huddle, from getting Newton into a rhythm to slowing the pass rush as what happened on Sunday.

"There have been situations where we started the game in the no-huddle and have gone three-and-out," Rivera said. "It's situational. Yeah, do we need to look at it? Most certainly. But I don't think that's going to drive who we are as an offense."

Rivera said the disadvantage of the no-huddle is you can "wear your defense out" if you're not controlling the clock.

"Norv has a good handle on it," Rivera said. "What he did [Sunday] was try to create some energy, and he did."

Carolina ran only four times in the fourth quarter on Sunday. One was a scramble by Newton, another was an end-around by wide receiver Curtis Samuel that turned into a touchdown, and the other two were designed runs for Newton.

"Our no-huddle stuff, there's definitely a different sense of urgency," Kalil said. "It's mostly because we're primed and trying to catch up. As impressive as it is to come back against that team on the road, we've got to figure out how to put together a complete game.

"There's no reason we should put ourselves in that situation."

Slow starts have been Carolina's Achilles heel during the first six games. Its two lowest-scoring quarters are the first (17 points) and third (10). The Panthers have scored 50 in the second quarter and 65 in the fourth.

The no-huddle has been a big part of the fourth-quarter scoring. Carolina had to rally from a 17-0 deficit last week against Washington, as well. The difference between then and Sunday was that the rally against Washington fell short 23-17.

The no-huddle might come in handy this week against Baltimore, which had 11 sacks eight days ago against Tennessee.

An effective running game also will hold back the pass-rush against Newton so Turner can take advantage of play-action.

"We don't need these type of games to come alive," Kalil said when asked if Carolina needs more no-huddle. "As exciting as a win is, we need to go back to work and figure out how to play better in the first half."