CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers faced third-and-7 from the Minnesota 18-yard line early in the third quarter on Sunday when Cam Newton took the snap in the shotgun. He settled into the pocket until two defenders started to converge on him. He quickly and somewhat awkwardly backpedaled to avoid the sack and, throwing off his back foot slightly across his body, lofted a pass to Devin Funchess near the goal line.

Touchdown.

“Everything that I was told not to do I did,’’ Newton said after the 31-24 victory. “Throwing across your body, those are the same plays similar to the Monday night game where it got overturned as an interception.

“But sometimes you have to overcome coaching.’’

Asked what he thought of the play on Monday, offensive coordinator Mike Shula smiled and said, “Do I have to?’’

Shula then shared a conversation he had with Newton in the team meeting room, which he usually doesn’t do. He told how he explained that as coaches you “can’t have it both ways.’’

“We can’t say a couple of weeks ago you can’t do this, it’s wrong, then all of a sudden say good job today,’’ Shula said as he recalled the interception against the Dolphins that was nullified by a penalty. “So you’ve got to be really careful what you’re doing, that your eyes are down the field.

“... It’s kind of a be right. You better be right and make sure there’s no one else around when you’re doing that.’’

Newton only passed for 129 yards on Sunday. It was the fifth time in six games the 2015 NFL MVP didn’t top 200 yards passing, not normally a formula for success.

“How many of those games have we won?’’ asked Shula, knowing the answer was five of six before he asked.

“That’s what I like about this offense. These guys find different ways to win. Yeah, we want our stats to be better. But we want to come up with a win no matter how we need to get there.’’

It may not always be pretty, but the Panthers are playing winning football, as unorthodox as it might seem.

In three of those five wins they had more yards rushing than passing. Of the 15 teams that won this past week before Monday night, only three -- Carolina, Buffalo and Arizona -- had more yards rushing than they did passing.

But 11 of the 15 had at least 100 yards rushing, with only Green Bay, Detroit, Denver and Pittsburgh failing to top the century mark.

So Carolina’s ability to run has been key in a 9-4 season that has it tied with New Orleans for the NFC South lead heading into this Sunday’s game against Green Bay and possibly another unorthodox quarterback in Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers, by the way, failed to surpass 200 yards passing only once in his last 20 complete games before a fractured collarbone sidelined him for seven games.

“It would be a concern if we weren’t rushing the ball,’’ Shula said of the lack of passing yards. “Trust me, you want to have 300-yard passing games and 150 to 200 yards rushing.

“Are we going to try to continue to be more effective in the passing game? For sure. Is that one of our goals this week? Yes. But whatever it takes to go win a football game.’’

The Carolina offense has been a work in progress all season. Newton didn’t run much the first three games as he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery. He lost his favorite target, Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen, for eight games with a broken foot suffered in Week 2.

Then there was the trade of No. 1 wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to Buffalo to get more speed on the field. Then there was the loss of a key piece of that speed, second-round pick Curtis Samuel, to an ankle injury.

Newton has had to constantly adjust.

Shula has had to constantly adjust.

But finally all of the pieces are starting to come together. Olsen played his first full game since the opener, and although he didn’t have a catch the Vikings had to respect his ability to make plays.

Pro Bowl center Ryan Kalil also returned for his third start of the season and first complete game since the opener after battling a neck injury.

“When you see those guys together, it’s a good feeling,’’ Shula said. “It kind of felt that way all week.’’

Wide receiver Damiere Byrd also was back for his second game after being on injured reserve with a broken forearm. He had a team-best five catches for 37 yards.

With the line clicking on all cylinders, running back Jonathan Stewart became a factor, rushing for 103 yards and a career-best three touchdowns. One of those was a 60-yarder on Carolina’s third offensive play.

“That really helps everything else out on offense,’’ Shula said of having Stewart as a threat.

It’s not the way most teams win. Only three this past weekend passed for fewer than 200 yards. Nine of the 15 winners had 250 or more yards passing.

But while Carolina’s way of winning may not be traditional, neither is its quarterback, who can surpass his 2012 career-best rushing total of 741 yards if he averages 52 yards over the final three games.

That’s realistic since Newton, who has 585 yards rushing on 100 carries, has averaged 61.8 yards rushing over the past eight games.

He’s also pulled a few rabbits out of his hat as he did with the touchdown to Funchess.

“With him,’’ Shula said, “more so than other guys I’ve been around you have, ‘Noooo! ... Great job!'"