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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Before leaving the Giants Stadium locker room on Sunday evening, Na'il Diggs stood on a chair, smiled and signed his name to the white wall with a black marker.

Eliminated from the playoffs, with seemingly nothing to play for, the Carolina Panthers still managed a signature performance.

The Panthers' offense scored on its first four drives and the defense shined as Carolina put a 41-9 pounding on the New York Giants.

"We're playing basically for pride right now, and to get better," Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers said. "That's the only thing that we're playing for."

Pride was enough for the Panthers on what was supposed to be a day of celebration for New York, playing their final regular-season game at Giants Stadium and fighting for their playoff lives.

But in the end, it was Jonathan Stewart and the Panthers who were celebrating on the field, while only a smattering of the 78,809 fans in attendance remained to see the Giants playoff chances all but eliminated. New York was officially eliminated a few hours later when Dallas defeated Washington.

Stewart ran for a franchise-record 206 yards, the most allowed by the Giants in this stadium.

Stewart also has 1,008 yards for the season, joining DeAngelo Williams (1,117 yards) as the sixth pair of teammates in NFL history to run for 1,000 yards in the same season.

But the record yardage that Stewart racked up wasn't the most impressive aspect of his performance. It was the way he did it, breaking tackles against a Giants team that prides itself on being strong defensively.

"That's the mentality that I have as a running back — never to get tackled by just one person," Stewart said. "Walter Payton, the way he (ran) the ball, you see no give-up. He was possessed, in a sense, like, 'I'm not going to get tackled by one person. You're going to have to bring 11 guys at me at once.' And that's kind of the mindset that I have when I run the ball."

Stewart wasn't the only one with a career-defining performance Sunday. Quarterback Matt Moore was 15-of-20 passing with three touchdowns and 171 yards.

Moore replaced injured quarterback Jake Delhomme as the starter in week 13, and has a 61.7 completion percentage with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. But if a quarterback controversy for next season is already brewing, Moore isn't paying it any mind.

"If we're winning and things are good, then I'm fine," Moore said. "I'm not worried about making a statement."

Instead, the Panthers made the statement. But it didn't have the makings of a Carolina blowout in the first quarter.

Eli Manning completed seven of his first eight passes and had the Giants deep into Carolina territory. But New York had a touchdown pass called back on a holding penalty, and three plays later Jon Beason forced a fumble that James Anderson recovered inside the Panthers' 20.

The Giants never recovered.

The Panthers defense was impressive from that point on, holding the Giants without a first down for a 23-minute stretch in the first half, and allowing 60 yards rushing on the day.

The offense was just as good for Carolina. Stewart gave the Panthers a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter with a 29-yard touchdown run. And midway through the second quarter, Moore hit Muhsin Muhammad in stride for a 22 yard touchdown pass to give the Panthers a 17-0 lead.

After an interception by Richard Marshall, Moore found Jeff King wide open in the end zone for a two yard touchdown to give the Panthers a 24-0 lead with 2:21 left in the first half.

The only dark moment for the Panthers came when Steve Smith sealed the game with a 27-yard touchdown pass 2 minutes into the second half. He broke his left forearm on the play, and will miss this week's game against New Orleans.

But it was all smiles in the Panthers' locker room after the game, where pride was enough, even if the season won't finish the way they wanted it to.

"It was all heart and desire," Stewart said. "Heart and desire from this team in all aspects."

Carolina 3 21 10 7—41
N.Y. Giants 0 0 3 6— 9

Car—FG Kasay 38
Car—Stewart 29 run (Kasay kick)
Car—Muhammad 22 pass from M.Moore (Kasay kick)
Car—King 2 pass from M.Moore (Kasay kick)
Car—Smith 27 pass from M.Moore (Kasay kick)
NYG—FG Tynes 40
Car—FG Kasay 27
NYG—Smith 2 pass from Manning (pass failed)
Car—Hoover 1 run (Kasay kick)
A—78,809.

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs — Car 25, NYG 22
Total Net Yards — Car 416, NYG 317
Rushes-yards — Car 46-247, NYG 19-60
Passing — Car 169, NYG 257
Punt Returns — Car 3-11, NYG 0-0
Kickoff Returns — Car 3-69, NYG 6-127
Interceptions Ret. — Car 2-3, NYG 0-0
Comp-Att-Int — Car 15-20-0, NYG 29-43-2
Sacked-Yards Lost — Car 1-2, NYG 4-39
Punts — Car 2-36.0, NYG 3-41.0
Fumbles-Lost — Car 1-0, NYG 4-2
Penalties-Yards — Car 4-20, NYG 4-29
Time of Possession — Car 32:16, NYG 27:44

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING
Carolina — Stewart 28-206, Hoover 9-37, Goodson 5-2, M.Moore 4-2.
N.Y. Giants — Bradshaw 11-53, Manning 2-6, Jacobs 6-1.

PASSING
Carolina — M.Moore 15-20-0-171.
N.Y. Giants — Manning 29-43-2-296.

RECEIVING
Carolina — Smith 5-60, Muhammad 3-56, Stewart 2-16, K.Moore 2-12, Goodson 1-13, Hoover 1-12, King 1-2.
N.Y. Giants — Smith 7-70, Manningham 6-87, Nicks 6-44, Boss 5-49, Hixon 2-22, Bradshaw 2-3, Hagan 1-21.

MISSED FIELD GOALS
None.