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CHARLOTTE -- During a record-setting debut in which he passed for 422 yards in a 28-21 loss at Arizona, it was the 11 yards Cam Newton didn't get that irked the Panthers' rookie quarterback.

After driving the Panthers into position for a tying score in the final two minutes, Newton threw four consecutive incompletions from the Cardinals' 11 before Mike Goodson was stopped short of the goal line on a fourth-down catch following an Arizona penalty.

Newton has attacked opposing defenses and the NFL record book at a dizzying rate during his remarkable rookie season. With 167 yards today against Houston, Newton will dethrone Peyton Manning as the top rookie passer in league history. Manning has held the mark (3,739 yards) for 13 years.

Two weeks ago at Tampa Bay, Newton took down a 35-year-old record among quarterbacks when he passed Steve Grogan with his 13th rushing touchdown of the season.

But while the Tim Tebow legend grows in Denver and Houston rookie T.J. Yates performs his own Texas two-step with back-to-back, comeback victories, Newton is still looking for his first signature, fourth-quarter drive.

Newton engineered a five-play, 55-yard touchdown drive to lead the Panthers (4-9) to a 16-10 win over Jacksonville in Week 3.

But there were nearly seven minutes left when the possession started, so it lacked the drama on which reputations are built.

Newton has gotten the Panthers close a couple of other times only to see Olindo Mare miss short field goals late in losses to Minnesota and Atlanta.

But on 20 fourth-quarter drives with the chance to tie to take the lead, Newton has produced points just twice -- touchdowns in the aforementioned Jaguars game and at Detroit, which the Lions answered with a pair of touchdown drives to win 49-35.

NFL players and coaches say fourth-quarter comebacks are contagious.

"You have to do it. Once you do it once, and the team really believes in you, the confidence is going through the roof," said Texans backup quarterback Jake Delhomme, who had 19 fourth-quarter comeback wins in seven seasons with Carolina.

Delhomme, who signed with the Texans two weeks ago, said Yates and Newton are well ahead of where he was early in his career. Delhomme did not become a starter until his sixth season, after the Panthers signed him in 2003.

"I wasn't there as a rookie. b& It's just phenomenal. It just takes time," Delhomme said. "Charlotte is going to have a good quarterback for a long, long time."

Panthers coach Ron Rivera saw Newton's poise running the two-minute offense during the team's FanFest in August. Of course, that was against back-up defenders in a mostly empty stadium.

Still, Rivera has seen enough from Newton to believe it's a matter of time before the late-game production improves. Rivera said the inability to finish games is a Panthers problem, not an issue exclusive to Newton.

"It's not just his development, but our development, as well," Rivera said. "We as a football team have to do those things, whether it's on offense where we take the ball down and score. If it's on defense, we stop somebody."

Both Denver and Houston have defenses that have kept games close and given their offenses a chance to come back. Yates, the fifth-round draft choice from North Carolina, became the first rookie to lead winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime in his first two starts since Chicago's Virgil Carter in 1968.

Yates' great moments

In a 20-19 win at Cincinnati last week, Yates took the Texans -- who were out of timeouts -- on a 13-play, 80-yard drive for a touchdown that clinched the AFC South title and gave Houston the first postseason berth in its history.

Yates scrambled for 17 yards on third-and-15 to extend the drive, which he finished with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Walter with two seconds left.

"Those are great moments," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "That's what helps guys gain confidence in this league -- 'Hey, I can do this.' And do it in the toughest environment and toughest situation. This game's a lot about confidence and being able to find it through moments like that. It was a great moment for our team and he was the one leading the way."

Yates, who became the starter following injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart, said having successfully navigated the final two minutes should be helpful when the playoffs begin.

"We're going to be in some tough ball games. And knowing that our offense can go down the field when we need to in pressure situations is going to give us a lot of confidence," Yates said. "As the season ends and in the postseason, every single ball game's going to be tight. Our offense needed that -- to go through a game-ending, two-minute drill."

Yates ended his college career last season with a come-from-behind, 30-27 win over Tennessee in double overtime in the Music City Bowl.

"That was just as wild as this one" last week at Cincinnati, Yates said.

Tebow's clutch performances

But Yates' late-game heroics pale in comparison to Tebow's. Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy winner at Florida, has orchestrated five game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime this season.

Tebow has six such drives in his first 11 games, becoming the first player to do so since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.

Kubiak was Denver's backup quarterback for years behind John Elway, who also was known for his game-winning drives.

"It just goes back to confidence. If you do something, you know you can do something or your teammates know you can do it, then good things seem to happen to you," Kubiak said. "Finding a way to win is a habit just like finding a way to not get it done on Sunday. You get in good habits."

Newton is ranked 26th among 41 quarterbacks in fourth-quarter passing, with a rating of 74.1. Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers rank 1 and 2, while Tebow is third. Yates does not have enough attempts to qualify.

Minnesota's Christian Ponder, with a fourth-quarter passer rating of 77.5, is the only rookie ahead of Newton, although Ponder did not become a starter until Week 7.

Just a matter of time

Rivera and the Panthers' players are confident Newton can get it done in the fourth quarter. In the loss to the Vikings, Newton had a 6-yard run that would have given the Panthers a first-and-goal from the 8 in the final minute.

But Steve Smith was called for holding, negating the first down and pushing the Panthers back. Mare then missed a 31-yard field goal as time expired.

"In my opinion, it shouldn't even have to come down to the last drive of the fourth quarter," Newton said. "Of course, that's the theatrical thing for people to see about quarterbacks. But if you're doing your job well, it shouldn't even have to come down to the last minute."

Newton knows comebacks.

In his only season at Auburn, the Tigers fell behind Alabama 24-0 in the Iron Bowl. With Auburn's national championship hopes on the line, Newton brought the Tigers back for a 28-27 victory by throwing for three touchdowns, running for another and converting a pair of big fourth downs.

So while Tebow-mania surges with each successive comeback and Yates prepares for the postseason, Rivera sits back and waits, confident his quarterback's clutch time is coming.

"We started practicing (the two-minute drill) in training camp and it was one of the things that really excited me about him. When things are going haywire all over the place, that's when you really seem to see his poise," Rivera said.

"There's a confidence about him when things are going crazy. You do see him put us in position to win. There's something about what's happening to us in the second half that we've got to get past. We have to handle those situations and get better."

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