The Carolina Panthers turned a rough opener into a much cleaner night, rolling past the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-17 and showing far more life on both sides of the ball than they did against the Bills.
It started with the first-team offense trying to put last week behind it, and there was at least some progress right away. Carolina won the toss and took the ball, then picked up its first first down when Bryce Young attacked a mismatch that Tetairoa McMillan had against a linebacker and drew a pass interference. The drive didn’t go much farther, but Sam Martin answered with a strong punt.
From there, the Panthers’ defense forced the Jaguars into three straight runs and got the ball back quickly. That set up the first touchdown of the night.
Jonathon Brooks ripped off a solid gain on his first carry of the drive, Young hit Tommy Tremble for another chunk play, and two completions to McMillan moved Carolina to the one. Brooks finished it off from there.
Jacksonville responded with a drive of its own, but Carolina held firm in the red zone. Princely Umanmielen and Pat Jones combined to force a sack on Nick Mullens, and the Jaguars had to settle for a field goal.
The second quarter belonged to the Panthers’ depth pieces and a defense that kept creating extra possessions. The second-string offense opened with a three-and-out, but the Jaguars did the same.
Kenny Pickett then led a scoring drive, helped by a 39-yard burst from Jimmy Horn Jr. Pickett also connected with David Moore on a deep out, though the play was erased by a hold, and Ryan Fitzgerald finished the drive with a field goal.
Soon after, Carolina got the kind of turnover that changes a preseason game fast. On the third play of the Jaguars’ next series, Carter Bradley threw off his back foot and across his body into the middle of the field, and Chau Smith-Wade jumped it for an interception. Pickett then found Horn inside the ten, and AJ Dillon powered in for the touchdown.
The Jaguars answered again with another field goal drive, but they kept running into the same problem in Carolina territory: not enough finishing power. In the meantime, the Panthers nearly added more points before halftime.
A roughing-the-passer call moved the ball 15 yards, Jimmy Horn couldn’t haul in a tough catch in traffic, and David Moore dropped a slant, leaving Fitzgerald with a 61-yard field goal try. He drilled it cleanly.
The third quarter brought more of the same. DeVonta Smith forced the ball loose from DeeJay Dallas to end a Jaguars drive that had some promise, and Pickett kept working the ball to John Metchie III to move Carolina into range. That possession stalled at the edge of the red zone, though Fitzgerald pushed the short field goal wide.
The defense kept doing its job on the other side, too. The Jaguars went back to three straight runs, and Elijah Garcia blew up the third-down attempt to force a punt.
Metchie then nearly coughed up a punt return, but he was ruled down by contact. Carolina’s offense went back to Metchie, with Anthony Tyus helping move the chains, and Pickett capped the drive by fitting a contested throw to Roc Taylor for a touchdown from the 16.
In the fourth quarter, the Panthers’ defense again tightened up when Jacksonville tried to push into scoring range. Joey Aguilar hit a few deep passes to get the Jaguars moving, but Carolina nearly picked one off and then Jackson Kuwatch blew up a draw on third-and-10 to force another field goal.
Kyle Trask then answered with a strong scoring drive of his own. He made a couple of sharp throws in the intermediate game, Tyus kept punishing defenders with more hard runs, and a 17-yard pass to Casey Washington got Carolina into the red zone. Two plays later, Washington caught a curl, shed a defender, and walked into the end zone to make it 34-9.
Jacksonville added a garbage-time touchdown, but the result was long decided by then. The game technically reached a weather delay at the two-minute warning, but both teams chose to end it there.
The Panthers will finish the preseason next week at home against the Texans.
In Other News...
Panthers Face A Risky Haynes King Decision They Could Regret
As the Panthers move through their roster cuts, Haynes King has become one of those preseason names that can linger because of what he might eventually offer rather than what he has already shown. He has only appeared in the Hall of Fame Game so far, and his injury recovery has kept him from building much of a rsum in camp, but the appeal is obvious enough: a quarterback with enough versatility to be used in different offensive looks and enough short-yardage value to matter in a tight game.
That makes his spot a tricky one to judge, because the Panthers are weighing immediate roster math against the risk of letting a useful player get away before he has a chance to prove it. If they move on now, it would be easy to see how the decision could be revisited later if his development continues and another team is willing to bet on the same upside Carolina is trying to measure. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Face A Risky QB Debate Behind Bryce Young
The Panthers continue to operate as if Bryce Young is the quarterback to build around, and that certainty shapes everything else in the room behind him. With the team still sorting out how to support Young, the temptation to chase another name has surfaced in the usual offseason way, with Carolina linked to possible quarterback trade chatter involving Mac Jones and J.J. McCarthy.
But the case against making a move is pretty straightforward: the Panthers already have bodies behind Young, including Haynes King and Kenny Pickett, and there is enough uncertainty around the starters long-term setup without adding another layer to it. For now, the smarter play looks like patience, keeping the current quarterback group intact until Carolina has a clearer reason to change course. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Suddenly Have One More Pass Rush Situation To Watch
The Panthers spent the offseason trying to give their pass rush a clearer shape, signing Jaelan Phillips to a four-year contract with the idea of pairing him with Nic Scourton. Instead, Scourtons torn ACL changed the picture before the regular season even arrived, leaving Carolina with another question mark in a spot that already needed reinforcement.
Josh Sweats name has entered the conversation as the kind of player who could fit what Carolina is looking for, especially with the Cardinals sitting on a veteran edge option. But Arizona general manager Monti Ossenfort has already said there is no interest in moving him, which leaves the Panthers monitoring a situation that could matter to their defense without offering any easy answers yet. [Read more 🡒]