Most fans expected the starters to play the first quarter, maybe a little more. By the time the whistle to signal the first quarter over had blown, fans were ready to see something else.
The Carolina Panthers were defeated by the Tennessee Titans 34-27 in Nashville, with the first team getting beaten soundly in all three facets of the game. While Panthers fans can find solace in the fact that preseason games don’t go in the official record books, the early mistakes and poor play won’t be acceptable in the regular season. Tight end Greg Olsen had similar thoughts. “You can’t overreact to the preseason, anybody that says that it doesn’t matter is probably lying to themselves,” said the tight end. “It does matter. We want to play well, you can never benefit from playing poorly.” Playing without their quarterbacks on either side of the ball as neither Luke Kuechly nor Cam Newton suited up in Nashville, the Panthers could not have looked much worse in the first quarter; turning the ball over twice, making Marcus Mariota look infallible, and allowing the Titans offense to possess the ball for almost 11 minutes. There was even a punt return touchdown that was nullified by a Titans holding penalty which would have made the score even more lopsided. While Mayo had ten tackles in relief of Kuechly, Anderson did not play well enough to move the first team offense, finishing with only 88 yards and an interception in a half of work.
Anderson wasn’t the only one on the offense who played poorly; Devin Funchess fumbled the ball away on the first play of the game and Jonathan Stewart could find little room to run. The special teams were just as bad, leaving the team to start inside the twenty on their first three drives with minimal kickoff returns and an extremely odd decision by Damiere Byrd to field a punt at the five yard line.
While the first team run defense played fairly well, limiting Titans running back Derrick Henry to 2.3 yards per carry in the first half (including one drive against the second team defense), the defense overall struggled with Kuechly not on the field. As they did in drills during joint practice Thursday, the defense allowed Mariota and the Titans to march down the field on their first drive, only to stiffen inside the red zone and hold the team to a field goal. However, when given a short field to defend by the Funchess and Anderson turnovers, the team allowed two touchdowns and the Panthers were down 17-0 when Ron Rivera decided he had seen enough from his first team defense.
While there will certainly be negative tape to watch tomorrow, some fans will choose to focus on the positive. Positivity, thy name is Christian McCaffrey.
The rookie running back was electric, lining up in multiple positions and averaging over fourteen yards per touch, including a 38 yard screen pass in which McCaffrey received the ball in space, turned upfield and used two great blocks by center Tyler Larsen and guard Trai Turner to accelerate down the sidelines for a big gain. Guard Andrew Norwell had a hand in McCaffrey’s first NFL touchdown as well with a perfect seal to open a hole on the right side, and with tight end Ed Dickson leading the way, McCaffrey slithered through the defense seventeen yards before diving across the goal line. McCaffrey not only ran well, but his presence affected the defense, with a play action fake to the rookie forcing the entire defense to shift in one direction which allowed Kelvin Benjamin to be wide open on the opposite sideline for a first down.
“The kids special, you just have to get the ball in his hands and let him do his thing,” Derek Anderson said about McCaffrey after the game. “He’s got great vision, and like I said, you just give it to him and we will see what happens. He makes plays. He’s done a great job, I am sure his work load will increase as we get going.”
Another improved area of play was on the offensive line. While Anderson struggled and Stewart found tough sledding for the most part, the offensive line unit played excellently in pass protection, keeping Anderson upright for the entire game. The quarterback said it was the first time in his life he hadn’t been knocked down in back-to-back preseason games. Tyler Larsen played particularly well in relief of Ryan Kalil, who was rested but did not suffer a setback in his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery.
Other Notes:
- Rookie fullback Alex Armah scored his first NFL touchdown on a twenty yard swing pass from Joe Webb. The fullbacks overall were involved today, with Armah scoring the touchdown and veteran Darrel Young getting four carries after neither fullback. Darrel Young was happy for his competition, saying that the rookie had to make sure to keep that ball.
- The work by the second team defensive backfield continues to be spotty, with Colin Jones missing a tackle on running back David Fluellen at the line of scrimmage before the running back accelerated for a 53-yard gain. Teddy Williams was again erratic, with terrific plays in the run game bookended by plays where he could not stay with receivers down the field. Of his eight tackles, two were in the backfield and two were after he had allowed easy completions. He’ll need to be more consistent in his coverage to inspire confidence should either James Bradberry or Daryl Worley go down with injuries.
- Kicker Harrison Butker had a 46 yard field goal and an extra point, while Graham Gano had two extra points and a 37 yard field goal. While it still seems like Gano is in the lead, if the rookie Butker keeps making kicks, he’ll make the decision a lot harder.
- Cameron Artis-Payne ran extremely well, breaking two runs of over 20 yards and amassing 70 total yards and a score on only five carries, converting his goal line carries into a touchdown, making a strong case for a running back roster spot. The running game started to heat up after the dismal first quarter, with CAP averaging 14 yards a carry, McCaffrey 11, and Fozzy Whittaker over seven yards per carry. If the running game can take that momentum into Thursday against Jacksonville, that will be encouraging for the regular season.
