Last week, the Panthers couldn’t run the ball a lick, only managing 53 yards on 26 carries in 60 minutes of action against Buffalo.
Christian McCaffrey needed two plays to get more.
A 71-yard touchdown run off tackle on the second offensive play from scrimmage was a shot across the bow of multiple storylines, from the amount of touches McCaffrey is expected to garner in 2018 to his inability to run up the middle to whether or not the team could produce big plays on offense – their longest rush last year was the memorable Cam Newton 69-yard rush against the Minnesota Vikings – and it turned out to be one of the only highlights of a sloppy showing from the Carolina Panthers first-team offense in a quarter and a half of work.
“I saw a heck of a gap,” McCaffrey said. “The offensive line did a great job – I think it was Van Roten on a pull from the left guard. Kalil, Trai, Taylor and Matt – they all did an unbelievable job. The tight ends and Alex did a great job on the block; It’s just my job to hit the hole, find the crease and go. It was a great play.”
“We just have to get in a flow. We know we can get better. All the errors out there are ones that we’re making. We’re going to get back to the drawing board and get going, but it’s right there, the mistakes we made are easy changes. We just have to be consistent enough to change it.”
Ultimately, McCaffrey would finish with 120 total yards and the score, touching the ball on nine of the first 15 plays offensively – if this is indicative of the workload McCaffrey will get during the season, he may live up to the 25-30 touches number that keeps being bandied about by Ron Rivera and Norv Turner.
It seemed as if Ron Rivera kept putting Cam Newton and the ones until they had a high note to go out on – and it took three drives in which the offense gained 23 yards total and Newton threw an interception that looked as if it never had a chance – before they got their high note, courtesy of rookie tight end Ian Thomas.
Thomas took a pass over the middle, turned the corner and accelerated to the end zone on a 27-yard pass that capped an eight-play, 64 yard drive that was easily their best of the night – that kind of raw talent is exactly why the team pulled the trigger on Thomas in the fourth round even though he didn’t have a ton of production in only two seasons at Indiana.
“It felt good knowing that my teammates had confidence in me in running the play and showing the fans what they can expect for the season,” Thomas said. “They ran a mesh and they ran with the over guy, and left me open I saw green grass so I ran fast.”
Fast, indeed.
And like that, Newton and the first team offense were done – Newton exited after completing 75% of his passes (9/12) for 89 yards, a touchdown and an interception and leading the team to 13 points – it probably would have been 14 in the regular season, but Rivera reminded fans that the scores don’t matter by going for two after the long McCaffrey touchdown to kick off the action. While the first team was in the game, the team only gained 25 yards through their wide receivers, with the rest of their 186 total yards coming from either the running back or tight end positions.
On the defensive side of the ball, Donte Jackson got the start ahead of Kevon Seymour after both cornerbacks started last week in Buffalo, and Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins went at Jackson early and often – it appeared that the defense was giving a wide cushion to multiple wide receivers and Tannehill took advantage to lead multiple drives into Panthers’ territory and finish 14-for-17 for 100 yards on the night. But the defense was able to stiffen, particularly on second down where they would make plays in the backfield to force third and longs that the Dolphins couldn’t convert – the Dolphins had 180 total yards and only nine points to show for it, even when they had a drive that started inside the Carolina 10-yard line after the Newton interception. Going 2-for-8 on third down in the first half will do that to you.
Those looking for clarity among the position battles won’t get any from tonight’s game, as Taylor Heinicke wasn’t particularly impressive in just over a quarter of work against the second team – perhaps his impressive showing last week came against lesser opposition. Heinicke finished with 88 yards and an interception that wasn’t his fault in nine attempts. Gilbert entered the game and had a fantastic throw to Damiere Byrd along the sidelines to open his campaign, but wasn’t particularly impressive in limited work either.
At running back, Cameron Artis-Payne followed his flaccid performance from last week (five carries for a single yard) with a slightly improved performance in which he was able to push through for a touchdown from three yards out, but ultimately didn’t look particularly forceful coming out of the backfield – although that may have had a lot to do with running behind a third-string offensive line that seemed overmatched for many plays. CAP would finish with 18 yards on seven carries. Kenjon Barner looked much better, albeit against the bottom of the roster for the Dolphins, picking up 72 yards on five carries in cleanup duty.
Oh, and the Panthers won 27-12. But does that really matter?
Other Notes:
- Ron Rivera decided to go for two after the McCaffrey touchdown, a clear sign that the team was firmly in preseason mode. The Dolphins produced good end zone coverage and Newton was sacked.
- Matt Kalil had a tough night, although he was able to make a key block on the McCaffrey touchdown run, he allowed Robert Quinn around the edge easily on two sacks of Cam Newton and couldn’t get to Quinn in time on another pressure. Alex Armah, Ian Thomas and Greg Van Roten all helped to open the huge hole on the McCaffrey run, but Kalil had a rough night in an entire first half of work.
- Marquis Haynes had a nice sack of Dolphins quarterback Brock Osweiler on the first defensive series of the second half – he was able to pressure the QB multiple times throughout the night and finally broke through for his first NFL sack.
- After fans worried when they didn’t see RB CJ Anderson until the second half last week, Anderson was the first running back off the bench tonight and looked the part of tackle-breaking, pass-protecting, consistent-handed running back, especially when he broke off an 18-yard run through the middle of the field to start the third quarter.
- The Dolphins began two drives inside the Panthers’ 15-yard line after interceptions from Newton and Taylor Heinicke – and both drives ended in field goals and went backwards two yards. Eric Washington has to be satisfied with the way his defense stiffened when it counted.
- Curtis Samuel had a 39-yard reception on a deep ball from Taylor Heinicke down the right sideline for his only catch of the second half- he also had a bobbling catch along the sidelines for 26 earlier in the game. Only big plays for the second-year wideout, apparently.
- Panthers would have set the franchise record for most rushing yards in a preseason game with 227 yards, but knees taken brought them back down to 226.
- Corn Elder had an extremely athletic interception in which he tipped the ball to himself – twice – in the fourth quarter; Elder also had four tackles, a forced fumble and a pass defense on the night – he entered the night competing for the final cornerback slot and this kind of performance certainly doesn’t hurt his chances.
- Safety Da’Norris Searcy left in the first quarter after a hard hit along the sidelines in which he was flagged for a helmet penalty and entered the concussion protocol after staying down on the sidelines for a few minutes as he was tended to by trainers.
- Announced attendance was 72,200 tonight for the first preseason home game of the season.
