Lamont Bryant went up to catch a pass at the high point with the defender right in his pocket. He not only snagged the pass but stumbled, keeping his balance and raced into the end zone…all this late in the 4th quarter down 17-10.

The Panthers try for 2 failed, leaving the game as a loss over that one failed 2 pt conversion.

Statheads would tell you that the conversion rate is actually quite low, and they’d be right, but the end result is that the Panthers won’t have a winning preseason.

Rivera’s concerns probably still lie with the special teams coverage. The Steelers had a long return for a TD called back with a penalty and had several good returns in the game otherwise. The Panthers’ special teams coverage unit just has not been up to the task this preseason. It needs fixing. Now.

Joe Adams muffed a punt and lost it. He’s human after all. Work on that, kiddo…

Both Frank Alexander and Thomas Keiser each had a sack, again. Keiser’s a holdover from last season who looks to develop into a pass-rushing end and after a tough start, Alexander has come along to quickly show why the Panthers traded up into the 4th round to grab him out of Oklahoma.

Darrell Green’s son, Jared, caught a 3-yard TD on a 4 yard out pattern and demonstrated his athletic ability earlier on a tipped pass intended for him. He made a second effort to catch it but couldn’t. The fact he made it even a little bit close told me he was a guy to watch – pedigree aside.

The running backs looked good as well. It will be hard to crack into a group that has DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart, and Mike Tolbert but Tauren Poole and Armond Smith both played well in fighting for a possible last roster spot.

CB Josh Norman had moments of good coverage and showing good awareness but gave up some receptions as well. I like this kid and think he’s still got a lot of learning to do, but I think he “gets it.” It’ll be a matter of time before he takes the starting job from the Captain, and might be inserted in nickel/dime packages immediately.

Safety D.J. Campbell made a number of tackles and could find a roster spot, who knows? The Panthers’ reserves there are fair but unspectacular.

DT Terrell McClain showed me an impressive motor and hustle when he chased down a sweep from behind and forced the RB out of bounds 20 yards downfield. He ran a LONG way to get there, and that shows he’s got heart. I love players like that. I hope fellow tackle and veteran Ron Edwards can help coach the 2nd-year player up.

Young kicker Justin Medlock missed a 57 and a 50-yard FG attempt in the 4th quarter. Either kick would have wound up being the difference. The insane thing is he had plenty of leg left…just missed the first one to the left and the second to the right. If he can work on his long-range accuracy, the Panthers would have an actual weapon at the position.

I have a feeling this Panthers’ defense will be both a lot deeper and a lot tougher to run on than last year’s injury-depleted squad was.

Now…just cover the schtooopid kicks, willya please!?

Yes…as you might surmise by the score, the Jets had four field goals.

No touchdowns.

Yet again.

The Panthers offense did about like I thought it would. I figured if they were on course to maturing, they’d still struggle at times against a very aggressive Jets defense with a secondary that can cover. They don’t call it “Revis Island” for nothing.

The Cam Newton-led Carolina Panthers offense got a couple of scores and some punts. On the surface, Newton himself didn’t have a very good game, going only 6/15 for 60 yards and a TD. He had no interceptions, although one throw probably should have been. Otherwise, he made some good throws that few NFL QBs can make and spun away from a nearly untouched blitzer to avoid a safety, only to throw the ball away on the sideline.

Newton threw a number of balls away. It’s the preseason, so no reason to run for the first down unless it’s a sure thing you can make it without taking a hit if you’re the star QB, no matter how athletic you are. Regular season, he’d have run more and thrown it away less. It’s a testament to that Jets duo of Antonio Cromartie and Revis at the corners. Revis is his opponent’s shadow while Cromartie plays looser coverage but has a great make-up burst.

The Panthers’ running game did fine overall – again, about as expected. They moved the ball against a stiff defense but didn’t get any big plays.

The defense did what frankly I expected as well if they’re going to prove their worth this season. The Panthers led 10 games with 4 minutes left in the game and only won 6 of them. That is NOT the way to win. And you can call me Captain Obvious on that one.

The fact that the Panther defense stiffened when it had to was good to see. The one miscue Cam had was a fumble at the 12 that he didn’t chase down – and could have recovered – as he pretended to act nonchalant like he was down when it was an obvious fumble.

Twelve yards away from a score, the Panthers held the Jets to a field goal. That simply had to be as uplifting to the Panthers as it was maddening to the Jets. Sanchez actually moved the team fairly well at times, with a sustained running game, until they got in the red zone.

Either way you look at it, the Panthers played exactly how I figured they would to and I set the bar fairly high but realistically. No offensive TDs allowed – not even allowing for a gift on the doorstep that the Jets couldn’t convert. Score enough points so that the now-patented Tony Sparano FG machine can’t chew enough of them out to keep up over the course of an entire game.

WR Louis Murphy caught a short TD toss from Newton for the first-team offense. The seconds played the second half.

Tim Tebow had several perfect throws that Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady couldn’t throw better. The rest was junk. Another layer to the Tebow Mystique.

One concern is Panthers’ RB Jonathan Stewart left the game with a sprained ankle and won’t play in week 4.

They struggled against the Houston Texans, one of the most talented squads in the NFL on both sides of the football. They dominated against the Miami Dolphins, who are themselves struggling to find their identity with rookie coaches, a rookie quarterback and right tackle, and new offensive and defensive systems.

Miami Head Coach Joe Philbin probably doesn’t truly care if he goes 0-4 in the preseason. Winning the game isn’t his goal. It’s to find and install the best 53 men he can for what he has in mind to do in the regular season. If they make great strides in their next two games, especially on offense, their defense has enough talent to keep them in a lot of games in the regular season. Then, things will be moving in the right direction when September rolls around at least.

Neither of the first two contests really gives an accurate assessment of the Carolina offense or defense. It’s too early and the teams they played are too different.

The week 3 game against the Jets could help provide a look at the progress the Panthers’ run defense has truly made. I expected Houston to be able to move the ball on them the first preseason game but not quite as easily as they did in-between the 20-yard lines. I didn’t expect the Panthers to shut down Miami’s offense so completely, but I attribute a lot of that to all the new stuff going on in south Florida. Miami had a rookie trying to block Charles Johnson, for goodness sakes! See paragraph two.

The Jets are having O-line woes of their own, despite the presence of All-Pro center Nick Mangold and athletic left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson. In fact, the Jets’ offense at this point in time is remarkably similar to that of the Dolphins with their problems…namely new offensive coaches and problems with the right side of the line in particular. They are having growing pains just as the Dolphins are. It’s life in the NFL.

The Jets? *Mirror here*

Miami New York Jets Head Coach Joe Philbin Rex Ryan probably doesn’t truly care if he goes 0-4 in the preseason. Winning the game isn’t his goal. It’s to find and install the best 53 men he can for what he has in mind to do in the regular season. If they make great strides in their next two games, especially on offense, their defense has enough talent to keep them in a lot of games in the regular season. Then, things will be moving in the right direction when September rolls around at least.

cue Twilight Zone music

When game four, the final warm-up to the regular season is finished, I think the Steelers will be the best gauge of progress in all aspects for the young Carolina team. Yes, they’re yet ANOTHER team with a young line with TWO starting rookies. But they’re very very good ones. Mike Adams from OSU will upgrade the LT position with some skill and I’m really looking forward to him matching up with Frank Alexander.

The Steelers also had top-rated guard David DeCastro fall in their lap as teams de-emphasized the o-line if their last name wasn’t Kalil, and DeCastro happens to fit a position of need quite nicely for the Steelers. They’ve looked better than Miami’s line so far, and their defense is legendary.

The Texans’ defense was top-rated in many categories last season. They certainly have a lot of similarities in style with the Steelers.

It’s odd how things work out…look at this:

Game 1: 2011 AFC playoff team with great defense but lost their playoff game in a close contest

Game 2: a team from the AFC East struggling to find an identity especially on offense

MIRROR

Game 3: a team from the AFC East struggling to find an identity especially on offense

Game 4: 2011 AFC playoff team with great defense but lost their playoff game in a close contest

I wish Rod Serling were alive for an audio clip…