What were some of the big takeaways from the Carolina Panthers’ victory over the New York Jets in Week 1 at Bank of America Stadium?
After a long wait, Carolina Panthers football was back in Charlotte on Sunday. And to say it’s been a long time coming would be something of an understatement.
Sam Darnold got his revenge on the New York Jets with a solid performance against his former team, throwing a touchdown to Robby Anderson and running in another as the Panthers held off a resurgent second half from No. 2 overall pick out of BYU, Zach Wilson.
This was enough for Carolina to secure a 19-14 triumph and start the season on the right foot. Although it could have been much more had the team taken advantage of countless opportunities in the first half.
After being shut out in the first two quarters, the Jets outscored Carolina 14-3 in the second half and held the home team to just 28 yards of offense in the third quarter. Something that was evident throughout the 2020 season once the Panthers came out following the half-time break.
Plenty of positives. But lots for Matt Rhule and his coaching staff to work on ahead of next Sunday’s divisional clash against the New Orleans Saints.
With this in mind, here are five big takeaways from Carolina’s win over the Jets at a packed Bank of America Stadium in Week 1.
Carolina Panthers defense is the real deal
Coming into the season, Carolina Panthers fans were really excited to watch how this young defense would perform.
In the first half, the defense was lights out.
At the half, the Panthers led 16-0 with rookie quarterback Zach Wilson struggling with a stat line of 6-16 for 84 yards, an interception, a 29.2 passer rating, and he was sacked three times.
Although they gave up some yards and points in the second half, this can be attributed slightly to the offense not staying on the field.
The defense ended the day with six sacks and a pick. The duo of Brian Burns and Hasson Reddick gave the New York Jets’ offensive line constant problems, finishing the game with 2.5 sacks between them.
Jets tackles George Fant and Mekhi Becton – who left with a serious-looking knee injury late in the third – will have nightmares about the duo, who created constant pressure off the edge.
Shaq Thompson also snagged a second career pick and had a great day overall after changing to the No. 7 pregame as the Panthers really gave Wilson a rough introduction into NFL life.
If this defense can continue to shine as they did in the first half today they have the opportunity to be a top 10 defense in the league.
Carolina Panthers OL remains a concern
This really was a tale of two halves for the Carolina Panthers offensive line.
A lot was made of how they’d deal with the New York Jets stud defensive tackle pair of Quinnen Williams and Sheldon Rankins. In the first half, they dealt with the threat well.
Sam Darnold balled out, as a result, ending the half 17-22 for 234 yards, two total touchdowns, and a 125.9 passer rating. More importantly, the Panthers didn’t give up a sack in the first half and conceded just one all afternoon.
However, in the second half, those offensive line struggles came to the fore, with the aforementioned 28 yards of third-quarter offense, and a couple of notable plays which saw center Matt Paradis bodied by Folorunso Fatukasi, and then left tackle Cam Erving was beaten easily off the edge causing Darnold to overthrow D.J. Moore.
The fact two of the Panthers named inactive were guards Michael Jordan and Deonte Brown was a surprise, when guard Pat Elflein limped to the sideline this seemed more of a worry but luckily the former Jet returned to the game.
However, the coaching staff would have noted the struggles in the second half. So the likes of Jordan, Brown, and fellow rookie Brady Christensen may see some reps against the New Orleans Saints next weekend considering how good their defense looked against the Green Bay Packers.
Carolina Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey is still the best around
Oh, how the Carolina Panthers have missed their star running back. The former Stanford Cardinal returned to action with 187 all-purpose yards in the season opener.
Christian McCaffrey only suited up for three games last season and although Mike Davis was a suitable replacement and had over 1000 all-purpose yards, his level of production is nothing compared to what the All-Pro brings to the table.
He was a notable target for Sam Darnold early on, with the signal-caller checking it down to McCaffery on numerous occasions and letting his back go to work making New York Jets players miss on many occasions
McCaffrey even got it done without the ball getting a critical block to allow Darnold the time to throw a 57-yard strike to Robby Anderson.
If McCaffrey stays healthy this will really help Darnold as he’s already shown to be a viable receiving option. The former first-round pick is a star and arguably RB1 in the league.
McCaffrey’s injury problems last season mean he’s not been talked about in the same conversation as other stars such as Derrick Henry, Alvin Kamara, and Dalvin Cook, but expect the player to have another stellar year in the backfield.
Carolina Panthers QB Sam Darnold showed flashes
Sam Darnold played down the talk of this being a revenge game against his former team.
However, the former USC Trojan must have been smiling inside at the struggles of a New York Jets offensive line that gave him so little protection during his time at MetLife Stadium.
Darnold ended the game with a stat line of 24-35 for 279 yards and two total touchdowns. He showed some signs of nerves early as he did in the preseason finale against Pittsburgh Steelers, which wasn’t unexpected in the circumstances.
The former first-round pick missed two open touchdown throws to Ian Thomas and Terrace Marshall Jr., and then fumbled the ball after colliding with full-back Giovanni Ricci in a crucial red-zone situation.
However, Darnold settled into his work spreading the field well hitting his former teammate Robby Anderson with a deep ball for six, something Carolina Panthers fans have been crying out to see, and then running in his sixth career rushing score at the end of the half.
The drop in the second half coincided with the Panthers’ line failing to protect Darnold.
During the offseason, a big thing was made of his “happy feet” during his time at the Jets constantly throwing with his feet not set. For the most part today, we didn’t see this with Darnold content to stay in the pocket and potentially take a hit to find his man.
The Carolina Panthers should have had a blowout victory
The Carolina Panthers got the win which was the main thing. However, they should have won the game by way more than five points.
In the first half, the New York Jets looked like a very bad football team, whether it was opening day nerves for a rookie quarterback and head coach or not is up for debate, but the players looked all at sea as the Panthers dominated.
Red zone struggles were again prevalent early on with the first two trips resulting in a fumble and a solitary field goal by Ryan Santoso.
Although Zach Wilson improved a lot in the second half, finding a good connection with offseason acquisition Corey Davis, this game should have been pretty much done at the break. No one could have really argued with the Panthers being up 28-0 at half-time given how the contest went.
Carolina only managed three second-half points and scraped home. This should not have been a close game and the first half was the perfect opportunity to assert real offensive dominance and score three or four touchdowns on a struggling team going through a period of transition.
A lot was leveled on the Panthers losing close games last season by a score or less. So winning the first game by less than that has to be something, right?