The Carolina Panthers start the season with a win against the New York Jets by a final score of 19-14. This win has got to feel good for quarterback Sam Darnold who was traded from the Jets and replaced by rookie Zach Wilson earlier this offseason.
Here are my initial reactions following the game:
Panthers' defensive line impresses
The Carolina defense harrassed Zach Wilson all game long. They also swallowed up every running back that the Jets threw at them. The Panthers' defense was impressive at every level but the guys up front truly dominated the line of scrimmage.
The Panthers sacked Wilson a total of six times. LB Hassan Reddick led the way with 1.5 take-downs. They also forced the rookie quarterback into an interception, which LB Shaq Thompson came away with. The defense improved drastically towards the end of last season and they enter 2021 riding the same momentum.
Sam Darnold settles in
After a fumble in the first quarter, Darnold settled in and had a really nice game distributing the ball to his playmakers. He finished the day 24-for-35 passing for 279 yards and a touchdown. The biggest part of that stat line is the stat that is missing–zero interceptions.
Darnold has enough talent around him to be a "game manager". This isn't a knock on the Panthers' new quarterback necessarily. Given the offensive line situation, getting the ball out quickly is going to be the best strategy for this offense going forward. This was a decent start for him with his new team and should give him a confidence boost.
Christian McCaffrey is back
McCaffrey is back like he never left proving that he is still an elite difference-maker on offense. He totaled 187 yards and is right back on pace for a 1,000-1,000 season. The Jets did manage to keep him out of the endzone, however.
Having McCaffrey back obviously boosts this entire offense. Expect him to again be the focal point and face of the Panthers.
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