After resting them against New England and New York, Dave Canales played the majority of his starters during the Panthers’ final preseason game against the Bills.
Defensively, starting cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Dane Jackson, as well as outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney did not play. Offensively, the Panthers were without offensive linemen Austin Corbett and Damien Lewis, and tight ends Tommy Tremble and Ian Thomas.
But despite the few absences, Bryce Young and the retooled offense under Dave Canales got their first taste of live game action.
Here’s what we learned during the Panthers during their 31-26 final preseason win.
One and Done
Let’s keep it 100. Although starters on both sides of the ball played, all eyes were on Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers’ offense.
Young opened the game with an eight yard pass to Jordan Matthews and cooked the entire drive, completing his first five passes to Matthews, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Jonathan Mingo, Dionte Johnson and Adam Thielen. Add two Chuba Hubbard rushes in the play list and the Panthers were in the red zone.
After a throw away on 1st and goal from the Bills’ eight yard line and an incompletion to Johnson on second down, Young connected with Matthews for an eight yard touchdown on third and goal. 12 plays, 85 yards in 6:48.
“It felt great,” Bryce said after the game. “It felt great for all of us to go out and play against a different team in a game setting. We got a couple of different situations, which was great for us. But really, it was fun being out there, fun competing, fun being out there with my team and my guys.”
The offense knew the assignment. Protect the ball. Protect Bryce Young. Move the ball down field. Score a touchdown. Shut it down.
“My goal today was to just get them some live reps, get them tired, to get them out there playing enough to where they can kind of just feel their conditioning coming into effect, because there’s confidence that comes with that,” head coach Dave Caneles said after the win. “That was the goal. The goal was to kind of get the feeling and the mix of the calls. Here’s the rhythm of how I call things for Bryce [Young], so he can start to anticipate what I might be going to in those different modes.”
Who Let the Dawgs Out
I’ll never forget the Panthers’ week four matchup against the Vikings last year. Carolina was up by seven and facing a 3rd and goal from the Vikings’ three yard line. The play was instantly blown dead after the referee signaled a false start. Despite the play being blown dead, Minnesota linebacker Jordan Hicks took a free shot at a defenseless Bryce Young. There was no penalty by the referees, but more importantly there was barely a reaction by his teammates.
I’m not advocating for players to fight, but a tone needs to be set and that’s usually done in the trenches. When an opposing player takes a cheap shot at your quarterback someone should be in their face immediately, letting them know that behavior is not going to fly. Letting them know who’s the bully. Letting them know who’s the dawg. That was missing last season.
But that was different Saturday.
On their first offensive possession, the Panthers were facing 3rd and 6 from the Bills’ 49 yard line. Young completes a pass to wide receiver Jonathan Mingo. He was met immediately by Buffalo defensive back Te’Cory Couch, who along with Kendall Williamson brought Mingo to the ground after the whistle was blown to dead the play.
Third year left tackle Ikem Ekwonu wasn’t having it – immediately getting in Couch’s face to let him know he didn’t approve of the late tackle.
That’s the dawg mentality we continuously heard about during the offseason from Dan Morgan. That’s how teammates should respond on the field when an opponent issues a late hit. That’s the energy that was missing last season.
Vanilla Ice
We didn’t know it at the time, but the Panthers’ performance during the preseason last year was an ominous precursor for what we could expect the whole season. Frank Reich and company sold us on the fact that we were getting a “vanilla” version of the playbook, as to not show their hand before the games counted. But we kept getting vanilla the entire season.
During the Panthers’ first drive we saw more varied play-calling than we got most of last season. The Panthers got the tight ends involved early, took a deep shot and ran the ball efficiently. It was a breath of fresh air. A nice little vanilla sundae to please the palate.
Progress
3rd string quarterback Jack Plummer was hard to watch during the Panthers’ first preseason game. He looked lost and lethargic on the field. But the difference between him in the game against the Patriots two weeks ago and Saturday’s game against the Bills was night and day.
Plummer finished 21-29 for 278 passing yards and two touchdowns, including two passes over 30 yards. He was steady and seemingly confident in the pocket.
If you would’ve asked me a few weeks ago about Plummer’s chances of making the team, I’d say they were slim to none – confident that Dan Morgan would pick up a third quarterback on the waiver wire. Now, I’m not as sure. Plummer has shown growth and if Canales and company can continue to develop him, he’ll be someone who could stick around longer than you think.
