The Carolina Panthers defeated the New York Jets in an ugly football game. But a win is a win is a win, and the Panthers now have a winning record.
First Quarter
The Panthers won the toss and deferred their possession
to the second half. The Jets, who have been a good returning team this season, ran the ball back out close to midfield. The Jets picked one first down, but the defense did a good job of stopping it there. The Jets ended up in between a comfortable field goal and a punt, so they went for it on a 4th and 5. Justin Fields looked for Josh Reynolds on a quick slant, but the Panthers had it covered well, and there was nowhere for the ball to go.
Chuba Hubbard got the start and had a few modest carries. Bryce Young was able to keep the drive alive with completions to Tetairoa McMillan and Jimmy Horn Jr. The drive ended after a third down shot to the endzone couldn’t find anyone, so the Panthers had to settle for a Ryan Fitzgerald field goal.
The Jets second possession was just as anemic as the first. They picked up one first down and quickly were forced to punt.
Second Quarter
The second quarter started with the Panthers trying to pick up a 4th and 1 at midfield. They handed the ball to Rico Dowdle up the middle, but the Jets bottled it up and got the stop.
An unfortunate roughing call for a barely-late hit on a sliding Justin Fields quickly moved the Jets into field goal range. The defense responded by handling most plays that weren’t aided by officiating and then benefited from a Jets illegal shift penalty. That set up a third and long that was blown up by pressure and a near sack. Nick Folk kicked the tying field goal.
Another Panthers drive stalled out at midfield, but this one ended in a punt. The Jets did the same and punted it right back to the Panthers at about the same spot. One of the weakest offensive pass interference calls on Xavier Legette made it 1st and 20. Bryce Young overthrew a wide open Jimmy Horn and then couldn’t get the ball out to Jalen Coker on a deep out to make it 3rd and long. A screen to Legette went nowhere, and the punt fest continued.
That punt fest was finally broken went Dave Canales elected to go for it on 4th and 3 around midfield again. This time, Young found McMillan in the middle for the conversion. A screen pass to Chuba Hubbard found no resistance, and the back ran it down to the five. On the next play, Young bought time outside the pocket for long enough that Legette got open for a short touchdown completion. The Jets did their usual conservative attempt to gain yards before the half, much to the dismay of the home
Third Quarter
Trevor Etienne ran the opening kickoff of the second half out to midfield, which is where the Panthers ran seemingly half their plays from. A pitch to Rico Dowdle picked up another fourth down conversion and took the Panthers into field goal range. That’s where the drive ended with Ryan Fitzgerald kicking through his second field goal of the game.
Tyrod Taylor got the nod for the second half and made the Jets look a little more competent at the start of their first drive. He led them into Panthers territory, but a blitz helped Nic Scourton get home to sack the Jets out of field goal range.
The Panthers had to punt it right back. During the ensuing Jets drive, Young was spotted walking to the locker room. The Jets tried to get tricky with a wildcat reverse that got the ball into Taylor’s hands. The play worked, but Taylor badly underthrew the receiver, which allowed Trevin Wallace to recover and break up the pass. Taylor had another open receiver on a deep ball, but he underthrew it again, which allowed Jaycee Horn to recover and make a spectacular one handed interception in the end zone.
Fourth Quarter
Andy Dalton took the reins with Young back in the locker room. He picked up a third down with another good completion to Legette. Dowdle pushed through the middle on a 4th and 1 on the plus 40 yard line. Ja’Tavion Sanders dropped what would have been a first down on a second down, and then Dalton was sacked out of field goal range on third down.
Tyrod Taylor took the Jets down the field for their second scoring drive of the game. The Jets exclusively aired it out with a lot of plays just picking up first downs or getting out just before Taylor got hit. He took a deep shot to the end zone once the Jets got inside the 40, but Mike Jackson made a terrific play breaking the ball up. The front four got pressure on the ensuing third down and forced a throwaway that could have been (but was not) called for intentional grounding. Nick Folk’s field goal made the score 13-6.
A toss to Hubbard got blown up and then a false start by Cade Mays blew up a chance to put the game away. Dalton tried to take a shot to McMillan, but the ball was underthrown and McMillan couldn’t back to it with a lot of contact.
On the second pass of a possible game tying drive, Taylor tried to throw to Josh Reynolds, who was being plastered by Horn. Horn got his head around just in time to pick off his second pass of the day. The offense did another run-run-incomplete pass-punt possession to give the ball back to the Jets with under three minutes to go.
Derrick Brown blew up the line on the first play of the next drive, and he and Princely Umanmielen combined to sack Taylor. That led to another Jets punt. The Panthers again went run-run-pass, but this time Dalton found Legette open for a big gain that allowed the Panthers to kneel the clock out.
Overview
All in all, it was not a very appealing game to watch. A lot of the game was spent watching the teams punt back and forth between midfield and the Jets endzone. The offense didn’t look good in either phase, and Xavier Legette was probably the only bright spot on that side of the ball, as surprising as that may be. The defense looked really good, though they were obviously aided by a very poor Jets offense. The team more than doubled their sack total for the season, and hopefully that’s something they can build on.
They’ll try to keep the winning streak alive at home against the Buffalo Bills next week.
