Bryce Young and the offense regressed from Weeks 1 and 2 while injuries mounted in the Carolina Panthers loss to the Cleveland Browns.
First Quarter
The Panthers got the ball first but weren’t able to do anything with it. A couple of penalties stalled momentum, though Bryce Young was able to find Brycen Tremayne on a slant after one of them to pick up a long first down.
Sam Martin’s punt and a Browns penalty backed the home team inside their ten yard line to start their first drive. The Panthers defense had a couple
almost big plays. Tre’von Moehrig almost had a sack, but DeShaun Watson slipped away. Will Lee almost had a pick six, but he couldn’t quite real it in. The defense was able to get off the field and force a punt.
The Panthers offense had another ineffective drive and punted it right back. The Browns put together a few good plays and drove into Carolina territory as the first quarter came to a close.
Second Quarter
The drive lasted for seemingly forever as the teams kept trading penalties. The Browns picked up a fourth down conversion but ended up getting backed back up by their penalties. They eventually punted it away again.
Young was able to get Coker involved for the first time and moved the offense across midfield despite a run game that continued to be entirely ineffective. The Panthers were also faced with a 4th and 3, but they couldn’t pick it up. Young was sacked and picked up a little knock in the process.
The Browns were able to capitalize on the good field position and work into field goal range with just a couple of first downs. They kicked a field goal for the game’s first points.
The Panthers answered with more of the same. They ran the ball three straight times to set up 4th and 1. They went for it again. Young faced quick pressure after play action and was unable to push the ball out to a wide open Tommy Tremble. It fell incomplete for another turnover on downs.
The Browns gashed the defense with a few long runs and quickly worked into the red zone. The defense stopped three plays, but Todd Monken elected to go for it on 4th down inside the five. Watson was given ample time to find Harold Fannin wide open in the back of the end zone since no one on the defense elected to run with him.
Carolina got the ball back with a minute to and a half left needing to put something on the board. They picked up their first third down conversion on an out to Tetairoa McMillan. A questionable roughing the passer helped the offense move along. Hubbard picked up a huge chunk of yards on a checkdown and the Browns continued adding penalties to help. Young was sacked on third and goal after not throwing to an open Tommy Tremble in the flat, and the Panthers were forced to kick a field goal to make it 10-3 going into the half.
Third Quarter
The Panthers were called for a procedure penalty on the opening kickoff of the second half. Despite Malachi Corley taking a shot on the first return, the Browns elected to force a rekick. On the rekick, Corley got popped again, this time by Thomas Incoom, and the ball came out. Incoom also pounced on the ball to set the Panthers up in Browns territory. They couldn’t take advantage though. On 3rd and 2, Young dirted a ball to a wide open John Metchie, forcing another field goal attempt.
The defense answered the bell and forced a three and out after a Princely Umanmielen sack in which he very blatantly got Watson by the face mask, but it somehow wasn’t called. Unfortunately the offense did nothing once again and punted. The Browns again did the same.
A couple of passes to Darren Waller moved the Panthers into field goal range, but the drive stalled after Young chucked a couple of wild deep balls near no one in particular. Ryan Fitzgerald connected from 53 yards for his third field goal of the game to make it a 10-9 game.
Fourth Quarter
Watson’s play had been deteriorating throughout the game, and the fans started voicing their displeasure. He missed a couple of throws as his offense went three and out again. After the punt, AJ Dillon picked up a couple of nice gains to give the Panthers a first down. A few plays later, Young found Tremayne deep down the left sideline for a leaping catch and 31 yard gain. He converted another third down with a deep out to John Metchie. That was enough to get into comfortable field goal range, which was important because that was the only way the Panthers could score. Fitzgerald made his fourth field goal of the game to make it 12-10.
Watson found Denzel Boston wide open for his first catch of the game, and that moved the Browns into Panthers territory. Trevis Gipson notched a sack to slow down the drive a couple plays later, and that forced Cleveland into a field goal attempt of their own. Andre Smyzt knocked it through to make it 13-12.
Young found Mitchell Evans for a good gain to start the drive, then Chuba Hubbard ripped off a couple nice runs to work the Panthers deep into Browns territory. Young found Tremble for another modest gain, then found Metchie wide open in the end zone to put the Panthers back ahead. They went for two to try to make it a seven point game, but Hubbard fumbled the ball at the goal line.
Watson broke contain to gain a bunch of yards on scramble. The defense made a point to contain him better, and Watson had a hard time finding receivers. He took a shot to the end zone, where Will Lee made a great play to break up the pass. Akayleb Evans caught the ricochet in the end zone for what should have been an interception. Unfortunately, back where Watson released the ball, Bobby Okereke got called for roughing the passer since he caught Watson in the head with his arms while trying to knock down the pass. A few plays later, Watson was finally able to break contain again, which bought him time to find Harold Fannin in the end zone for a go ahead touchdown. He found Denzel Boston on a quick slant to pick up the two point conversion.
Young took over needing another game winning drive, and it wasn’t in the cards. He threw an incomplete pass and then a checkdown for no yards. After a third down sack, Young hesitated to throw a deep ball and instead threw a checkdown to Waller on 4th and 18. He was tackled short, obviously, and the ball was given back to the Browns to close out the game. But…Browns are gonna Browns. They could have milked almost all of the clock, but they were called for an illegal formation on one of their runs, which stopped the clock and gave the Panthers a free first down. The defense stuffed the run attempts, including on fourth down, and got the ball back.
Young hit Tremayne for one big gain, but that was all the offense could muster. He got hit on the arm on a third down pass attempt, and the ball fluttered in the air for an easy interception.
Overall Outlook
Young regressed massively from the first two weeks of the season. The Browns pressured him, and he looked tremendously flustered for most of the game. His footwork was erratic, and some of the decisions he made didn’t make any sense. He seemed lost and unsure on just about every play.
To add injury to insult, the Panthers lost a number of key players in a game that they were already shorthanded for. Jalen Coker, Jaycee Horn, and Mike Jackson all left the game and didn’t return. Stay tuned later this week for the injury report, because there’s going to be lots to keep an eye on there.
The Panthers have a week to figure this out. They’ll be on prime time next week as they host the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football.
