The Carolina Panthers used the defense to shut down the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday.
The talk about the Carolina Panthers' offense so far in training camp and preseason has been the slow starts. Carolina has struggled to get off to good starts in games but that wasn't the case on Friday.
Carolina scored early and often in their 34-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was the first win of the preseason for Dave Canales' team. And they did so with really good performance from the defense.
The Panthers' defense made life difficult on the Jaguars for about three quarters, not giving up a touchdown until under five minutes were left. But what was more impressive was the scoring they did on their own, including a career-first for a player.
The Panthers got the scoring started in the first quarter when Jonathon Brooks finished off a 7-play, 58-yard drive with a one-year touchdown run. Jacksonville responded with a Cam Little field goal and after that, it was all Panthers.
Carolina got a Ryan Fitzgerald field goal and then a AJ Dillon seven yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 17-3. with 2:07 left in the first half. The scoring wasn't done just yet.
Little connected on another field goal, this time from 34 yards out. But Carolina responded as Fitzgerald drilled a 61-yarder on a four-play, 19-yard drive to take a 20-6 lead at halftime.
The second half was more of the same.
Kenny Pickett and Roc Taylor connected on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 1:25 left in the third quarter to take a 27-6 lead. Carolina controlled the second half and never really looked back.
Casey Washington caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Trask which sealed the scoring for the Panthers. Jacksonville got another field goal from Little and then got a touchdown late in the game.
Pickett led the way with 137 passing yards, going 15-of-25 with one touchdown. John Metchie III led receivers with six catches for 77 yards.
The Panthers are now 2-1 in the preseason and have just one game left. They will host the Houston Texans next Friday night to close things out. From there, the focus will be on the regular season.
