Analysis: Panthers easily beat the Jets. How far they go from here depends on 2 things

Sam Darnold insisted that his first game against his former team, the New York Jets, was no revenge game. He maintained that it was just the first game of the season and the Panthers were just playing another opponent.

Perhaps he was being honest.

But he played Sunday as if he had something to prove.

The Panthers are 1-0 after their 19-14 Week 1 win over the Jets and can head into Week 2 with optimism that Darnold at quarterback can work.

Darnold stunk it up last season. He threw more interceptions (11) than touchdowns (nine). The Jets were 2-10 with him as the starter in 2020 and were ready to part ways three seasons after drafting him third overall.

But in his first game with the Panthers, he didn’t look like the same quarterback whose mechanics were off, often threw from his back foot and looked flustered under pressure.

Darnold was pressured often Sunday, too, behind a Panthers offensive line that still has quirks to work out. But he made his throws and was only sacked once. He completed 24-of-35 passes for 279 yards and a touchdown.

He connected with Robby Anderson, his former Jets teammate, on a 57-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter — his most impressive throw of the game. And he added a 5-yard touchdown run.

By early fourth quarter, Darnold had already thrown for more yards than he had in any game in 2020.

“It was a good first step for him,” Panthers coach Matt Rhule said of Darnold. “He was in the moment the whole game. I was just anxious to see how he would be in terms of playing the Jets, and he looked like he had fun the whole day. ... He was great.”

Sure, the Panthers were facing the Jets, who finished 2-14 in 2020 and didn’t have the talent to match the Panthers.

But the NFL margin of error is thin; a bad team can beat a good team if the conditions are right. The Panthers looked the part of a good team Sunday, and a major part of that was a credit to the defense.

The defense shut down the Jets running game, holding them to 45 yards rushing, and made them one dimensional. The defense also forced a turnover in the first half (Shaq Thompson interception) and made life hectic for Jets rookie quarterback Zach Wilson, who finished 20 of 37 with two touchdowns and an interception. He was sacked six times and hurried 10.

“The goal is the same every week: stop the run so they have to pass and when they have to pass get to the QB,” linebacker Haason Reddick said, who finished with 1.5 sacks Sunday. “I believe we did that today. Some things we still have to work on, but as long as we keep getting better, it’ll be a beautiful thing for the defense.”

It’ll be a beautiful thing for the offense too.

All Darnold and the offense had to do was take advantage Sunday. They did so with a healthy dose of Christian McCaffrey, who had 30 touches for 187 total yards (98 rushing, 89 receiving).

“Yeah,” McCaffrey said, when asked was he prepared to touch the ball 30 times per game for 17 games. “I’m ready to roll.”

The Panthers’ performance Sunday wasn’t all good. The Panthers offense was sluggish in the third quarter with two of its first three drives going three-and-out. The defense allowed Wilson and the Jets to drive 93 yards downfield for a touchdown to cut the lead to five points with under 2 minutes to play.

Carolina must be better in the red zone and on third down if it wants to beat playoff-caliber teams like the Cowboys in Week 4. The Panthers were among the league’s worst teams in both categories in 2020. They were 28th in the league in red-zone touchdown percentage, scoring a touchdown on only 50.9% of their red-zone trips. They were 24th in the NFL in third-down percentage, converting 39% of third downs.

On Sunday, it showed again.

In the second quarter with the score tied 0-0, the Panthers had the ball at the Jets’ 6-yard line with a chance to score, but Darnold fumbled the exchange to McCaffrey on fourth down when he bumped into fullback Giovanni Ricci. The Jets recovered.

On the next possession, the Panthers got the ball down to the Jets’ 3-yard line and settled for a field goal.

The Panthers were 1 for 4 on red-zone touchdown opportunities, and were 4 for 13 on third-down attempts.

But Darnold was far from the player he was last year. He was confident. He was consistent.

“I feel like as an offense we didn’t capitalize as much as we should have. ... We should have scored more points,” Darnold said. “But whenever you can be efficient, just get completions and let your guys do what they do with the rock, it’s always a good thing.”

When the Panthers traded for him this past offseason, they saw a player who was 23, with a strong arm and potential.

They knew he had struggled. All they required of him was to play within the game plan. Darnold did that and was good enough to help the Panthers win, but his consistency going forward will be key if the Panthers want to improve on their 5-11 record from 2020. It’s hard to say whether they have a good enough team to make the playoffs.

Their defense looked the part Sunday, as long as the unit stays healthy. The Panthers entered the season with few injuries and came out relatively unscathed too, with the exception of Myles Hartsfield’s wrist injury, which Rhule said could be significant.

It will be incumbent upon Darnold to take them there.

This story was originally published September 12, 2021 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Analysis: Panthers easily beat the Jets. How far they go from here depends on 2 things."