It was a disappointing night on an evening that was supposed to show us how the Carolina Panthers will look in the regular season, but despite playing their starters almost three full quarters the Patriots prevailed with a 30-7 win. Alarm bells shouldn't be sounding, nor should you be worried and there's a good reason why.
New England was motivated. Perhaps it was their regular season loss to Carolina on Monday Night Football last year, perhaps it was out of a desire to see their own starters shine, but players aside Bill Belichick had a point to prove, to the Panthers or his own players. Preseason is a time for boring, vanilla offenses and rote schemes, none of which the Pats showed on Friday night. Creative blitz packages, dynamic receiver routes, this was not a standard preseason game for one of the teams.
Ron Rivera's squad on the other hand, they were more in preseason mode. This is a good and bad thing. Some players looked ready for the regular season, others look like they need to go back to Spartanburg for a few more weeks of seasoning. I suspect some guys will get an earful in practice this week.
Cam Newton played very well given the situation around him. The offensive line struggled more than they have in past preseason games, but it's important to remember that the Patriots are no longer the all-offense team people remember them as. In recent years they've gotten a lot tougher on the defensive line, particularly by bolstering their pass rush and pairing it with solid running. It's the kind of scheme shift that will lengthen Tom Brady's career by not asking him to put everything on his shoulders and finally surrounding him with talent on all sides of the ball.
Newton completed 8 of 12 on his passes, all at an efficient 7.33 yards-per-attempt. It was a standard game for the quarterback, without some of his signature running. Perhaps he's bottling it all up for Week No.1, but I'm not sold we'll really see "Cam be Cam" in 2014. It's not going to be a long-term issue, but he doesn't seem as confident in his running. If this year means bottling the genie for 16 weeks so we can see him shine long-term.
What I liked
Kelvin Benjamin - Extremely Optimistic
When a guy makes this list once or twice it's nice, when he does it three times in a row it could be the precursor to something special. Unlike his first game against Buffalo there wasn't a big amazing touchdown catch, instead we saw regular consistent, reliable performance from the rookie. He caught passes in traffic, operated well in the dirty parts of the field and generally just played really well.
No, he's not going to catch a touchdown every week, but having these kind of games is what you want out of a future No.1 receiver.
Thomas Davis - Extremely Optimstic
It was a regular TD game, which is to say outstanding. Even though it's preseason he's in mid-season form. Just a fantastic game overall.
Luke Kuechly - Extremely Optimistic
I'll just leave this here.
Jonathan Stewart - Somewhat Optimstic
Maybe make this "cautiously optimistic."
Jeez, we seem to say this every year but maybe this really is the season things turn the corner. Before his injury it was clear Ron Rivera was looking at utilizing Stewart as the featured back and he's shown a lot this preseason. The box score makes it look like he did poorly, but a lot of the running struggles were from failings on the offensive line.
His big play was a 20-yard catch early in the game. Stewart bobbled the ball but managed to hold on, before charging down the sideline. It was a nice play and shows that he still has some wheels.
Cam Newton - Somewhat Optimistic
The unintended side effect of Newton's injury could be his further evolution as a quarterback. Staying in the pocket and finding outlet passes could be a huge boon for the third-year passer, and we're seeing him become more relaxed and confident when the pocket breaks down around him.
Newton was under a lot of pressure on Friday night and responded well for the most part. There were some bad overthrows and a mistake here or there, but there's still a lot of rust to be worked off. The fact he's developing an early rapport with Benjamin is a big positive.
Personally, it was a mostly-good game given it's his second back.
Bene Benwikere - Somewhat Optimsitic
The rookie played a very solid game all around. He wasn't targeted quite enough to put him in the high tier of this list, but hopefully it's a sign of things to come. The game didn't look too big for him, which is a huge compliment this early in his career.
Brenton Bersin - Somewhat Optimistic
Two catches, one of them was a screamer. This could and should be the year he sticks.
What I didn't like
Yes, it's time to do this. Two preseason games is enough.
The player who started at left tackle for the Carolina Panthers - Extremely Pessimistic
Glibness aside, Byron Bell played poorly. No, we don't hate you Byron but most of the pressure came off the left side and it wasn't handled well. Was he the only problem? No. However, there were a lot.
Look, we know Chandler Jones isn't an easy cover, he's quickly becoming one of the best speed-rushers in the league. That said, there are a lot of really good rushers in this league and contending with them is a left tackle's job.
It's my hope this can get solidified quickly by scheme, because it's too late to bring someone in and train them up -- nor have the Panthers shown any desire to do so.
Antoine Cason - Extremely Pessimistic
This was just rough to watch. Brady picked on his side all evening and there wasn't much resistance. I'd like to believe Cason has more left in the tank, but I'd be lying if I didn't say there were doubts creeping into my mind. If he's going to match up against No.1 receivers we need to see more. On Friday he overpursued, fell for moves and generally looked lost.
The rest of the offensive line - Somewhat Pessimistic
I need to go back and watch the film, but no it wasn't all Byron Bell. There were a lot of breakdowns across the offensive line that need to right themselves before the season begins in earnest.