Panthers 10, Falcons 24: Turnovers doom Panthers in season opener

The Carolina Panthers couldn't overcome three costly turnovers as they dropped their season opener to the Atlanta Falcons, 24-10.

First Quarter

The Panthers came out of the game hot. Derrick Brown deflected Desmond Ridder's first pass of the game back to him, then Brian Burns capitalized on the derailed drive with an early sack. The offense proceeded march down the field, but a failed 4th down run by Chuba Hubbard kept the Panthers off the scoreboard. After a Falcons punt, Bryce Young didn't see Jessie Bates III in the middle of the field and was intercepted.

Second Quarter

That interception was parlayed into a Bijan Robinson touchdown where he juked Frankie Luvu out of his shoes. After an exchange of punts, Young orchestrated a 75-yard drive that he capped off with his first career touchdown pass. A rather uneventful remainder of the half ended with the score still knotted at seven.

Third Quarter

The Panthers strung together another long drive to open the second half that ended in an Eddie Pineiro field goal. On the next Panthers possession, Young threw another interception to Bates on almost an identical pass over the middle. The Panthers defense was able to hold the Falcons to a field goal, but the offense gave the ball right back with a Miles Sanders fumble. Bates again was the instigator of the turnover. The quarter ended with a Bijan Robinson inside the five.

Fourth Quarter

It took the Falcons two tries, but Tyler Allgeier bounced out of a crowd of bodies at the line to just reach the endzone and put the Falcons up 17-10. After a few punts, one of which put the Panthers on their own one yard line despite a massive horse collar tackle, the Falcons got in close again with big pass to Kyle Pitts over CJ Henderson. Allgeier capped it off again to put the game out of reach.

Overview

The Panthers looked good on a per play basis, but it's hard to overcome a minus-3 turnover differential. Bryce Young and by extension the entire offense had their moments, but they kind of lost their rhythm in the second half. The defense played well but couldn't overcome the inopportune situations they were put in.

The Panthers will look to bounce back in their home opener on Monday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints.