The Carolina Panthers got whipped in their first preseason game, 30-10, by a Cleveland Browns team that went 3-14 a year ago and was barely playing any of its starters Friday night.
And you know what?
It really wasn’t a bad thing. I wouldn’t worry about it much.
When it mattered — when the Panthers were playing their first-teamers — quarterback Bryce Young looked just like he did at the end of last season. In other words, he was pretty terrific.
And for the most part, so was rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who made a difficult over-the-shoulder catch for a 30-yard gain that was Carolina’s longest play of the night and drew a tremendous roar from the fans.
McMillan also didn’t get himself turned around quickly enough on a potential touchdown pass that hit him in the hands — “a perfect ball,” McMillan would call it later. But T-Mac still looked electric and far better in Week 1 of the preseason than Xavier Legette, who decided the best way to settle a dispute on the field was by punching an opponent in the helmet four times and then going at his legs.
Not surprisingly, Legette immediately got thrown out of the game, as did Cleveland’s Rayshawn Jenkins, who ripped Legette’s helmet off in the altercation. X then apologized, via X, while the game was still going on.
While national commentators are going to fall all over themselves to praise Cleveland reserve quarterback Shedeur Sanders and how well he played Friday night in the win — and the rookie fifth-round pick did have a number of excellent moments — let’s look a little closer at the reality.
The Browns’ Sanders did go 14-for-23 for 138 yards, and his famous father Deion did write on X “Yes Lawd! Yes!” But Sanders’ two touchdown passes came against Carolina’s second- and third-stringers. When the Panthers’ first-teamers were in for the first two drives, Sanders and the Browns had zero points.
In other words, Carolina’s depth needs some major work. No surprise there, and that’s going to catch up with the Panthers if it doesn’t improve dramatically.
But the Panthers’ starters left the game ahead, 7-0, midway through the first quarter. And Carolina’s touchdown came due to Young making the sort of off-platform, freelance play that he showcased so well at the end of last season.
The third-year quarterback moved Jalen Coker around on a scramble drill, extended the play by running to his right and then threw a gorgeous five-yard TD pass to Coker after the wide receiver found an open spot. This came in the same drive after Legette had been ejected from the game.
Let’s also note that the Panthers were doing the correct thing here by playing their starters in the preseason, which they will do again next week at Houston before going “reserve only” for the third and final exhibition. Carolina couldn’t have started worse last year in the regular season, losing its first two games by a combined 60 points after barely playing the starters in the 2024 preseason.
Young got benched after that fiasco, but he looked far removed from the uncertain, timid QB of a year ago on Friday night. Before a crowd that was realistically in the neighborhood of 50,000 and had a goodly number of Browns fans, Young went 4-for-6 for 58 yards and a touchdown. His only two incompletions weren’t totally easy balls to catch but did hit the receivers in the hands — the one to McMillan that was quickly followed by the TD to Coker, and an earlier one that was slightly behind Chuba Hubbard.
So for Bryce, despite the score, this was nice.
There were trouble spots, though, in this 30-10 loss:
The Panthers’ run game was mostly non-existent. With offensive coordinator Brad Idzik taking a turn at calling plays — Canales will do so during the regular season — at one point Carolina had nine run plays and 32 passes. The Panthers ended up rushing 14 times for only 40 yards.
The defensive reserves. Sanders by and large had a good bit of time to throw, and he frequently was dumping it down to guys who were open by 2-3 yards. Cleveland’s two quarterbacks combined for a 113.5 pass rating (Young had a 137.5 in limited work, but Carolina’s other two QBs were less than 90).
Losing by 20 points to a three-win team that hardly played any of its own starters. Again, this is problematic. Not to be able to turn Sanders over even once isn’t good, either, especially given this was his first NFL action and he played nearly three quarters.
Meanwhile, Carolina veteran backup QB Andy Dalton threw an interception and Panther Trevor Etienne fumbled a punt after his own teammate got blocked into him.
“Part of our play style is playing smart,” Canales said. “I didn’t feel like we did that. I felt like there was sloppiness.”
The good news? Canales said he probably plans to play Young and the first-team offense for three series against Houston in the next preseason game, rather than the two series they got Friday night. The connection between Young and McMillan can look dazzling even in these very early stages. We all need to see some more of that.
Said McMillan, when asked to talk about both of the game’s starting quarterbacks: “I mean, I think Shedeur went out there and killed it, obviously. (But) I take my quarterback anytime, any day of the week. So shout out (No.) 9, man.”