First defense has moments, but allows a score
The first defense, including Pro Bowler Derrick Brown, also got two series in.
It was his first work in a game since last year's opener, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury.
"It was very few, but it was good to be back out here," Brown said during a sideline interview with the Panthers Television Network. "Just trusting the process throughout this whole past year, begging to just get something out here today, so I was able to be out here with the team, so I was excited to be able to go out there and just kind of set the tone from the beginning of the week, showing up here, doing a joint practice and then just rolling into this game and being able to be with my teammates."
The Texans got it into the end zone, with CJ Stroud hitting Nico Collins for a fourth-down conversion.
The Panthers did have starting linebackers Trevin Wallace on the field after he missed the joint practice for personal reasons.
The high point might have been defensive tackle Bobby Brown III batting down a third-down pass. That's a Derrick Brown move, and having big bodies up front that can push the pocket and deflect passes is a good thing.
It was such a small sample size that it's hard to draw too many conclusions, and came against a team which has won a couple of division titles in a row.