Panthers rally around Kuechly, beat Jaguars 20-9 in opener

Norman took scoring responsibility into his own hands when he picked off Blake Bortles in the third quarter and returned the ball 30 yards to the house.

“We talked about adversity is going to come our way”, Bradley said, via ESPN.com.

“If the best player in the defensive huddle shares his crib notes on the Panthers” defensive schemes with rookies, stays late studying opponents and doesn’t refer to himself in the third person, it goes a long way with his teammates.

Carolina could certainly use their star defensive leader back soon, but the Panthers have to be careful with Kuechly and the concussion he suffered a T.J. Yeldon run. “He can make the plays that turn momentum and turn the outcome of the game”.

The game will take place at Everbank Field in Jacksonville, FL on Sunday, September 13 at 1 p.m. EDT. Cam Newton was held to only 175 yards while throwing for a touchdown and an interception. In the receiving end, Kevin Norwood had 40 yards in two receptions while Marcus Lucas added 37 yards and a touchdown in two catches. “We had to have a game like this to see where our bar is and see where we’re at”. “We knew then that he was OK and I think that helped the players just emotionally and mentally”, McDermott said. Some point to back-to-back plays on the Jaguars first series of the second half as the reason. That’s what the Jaguars did with the Panthers ground game that rushed for 105 yards but needed 35 attempts to reach the century mark.

“We felt like things that were under our control – dropped passes, mistakes, critical errors, kept us from getting over the top in this game”, said Bradley. Rookie kicker Jason Myers missed a 44-yard field goal and an extra point.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) throws a pass against… On their possession, Bortles had his arm hit as he attempted to pass and linebacker Thomas Davis grabbed the wobbly ball for an interception just inside the 20-yard line. We’re going to go through the protocol the way it’s designed. His first interception ended with the fifth pick-six in his 14 career starts. It’s fixable stuff. It’s not the way you want to come out and start the season at all. But five sacks of quarterback Blake Bortles on Sunday and now the uncertainty of the injury status of left tackle Luke Joeckell leaves some questions about how good this group can be.

In the first half of the game, there were multiple dropped catches by both teams, highlighted by Carolina’s Ted Ginn Jr. and Jacksonville’s Rashad Greene, which would have set up easy touchdowns for each side.

Notes: The teams kicked off the season 20 years after entering the league together as expansion franchises….