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Panthers' Comeback Attempt Falls Short

Recapping the Panthers' loss to the Giants.

Schuyler Callihan

Panthers' Comeback Attempt Falls Short
Panthers' Comeback Attempt Falls Short /
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Week two of the preseason showed marked signs of improvement in certain areas for the Carolina Panthers, despite falling to the New York Giants, 21-19.

Daniel Jones and the Giants' first-team offense weren't on the field all that long, but they made the most of it. In his lone drive of the night, Jones completed 8-of-9 pass attempts for 69 yards and a touchdown to tight end Daniel Bellinger. Fellow tight end Darren Waller gave the Panthers fits, hauling in three receptions for 30 yards. Ironically, Waller was responsible for Jones' only incompletion dropping the ball after receiving a hard hit from safety Vonn Bell.

First overall pick Bryce Young and the Panthers' starters went three and out on their first series, but got things going on the ensuing drive. Young led a 15-play drive that resulted in Carolina scoring their first points of the preseason off the foot of Matthew Wright, who punched one through from 37 yards out.

Young hit draft classmate Jonathan Mingo for 15 yards, who bounced off safety Jason Pinnock and moved the chains for an impressive gain.

A few plays later, Young bailed out tight end Hayden Hurst, who was guilty of a false start on 3rd & 1. He completed a pass to Adam Thielen along the sideline to keep the drive alive. A roughing the passer call on Dexter Lawrence II gave the Panthers a fresh set of downs and Carolina took full advantage of it. Young had completions of 15 and 13 yards to Hurst and DJ Chark, setting up the field goal by Wright. This would also end the night for Young, finishing 3/6 for 35 yards.

New York answered with a nine-play, 60-yard scoring drive that ended with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor to rookie speedster Jalin Hyatt. Linebacker Deion Jones applied pressure, forcing Taylor to just throw one as far as he could and safety Eric Rowe was fooled on the play turning in the wrong direction, which gave Hyatt a ton of room to make the catch.

With a little over two minutes to go in the half, Panthers head coach Frank Reich elected to run Spencer Brown on 4th and 1 just shy of midfield, but the Giants slammed the door shut. Three plays later, running back Eric Gray rushed one in from nine yards out to extend the Giants lead to 21-3. 

To open up the second half, the Panthers pieced together a balanced, methodical drive that ate up 7:15 off the game clock. A sack on 2nd down killed the momentum of the drive, but Matthew Wright took care of things once again, this time really showing off his leg converting on a 53-yard kick.

Matt Corral played a big part in the Panthers reaching the end zone for the first time this preseason, completing passes of 14 and 27 yards to Shi Smith while also taking off for a 13-yard gain. Raheem Blackshear also contributed by rushing for 20 yards on four carries, including a one-yard touchdown. Corral's pass fell incomplete on the two-point conversion, keeping the score at 21-12 with 13:41 to go in the game.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Carolina made another QB change giving Jake Luton a chance to put something on tape and boy, did he ever. He found Josh Vann along the sideline for a 21-yard gain and a few moments later, dropped in a dime to Gary Jennings in the end zone for a touchdown, bringing the Panthers within two.

Bend, but don't break. That's what the Panthers defense did on the next Giants' offensive possession, allowing them to bring the ball out from their own 15, eventually crossing midfield. Ejiro Evero's unit forced a punt, giving Carolina a chance to win the game with less than two minutes remaining. However, Luton threw four straight incompletions handing the ball back over to New York to drain out the remainder of the clock.

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Schuyler Callihan
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN

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