FOXBORO — The New England Patriots took on the Carolina Panthers Friday night, edging out a win in the second week of preseason play, 20-10.
After a week of joint practices with Carolina, the Patriots opted to start a bulk of their first-team starters in the game — with most notably Mac Jones getting the nod for the Patriots following a game-opening punt from the Panthers.
After two terrible drives where the Patriots gained only three yards combined across both drives, the Pats’ first-team offense marched down the field for an 81-yard scoring drive that took 10 plays to do so.
A 45-yard completion to Nelson Agholor by Jones was the catalyst to put the Patriots in the red zone, which was capped off by Ty Montgomery’s 2-yard rush through traffic to give New England a lead.
That scoring drive marked the end of the day for Jones (4-for-8, 61 yards), who turned the quarterbacking duties over to Brian Hoyer. Hoyer’s time on the field was short-lived (2-for-3, 30 yards), with Bailey Zappe coming in as the signal-caller at the line.
The Patriots gave Zappe a chance following a challenged incomplete pass from Carolina’s Matt Coral, which was successfully challenged by head coach Bill Belichick. A short pass from Corral was caught by Keith Kirkwood and was knocked free by a tackle from Josh Bledsoe.
With advantageous field position at the 26-yard line for New England, the Patriots couldn’t find the end zone for a touchdown. Instead, Nick Folk was called on shortly after for a 38-yard field goal following a stalled drive to make it 10-3.
Zappe’s day possibly earned him a roster spot, as he spread the ball well and found the open receiver to move the ball up and down the field. His lone blemish was a roll-out to his left, which led to an interception by Tae Hayes for a 50-yard pick-six that led to a 10-10 game.
Zappe remained in the game, helping bring the Patriots into field-goal position for Tristan Vizcaino, who ended a drop-filled drive with a 51-yard score to make it 13-10. The Patriots defense continued to put pressure on quarterback PJ Walker, who was substituted in for rookie Matt Corral, sacking him for a loss of nine and then sacking him again, forcing a fumble that was recovered by the Patriots’ Sam Roberts for the touchdown.
With the Panthers making a last-minute effort, Brenden Schooler recorded an interception on Walker to end the game.
Next up for the Patriots is a week of joint practices against the Las Vegas Raiders, and then a game at Vegas on Friday. Opening kick is scheduled for 8:15 p.m.
Patriot notes
The Patriots looked very good on defense, particularly the starters. Through the first half they put ample pressure on Carolina’s Corral and PJ Walker, the latter of the two getting the start. The Patriots at one point had Carolina facing a third-and-29 with a 10-yard sack by Deatrich Wise Jr. pushing back the sticks. Josh Uche, Ronnie Perkins, Wise, DaMarcus Mitchell and Anfernee Jennings added sacks as well. Ja’Whaun Bentley led the team in tackles with five.
The defense will not be an issue when it’s working full-steam. Special teams was a soft spot, with performances from Schooler and Lil’Jordan Humphrey helping pin a punt on the 3-yard line. Schooler nearly did it twice, with the first just going out of his reach for a touchback. Belichick pointed out several areas where he felt the team could improve.
"We had our moments. Didn't do a very good job in the return game, punt return game," said Belichick. "That troubled the gunners. Didn't handle the ball well. Anytime you don't handle the ball well, you're not going to have a good return game. Our coverage was okay. Made a couple field goals, missed one. Certainly could be better. We can execute it better. But the punt return game was disappointing."
Leading the Patriots on offense was Zappe, who went 16 of 25 for 173 yards and an interception. JJ Taylor had six carries for 33 yards, with Pierre Strong Jr. carrying seven times for 23 yards. Humphrey had 71 yards on five catches while Tre Nixon caught a team-high six passes for 56 yards.
The Patriots beat Carolina in nearly all team-based stats: total yards (375-192), passing yards (249-135), rushing yards (125-57) and yards per play (5.6-3.3). The Patriots also allowed just two sacks. One number of note is the Patriots’ third-down efficiency, which plagued them all game. New England didn’t string together back-to-back third downs until a Jones drive that spanned across the first and second quarters, and those ended up being the only two of the night. New England finished 2 of 12 on third down with 20 first downs.
One thing to be considered is that the Panthers did not play many of their starters, similar to how New England did last week against the Giants. No Baker Mayfield or Sam Darnold, Christian McCaffrey, Brian Burns, DJ Moore or Jaycee Horn to truly test the Patriots’ first team. Take the numbers with a grain a salt, but the Patriots did play well with their best out on the field.
Out for the night was Hunter Henry, Kendrick Bourne, Kristian Wilkerson, Andrew Steuber, Justin Herron, Trent Brown and Isaiah Wynn. Receiver Tyquan Thornton, who has been having a stellar preseason and camp, had one catch for 13 yards. He exited the game in the fourth quarter with a shoulder ailment, and was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
As for the ongoing play-calling drama, Matt Patricia was heavily involved with the play-calling on offense. He called all of Jones’ plays on offense, along with Hoyer’s and Zappe’s.