It wasn’t exactly the barnburner you were hoping to see, but things got extremely interesting before it was all said and done. The New York Jets were putting up little resistance for much of the game, but some late-game gumption by rookie first-round pick Zach Wilson gave the Carolina Panthers a real last-minute scare en route to escaping with a 19-14 victory at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday afternoon. In any other season, barring you being a fan of either team, you’d probably would’ve glossed over this Week 1 matchup but, in 2021, you would’ve been foolish to do so, even though it didn’t burn down the scoreboard. Headlined by Wilson working to outplay his predecessor in former Jets first-round pick Sam Darnold, it was the latter who leaves with the last laugh.
Locked in a scoreless tie in the middle of the second quarter, Darnold made a phenomenal throw to wide receiver D.J. Moore for a sideline catch that required every molecule of toe-drag swag to keep inbounds. But Darnold giveth and Darnold taketh away, coughing up an untimely fumble on fourth-and-1 from the Jets 4-yard line when trying to hand the ball off to running back Christian McCaffrey. Luckily for Darnold, Wilson was prepped to make the first big mistake of his young NFL career: tossing an interception that was tipped and reeled in by linebacker Shaq Thompson.
The Panthers capitalized on the mulligan with a field goal that broke the scoring drought, and seemingly opened the flood gates, because Darnold then reminded everyone his arm can be a problem for opposing defenses. On the Panthers next drive, Darnold tossed a dot to Robby Anderson, his former Jet compatriot, scoring on a 57-yard moon shot. A missed field goal by Ryan Santoso keeps it at a three-field goal affair, but the Panthers (on both offense and defense) started to finally find a groove.
The second half became more of a showing for the Panthers defense than Darnold, but that’s all they needed, considering Wilson continued to operate under duress and with little protection along with no aid from Tevin Coleman and the run game. Playing from behind for the entire contest and being forced into a one-dimensional attack with a rookie QB at the helm was exactly what head coach Matt Rhule was hoping to see happen, and the result was exactly as you’d expect. Darnold and the Panthers were in the driver’s seat, while Wilson was mostly a deer in headlights, but not before he did a bit of damage to the front end in Carolina — throwing for a second career touchdown late in the fourth quarter — something to hold onto if you’re a Jets fan.
There’s a major concern on the injury front for Gang Green, however, with starting tackle Mekhi Becton being carted off of the field with an apparent knee injury in the third quarter. That, needless to say, might be the biggest story of the week for the Jets, depending on what his test results reveal.
In-depth takeaways are coming shortly, but be sure to catch up on all of the action you might’ve missed in the live blog below.
