The Dave Canales era got underway under wet and sloppy conditions at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night. The sloppiness wasn’t necessarily due to to the weather conditions; instead the Carolina Panthers racked up 61 yards in penalties en route to a 17-3 loss to the New England Patriots.
Only a handful of starters played for the Panthers and backups Jack Plummer and Jake Luton were under center. Carolina struggled to move the ball, managing only three fist downs in the first half. At one point, the team had more penalty yards that net passing yards; self inflictions that undoubtedly will draw the ire of Canales. Rookie kicker Harrison Mevis finally put the Panthers on the board with a 41-yard field goal with less than two minutes left in the game.
Plummer finished 11-of-21 for 85 yards and was sacked five times for a loss of 35 yards. There were a few passes that were on the money but dropped by the receivers. Terrace Marshall Jr and Jonathan Mingo had back to back drops that stalled what should have been a productive drive in the first half. Luton finished 7-of-9 for 38 yards. New England played four different quarterbacks with Bailey Zappe getting the bulk of the snaps after Jacoby Brissett started the game. Zappe finished 12-of-20 for 108 yards and was sacked twice. Joe Milton threw for 54 yards and one touchdown. Drake Maye, drafted No. 3 overall by New England, was 2-of-3 for 19 yards in limited action.
Carolina heads back to Charlotte and will have tomorrow off before resuming training on Saturday.
