CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers improved their preseason record to 3-0 with a 25-14 win over the New England Patriots Friday night at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

  • The Panthers are 3-0 in their preseason.
  • They beat the New England Patriots 25-14 Friday night.
  • Next preseason game will be against Pittsburgh Thursday, August 30 at 7:30 p.m. LIVE on Spectrum News. 

Running back Christian McCaffrey remained busy in the Panthers offense, touching the ball 14 times (12 carries, and two pass receptions), gaining a total of 64 yards, while quarterback Cam Newton was 11 for 17 for 142 yards.

 

 

 Newton, however, made the biggest splash on a running play, where he was upended, landing on his head.  He left the game with, what was described after the game, as an eye injury.

“A lot of things were going through my mind. Most importantly I was thinking to myself, “It’s preseason, it’s preseason. What do I do?” Newton told reporters. “I want to get a first down, but I want to bring this plane in as smoothly as possible”. As I’m thinking all that, my man went low and I tried to avoid the hit and helicoptered out of there or whatever. The helmet came down on my eye. So, I’m not feeling the best right now.”

 

 

 The injury forced Newton to miss four plays on a 16 play, 77 yard drive that ate up 9:59 of the first quarter. Newton and the first team offense played the entire first half, and executed their two-minute offense well to close out the second quarter.  A drive that covered 59 yards in nine plays, capped by Graham Gano’s third field goal of the game over the final 1:49 of the half.

The drive wasn’t without controversy.  Newton found tight end Greg Olsen for a 16 yard completion at the Patriots five yard line.  Officials felt Olsen was touched in-bounds by a defender, keeping the clock in motion.  The Panthers scrambled to the line, where Newton intentionally spiked the ball to stop the clock with just one second left.

“It really is and for us to get a questionable call at the end. Not only that, us respond and still get lined up and be able to have one second left on the clock,” Newton said. “ I’m not sure what happened, but I’m sure it will be reviewed. At the end of the day, I’m happier with the fact that we didn’t let it deter us from clocking the ball and keeping that one second on the clock. We don’t know, it may come back up during the season and everyone having the wherewithal to get to the line of scrimmage and get set is very pivotal.”

The Panthers finish the preseason on Thursday, August 30, with a road date against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  That game can be seen on Spectrum News, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30pm.

NOTES:

  • The Panthers patchwork offensive line took another hit, when right tackle Jeremiah Sirles left the game with a hamstring injury in the first quarter.  Rivera said Sirles would be evaluated on Saturday.
  • Linebackers Luke Kuechly and Shaq Thompson each recorded seven tackles against the Patriots, with Thompson recording a pair of stops behind the line of scrimmage.
  • Members of the Queens University swim team were on hand as the “Keep Pounding” drummers before the game.  Hayley Blaauw, Bradford Hancock, Mitchell Harwood and McKenzie Stevens took part in the traditional bass drum bash prior to kickoff.  Queens won both the men’s and women’s NCAA Division II National Championships earlier this year.