The Carolina Panthers traveled up north to take on the Giants in week 2 of the preseason. The starters saw about the same amount of action as they did in week 1, and the results were a little better than last week.
Bryce Young led the offense on their first scoring drive of the season. A 15-play drive that stalled in the red zone led to a 37-yard field goal by Matthew Wright. Young finished 3-6 for 35 yards, which included his first connection with fellow rookie Jonathan Mingo on a 15-yard catch and run on an RPO that Young read well and hit Mingo right in stride.
The starting defense minus their top 3 pass rushers played the first drive of the game and showed little resistance against the 1s of the Giants. Daniel Jones led them right down the field finding newcomer Darren Waller 3 times for 30 yards. The drive ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Bellinger.
Two guys that saw their stock rise for the Panthers were rookie 3rd round pick DJ Johnson and WR Shi Smith. Johnson only finished with one tackle but major improvement in the run game from his first game. He maintained his gap assignments and funneled oncoming rushers inside to the waiting arms of Linebackers and Defensive tackles alike. He also showed improved pass-rush moves and was consistently in the backfield. Shi Smith is firmly on the roster bubble, an injury to Terrace Marshall might put him on the right side of the bubble if he has to be placed on IR for any period of time. Smith finished with 4 catches 59 yards, and flashed with some impressive hands catches on 3rd down to extend drives.
The Panthers are back home next week against the Lions to wrap up the preseason.
-Austin