By David Rogers. BUFFALO, N.C. — Touchdown passes to three different receivers helped visiting Carolina roll up 414 yards of total offense on Aug. 24, propelling the Panthers to a 31-26 win over the Buffalo Bills in the 2024 season’s third and final preseason game.
In his first game action of the preseason, second year quarterback Bryce Young directed a 12 play, 85-yard TD-scoring drive that took almost seven minutes off the game clock in the opening drive of the contest. Carolina’s first team starters didn’t play much in this game but made the best of it. Young completed 6 of 8 passes for 70 yards and was sacked once in what turned out to be the Panthers’ only offensive possession of the first quarter. Young hit Jordan Matthews for an 8-yard scoring pass open the game, before backup QB Jack Plummer took over for the rest of the way. Plummer completed 21 of 29 passes for 278 yards and two TDs. He was sacked once for an 8-yard loss.
Being on the receiving end of a 36-yard TD pass from Plummer in the fourth quarter allowed Jalen Coker to finish among the pass reception leaders among the 16 Panthers receivers catching at least one pass. Wide receiver Terrace Marshall, Jr. caught a 15 yard TD pass from Plummer midway through the third quarter, finishing with 3 catches for 39 yards. Tight end Jesper Horstad was the big play workhorse on this day, hauling in a pair of passes for a game-high 63 yards.
In evaluating Young after the game, Panthers head coach Dave Canales was understandably excited about what he saw.
“It was great, right?,” The Panthers’ first year head coach asked, rhetorically. “Couldn’t have dreamt it better. A nice long drive, 12 plays to get the guys some good work, get them tired in the drive. A fourth down conversion in there, but saw [Bryce Young] extend plays with his legs, keeping his eyes down the field, finding guys. You can see the carry-over from practice to the game of people creating space, the play after the play. Those are the things that are so critical for us. He handled the run game with great expertise and got us to the right runs in those situations. So, I felt great about it.”
The decision to play Plummer the rest of the way after Young’s opening series also meant that the primary reserve, veteran Andy Dalton, also had to sit.
“He (Dalton) felt ready. It was really me. I just saw putting Andy [Dalton] in a competitive situation after we’ve gotten him completely healthy (as counterproductive). He had a great week of practice, and I thought, ‘If I put him in a competitive situation, he’s going to go win.’ He’s going to take off. I just really thought this is a great opportunity to give Jack Plummer another chance to be evaluated. He took full advantage of that, which was awesome,” said Canales.
Of local interest, former Appalachian State star running back Darrynton Evans recorded the Bills’ first TD of the day, coming out of the backfield to catch a pass QB Ben DiNucci on the left side, near the line of scrimmage. He shook off a would-be tackler along the sidelines, then sprinted into the end zone to complete the 18 yard TD-scoring play. Evans is competing with several other running backs to potentially make the 53-man active roster. All 32 NFL teams will be active during the next three days to make the necessary cuts, to get their respective rosters down to 53 by 4 p.m, Eastern time, on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
The Panthers open the regular season on Sept. 8 in New Orleans (1 p.m. kickoff), then face the Los Angeles Chargers in Bank of America Stadium for the Week 2 matchup on Sept. 15 (also 1 p.m. kickoff).
