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Charlotte, NC – Baker Mayfield got off to a rocky start in his highly-anticipated Panthers debut, completing just five of his first eleven passes for 14 yards and an interception. Carolina’s offense went three-and-out on three of its first five possessions and couldn’t get anything going down the field. Cleveland’s strong defensive front gave Carolina all kinds of issues as expected. Jadeveon Clowney caught two passes at the line of scrimmage and the Browns had four as a team in the first half.
The Browns had a chance to score on their opening possession, and Jacoby Brissett was fouled by Amari Cooper. He kept very long hair which forced Xavier Woods to close and not finish. Jaycee Horn sneaked out after the release and if he had noticed Brissett right away, the Browns would have taken a 7-0 lead out of the gate.
Baker Mayfield threw two touchdowns and caused negative plays, but the biggest mistake of the first half was a good throw by Shea Smith that was intercepted by Grant Delpitt. Brissett took a deep kick to Cooper that was intercepted by Xavier Woods on 3rd and 3. Unfortunately, C.J. Henderson tried to recover a fumble on his way and was flagged for pass interference by the defense, stopping the ball at the one yard line. Kareem Hunt punched him on the next play.
Third down continued to be an issue for the Panthers defense as they gave up a 15-yard gain to Donovan Peoples-Jones and then a 25-yarder from Nick Chubb on 3rd and short on Cleveland’s possession. Again, Kareem Hunt capped the drive with a touchdown. This time from 24 yards away, untouched.
Carolina’s offense finally woke up late in the half when Mayfield connected with DJ Moore for a 15th-and-3 gain, followed by a 50-yard bomb to TE Ian Thomas. Christian McCaffrey came in two plays later to get the Panthers on the board through the air and into the end zone.
New Panthers kicker Eddie Pinero sailed wide, allowing the Browns to start their final drive of the half at the 40. Cade York made a 26-yard field goal to make it 17-7.
After scoring a combined 24 points in the second quarter, both defenses found a rhythm following adjustments at the half. A 34-yard field goal by Cade York was the only score of the frame.
The Panthers offense put together its best drive of the day in the bottom of the third and into the fourth. After allowing Myles Garrett a back-to-back sack on the previous drive, offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo got Christian McCaffrey to step in and quickly strip the ball away from Mayfield.
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Mayfield threw another snap, but McCaffrey picked it up and put Cleveland up 32. Carolina worked its way down the field, setting up a 7-yard touchdown run by Mayfield, pulling the Panthers to within one point.
Cleveland hit another field goal from York to push the lead to two goals, 23-14. One play later, Mayfield responded when he hit Robbie Anderson in the deep post for a 75-yard touchdown.
With the clock ticking down to two minutes, the Panthers are desperate to get a stop and get the ball back on offense. Frankie Louvue led the Panthers all day (141 yards on 22 carries) with an impressive open field tackle on Nick Chubb. Brissett’s third-down pass intended for Donovan Peoples-Jones fell incomplete, forcing a punt.
Mayfield led the Panthers down the field with a 26-yard completion to DJ Moore. Christian McCaffrey had a nice catch and run of 21 yards and moved the ball in the red zone to add 15 more yards for the Horse Collar. The Panthers punted for a field goal. Eddie Pinero gave Carolina its first lead of the day, 24-23 with 1:17 left.
On the first play of Cleveland’s drive, Brian Burns was flagged for hitting the passer on what appeared to be an incorrect call. A right hook popped a shoulder pad into Brissett’s facemask, prompting a flag to be thrown. Brissett moved the offense to the Carolina 40-yard line and starting kicker Cade York set up a 58-yard field goal for the win.
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