Panthers vs. Jaguars: Carolina ends season winless on the road, falling in Jacksonville
The Carolina Panthers’ historically bad season reached a new milestone Sunday.
The 2-14 team — one that saw itself limp into 2024 without much gumption in its 26-0 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium — will not earn a win on the road this season. The Panthers play the Tampa Bay Bucs at home next week to close out this doomed year with no playoff aspirations and not many hopes at all beyond the ones accompanying a rebuild next year.
The Panthers, with the loss, also secured the worst record in the NFL for the season — and with it, the No. 1 pick for the Chicago Bears, who have the Panthers’ first-round pick in 2024 thanks to last offseason’s blockbuster gamble to get rookie quarterback Bryce Young this year.
Another milestone?
Per ESPN, the Panthers had scored in 342 straight regular-season games since 2002 Week 13, which was the second-longest streak in the NFL, only behind the Ravens. That was shattered Sunday, too.
Take a look at the carnage as it happened on Sunday — from the in-game disqualifications, to the 62-yard touchdowns, to the fourth-down attempts and misses and more.
NFL score: Carolina vs. Jacksonville
Jaguars 26, Panthers 0 — FINAL
Live updates: Panthers vs. Jaguars
Fourth quarter
2:00: The Jaguars, threatening in the red zone again, will mercifully kneel this one out, and the Panthers won’t bother calling any timeouts. The end of a brutal day for Carolina.
2:52: Bryce Young interception.
3:26: Jaguars running back Travis Etienne with his second score of the day — extending the football across the goal line before it gets shaken free. It was originally ruled a fumble (and a Jaguars recovery), but head coach Doug Pederson correctly uses his second challenge of the day, and the Jaguars are up even more. That’s 26-0, Jaguars up. The Panthers are just trying to limp into 2024 at this point. In more fun Panthers news, Adam Thielen just notched an impressive regular-season milestone, earning 100 catches and 1,000 receiving yards on the season for only the second time in his career.
5:24: The Jaguars’ Cam Robinson and the Panthers’ Derrick Brown have both been disqualified after sustaining unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for ripping off each other’s helmets after the play concluded. That’s an early shower for Brown, the Panthers’ best defensive player this year. Here’s a look at what happened:
7:52: The Panthers’ passing game appeared to be heating up a bit, but then a 30-yard completion to DJ Chark gets overturned and called a completion, and then two more incompletions in Chark’s direction end the drive. The defense is playing tough — forcing another stop — but it’s hard to feel like a three-score comeback is coming.
Third quarter
3:04: Another Brandon McManus field goal makes it 19-0. This one from 34 yards out. It punctuates a 12-play, 67-yard drive — one that sees starting Jags quarterback CJ Beathard run a few times. His stats: three rushes for 24 yards; 17 of 24 passing for 178 yards.
5:36: Scary moment materializes with Marquis Haynes, who makes a tackle and then crumples onto the field and laid motionless for a moment. He offered a thumbs up while getting carted off the field. Jaguars are still driving. (Later, Haynes is ruled out for the rest of the game with a concussion.)
10:36: The Panthers offense just saw their sixth straight three-and-out. In Carolina injury news: Offensive lineman Cade Mays is out with a finger injury, and kicker Eddy Pineiro (hamstring) is announced as questionable.
11:56: A 62-yard touchdown run from Travis Etienne off a pitch to the outside after Frankie Luvu takes a bad angle and the secondary can’t make the tackle, and this game has officially been broken open. The running back out of Clemson goes untouched through the line and then shrugs off a few tacklers in the second layer of the defense. A PAT makes it 16-0 for the Jaguards — and with the Panthers’ run game struggling and the pass game being rendered largely useless, that might make this Jaguars lead insurmountable. Etienne now has eight attempts for 84 yards and a touchdown on the day.
12:47: The Panthers open the second half with a three and out. There hasn’t been a promising drive for Carolina since the team’s game-opening one, which ended in a turnover on downs. (Again, under normal circumstances, that first would’ve yielded three points; but no Eddy Pineiro means the Panthers need to score touchdowns today.) Johnny Hekker will kick field goals if within the 25-yard line, per the CBS broadcast.
Second quarter
0:00: That’s the end of the half. The Panthers have only accumulated 33 yards to the Jaguars’ 165. Carolina is also 1 of 7 from third down. Not a great response after the Panthers’ breakout offensive performance against the Green Bay Packers. Young’s stats: 9 of 14 for 42 yards and four sacks. Chuba Hubbard: five runs for 23 yards. The good news is that at least Young isn’t hurt; he never missed a play after that early injury scare.
2:45: Bend don’t break once more. The Jaguars have officially made this a two-score game after a third Brandon McManus field goal. This is the third Jaguars drive of 40 yards or more, but they only have three FGs to show for it. Jags lead Panthers, 9-0.
4:35: Josh Allen slides through Ickey Ekwonu and Cade Mays and blows up a third down for the Panthers with a sack. That’s three sacks suffered by rookie quarterback Bryce Young for 31 yards. All three stopped Panthers drives. Jaguars take over after a Johnny Hekker punt.
7:21: The Jaguars punctuate a 12-play, 54-yard drive with a 26-yard field goal from Brandon McManus. That 5:47-long drive saw a fourth-down conversion as well as a few breakout plays from Evan Engram, who has four catches on four targets for 44 yards. CJ Beathard’s state line: 11 of 15 for 100 yards and no interceptions. He’s been sacked twice. 6-0, Jags lead.
First quarter
0:00: What started out as a promising drive for the Panthers ended in a possible worst-case scenario. The Panthers, after driving over 50 yards and nearing the Jacksonville red zone, elected to go for a fourth-and-7 instead of kicking a 38-yard field goal because of a tweaked lower-body injury from Eddy Pineiro. On that fourth-and-7, Bryce Young dropped back to pass and got clobbered for a sack and stayed on the ground for a while, appearing to clutch his hip. Young went into the medical tent afterward. Jaguars ball now, still 3-0.
8:36: Big sack from Brian Burns on third down in the red zone. The play comes right after a clutch QB pressure, too. That makes seven sacks for the edge rusher this season. Burns comes off the field a bit gimpy, though. That stops the Jaguars’ first drive; Jacksonville settles for 35-yard FG. 3-0, Jaguars lead the Panthers.
14:20: Linebacker Frankie Luvu, who showed up on the injury report earlier this week and who is among the Panthers’ most impactful defensive players, has to be tended to on the field after the game’s first play from scrimmage. It appears like he got poked in the eye.
Kickoff, 1:03 p.m.: Let’s go! A quick update: Eddy Pineiro tweaked his hamstring pregame, per the CBS broadcast, so linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill will take the kickoffs today. The Hawaii native and high school soccer player has taken kickoffs for the Panthers previously in squib kick scenarios.
1 p.m.: Kickoff coming soon. But before y’all lock in, here’s something to look out for: Wide receiver Adam Thielen needs only five receptions and 36 yards to earn a 100-reception, 1,000-yard season. If he achieves that in the final two games, it’ll be his second season of doing so. It’s worth noting that Adam Thielen ranks third in receptions by any Panthers player through 15 games of a season in franchise history. Among the others include Christian McCaffrey and Steve Smith.
12:05 p.m.: The Panthers are rocking with their white jerseys and Process Blue pants, the first time they’ve worn this combination this season. Perhaps it’s fitting to wear something so rare on such a rare occasion for the Panthers: This is only the third New Year’s Eve game played by Carolina (1-1) and only the eighth matchup with Jacksonville all-time. The last time these two teams played was in Week 5 of 2019, when the Panthers won at home.
11:35 p.m.: About an hour and a half until New Year’s Eve football! Some roster news for the Panthers: Cornerback Jaycee Horn is a full go today after being questionable. He tested out his toe injuries in warm-ups and was declared good to go. The Panthers also activated offensive lineman JD DiRenzo and CB AJ Parker from the practice squad this week. Those who are inactive: CB Troy Hill (concussion protocol), CJ Henderson, OT Ricky Lee, G Ilm Manning, WR Mike Strachan, WR Terrace Marshall Jr., DE Chris Wormley. The five Jaguars who are inactive include QB Trevor Lawrence (shoulder injury), WR Zay Jones (hamstring), DL Angelo Blackson, OLB Yasir Abdullah, OL Cole Van Lanen.
Observer score predictions: Can the Panthers upset the Jags?
As much as Carolina’s close loss to the Green Bay Packers last weekend gave Panther fans a reason to dream, it was still a loss — as all of The Observer’s panel of predictors wrote. That means columnist Scott Fowler has officially locked up the title this season with a 12-3 record, followed by Langston Wertz Jr. (10-5), Alex Zietlow (9-6) and Mike Kaye (8-7).
Mike Kaye: Panthers 20, Jaguars 17. Maybe I’m feeling jolly with the holiday spirit, or I’m simply putting a ton of weight on Trevor Lawrence’s shoulder injury and Jacksonville’s second-half skid — but I like Carolina here. Young showed me a lot in the second half of the loss to the Packers, as he put up 199 yards and two touchdowns in an inspiring comeback attempt. If Young can keep the playmaker switch turned on, he has a good shot of leading the Panthers to a road upset win. The Jaguars just seem to be imploding at the worst possible time.
Scott Fowler: Jaguars 27, Panthers 24. It certainly feels like the Panthers are figuring a few things out offensively, just as the season is ending. So, a New Year’s Eve loss, but at least a more entertaining one.
Langston Wertz Jr.: Jaguars 24, Panthers 14: Carolina hasn’t won a road game all season, and that trend will continue on the final day of 2023. Maybe 2024 will be kinder, but for now the Jags are in contention for a conference title and will have plenty of incentive to stop a Carolina team whose biggest questions will come off the field beginning next month: Who’ll be the new coach? Which new players are coming in? And can the offensive line be rebuilt to protect Bryce Young?
Alex Zietlow: Panthers 23, Jaguars 21. Alright. It’s time. With it no longer being mathematically possible to catch Scott Fowler in these arbitrary standings — and with last weekend’s glow of possibility still top of mind — I’m going with the Panthers in an offensively competent nail-biter. (It doesn’t hurt that the Jaguars are reeling and, like the Packers a week ago, have struggled against some of the league’s least heralded quarterbacks.) A year ago, it would’ve always been the Jags. It still probably should be, really. But we’re here now. Give me a Panthers win — and give it to me via the game-deciding leg of Eddy Piñeiro, too.
ESPN, CBS, The Ringer predict Panthers-Jaguars game
ESPN: ESPN’s panel of predictors are largely split in this one. Dan Graziano and Eric Moody were among those who chose the Panthers.
CBS: Pete Prisco has the Jaguars in a close one, saying that the Jaguars “have looked awful” but that Carolina “isn’t a good team, although Bryce Young was better last week.”
The Ringer: Sheil Kapadia likes Carolina in this one, writing that Trevor Lawrence’s injury gives him pause and adding, “I’m done trusting this Jaguars team.”
This story was originally published December 29, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
