Week 1: Panthers 20, Jaguars 9

The details

The Carolina Panthers won the game but lost Luke Kuechly to the concussion protocol.

Carolina beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-9 despite struggles with offensive inefficiency. The difference in a game that saw six field-goal attempts and just two offensive touchdowns was Panthers cornerback Josh Norman, who created two turnovers and six points.

Norman punched the ball away from Allen Hurns inside the Carolina 20, stopping a drive in the second quarter. Then in the third quarter, Norman intercepted Blake Bortles and returned the ball 30 yards for a touchdown.

Quarterback Cam Newton finished 18-of-31 passing for 175 yards, a touchdown and one interception on a throw in which he didn’t follow through completely after his shoulder got hit. Jonathan Jones

They said it

“It was a tough, physical win. Not satisfied, though. We made too many mistakes. We kicked too many field goals.” – Panthers coach Ron Rivera

“First game is always a little tricky, the beginning of the season. I think we played well, but not great. We need to go out, see what we did wrong, and make a couple more catches and a couple more throws. ... We got a victory. That’s the most important thing.” – Panthers wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr.

“He’s in a good place right now. He’s feeling good. It’s all about getting him nursed back to health.” – Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis, on Kuechly

“Bortles was playing with us a good bit in the second quarter, and I wanted to come out and show him, I’m not nobody to play with. I guess he didn’t read the scouting report.” – Norman

The weirdness

With Kuechly out of the game and Carolina holding only a 10-9 lead, it looked quite possible that the Panthers were about to get upset. Instead, Norman got a great jump on a pass by Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles, grabbed it and sped 30 yards into the end zone while waving at Bortles and yelling, “Goodbye!”

A horse enthusiast who rides frequently, Norman then did a TD celebration that involved pretending the football was a horse and that he was galloping atop it. That turned out to be symbolic, because the play allowed the Panthers to ride away from Jacksonville.

Hot takes

Scott Fowler: Picturesque? Well, no.

The Carolina Panthers’ 20-9 season-opening win was marred not only by a lack of beauty but more importantly by a concussion to star linebacker Luke Kuechly.

The Panthers will happily take the victory back home to Charlotte, though. Paced by a game-changing interception returned for a touchdown by Josh Norman, Carolina held Jacksonville to zero points in the second half and dominated with defense to start the season 1-0.

“Josh Norman kicked it off for us, “ fellow cornerback Charles Tillman said. “Football is a game of momentum, and he swung it in our direction.”

Joseph Person: The Carolina Panthers’ season-opening win Sunday was more gritty than pretty.

They played without their top wide receiver, then lost their best defensive player just before halftime when middle linebacker Luke Kuechly went down.

But the Panthers found a way to win, beating Jacksonville in a game that will not be featured in either team’s end-of-season highlight video.

Call it winning ugly, a workmanlike victory, whatever. The Panthers will take it.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Week 1: Panthers 20, Jaguars 9."