The Patriots had Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski together on the field in game action for the first time this summer, but the offense struggled to sustain and finish drives in the early going, as the Patriots suffered a 25-14 defeat at the hands of the Panthers in Carolina Friday.
Brady was on the field for the first half, and ended 12-for-18 for 102 yards. He got some good help from the likes of Phillip Dorsett (four catches, 36 yards) and Julian Edelman (three catches, 23 yards) in the early going. But because of some bad penalties and some poor short-area execution, the closest Brady got to the end zone came at the end of a 14-play, 67-yard drive when Stephen Gostkowski connected on a 27-yard field goal to cut the Panthers’ lead to 6-3.
While the Panthers were held out of the end zone throughout the first half — New England’s red-zone defense was pretty stout over the first two quarters — they broke through early in the second half. Carolina pushed out to a 9-3 lead right before the half on Graham Gano’s third field-goal of the night, and tacked on a pair of second-half touchdowns to make it 25-6 early in the fourth.
For the Panthers in the first half, Cam Newton ended 11-for-17 for 142 yards, while Christian McCaffrey was pretty elusive, coming away with 48 rushing yards and 16 receiving yards.
Gostkowski, who missed a 46-yard field goal attempt, added a 52-yarder later in the evening to make it 25-6 with 11:06 remaining. Mike Gillislee added a two-yard run (and a two-point conversion) with 2:51 remaining to finish the scoring on the night.
The best news for the Patriots? Brady, Gronkowski and most of the rest of the starters got out of the game without suffering any major injuries, which means they’ll head into the regular season relatively healthy. (I wouldn’t expect any of them to play in next Thursday’s preseason finale.) Three guys did appear to get shaken up a bit: Jeremy Hill did appear to sustain an ankle injury late in the fourth, but was seen jogging on the sideline afterward. Offensive lineman Luke Bowanko limped off in the fourth as well after a penalty. And it looked like receiver Riley McCarron looked like he had the wind knocked out of him late in the game.
UPDATES
10:29 p.m.: That should do it -- 25-14, Carolina.
10:22 p.m.: Appears Pats are going to try and put together a two-minute drive here. Good situational football chance for the backups.
10:12 p.m.: Mike Gillislee to the end zone and gives a fist bump to Steve Burton -- 25-14 with the two-pointer.
10:11 p.m.: Jeremy Hill is shaken up there. Looks like an ankle injury.
10:07 p.m.: McCarron had been putting together some good work, but that was a bad miss.
10:01 p.m.: Another good play there for Crossen. These are key snaps for him, and he's showing something positive given what happened last week.
9:52 p.m.: 52-yarder is good. Gostkowski's second of the might makes it 25-6 with just over 11 minutes left. ("Gonna be a helluva story, boys.")
9:49 p.m.: First catch of the summer for Decker there.
9:45 p.m.: Missing safety help on that touchdown pass? It's now 25-3 14:11 left in regulation.
9:44 p.m.: Nice PBU by Crossen. Nice job bouncing back after a tough week last week where he had three penalties.
9:40 p.m.: That's the end of the third quarter. Carolina up 18-3.
9:39 p.m.: Good pressure there by Grissom.
9:36 p.m.: The Patriots have not been aggressive when it comes to the pass rush. Whether it's scheme or personnel or what, but they really haven't been after the QB as they were last week.
9:32 p.m.: Gano good from 47. 18-3 late in the third quarter.
9:24 p.m.: 4.22 on that punt for Allen.
9:23 p.m.: 3rd and one, you have to pick that up, Mike.
9:17 p.m.: Carolina picks up the fourth down. Nice scramble there for the QB. Breaks contain. Two-pointer is no good. Belichick on the sidelines ripping into some of the youngsters who were celebrating the stop on the two-pointer.
9:15 p.m.: Jason McCourty might not be a great centerfielder. But that red-zone stop was a pretty good play to cut through the wash and make the tackle.
Jason McCourty, at safety, stopping Panthers running back Cameron Artis-Payne behind the line of scrimmage. pic.twitter.com/zxDFaOa55f
— Oliver Thomas (@OliverBThomas) August 25, 2018
Waddle is not sitting on the bench with the starting o-line. It's John. Waddle on a knee.
— Greg A. Bedard (@GregABedard) August 25, 2018
Bill on the headset after Waddle's 15 yard penalty......"Get him outta there."
— Tedy Bruschi (@TedyBruschiESPN) August 25, 2018
Cam Newton being dumb in pre-season. Video:pic.twitter.com/shSmzYkjwx
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 24, 2018
— Greg A. Bedard (@GregABedard) August 24, 2018
Arrivals in Charlotte-Tom Brady and shortly thereafter Alex Guerrero#Patriots pic.twitter.com/fFK6ucYPNT
— The Camera Guys (@NBCSCameraGuys) August 24, 2018