GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) 鈥 A disastrous start quickly turned to hope as Carolina strung together three second-half scoring drives. The Panthers beat the odds by recovering an onside kick, caught a break when a potential game-ending sack was negated by a penalty.
All that fortune and the Panthers still ended up falling just short. If only they had found their groove a little earlier.
Carolina nearly rallied from a 24-point deficit early in the third quarter behind the stellar play of quarterback Bryce Young, before falling 27-22 to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
鈥滻t’s just showing the fight of this team, a team full of guys who are going to play until the last snap, are going to believe, are always going to fight,鈥 said Young, who threw for a career-high 328 yards and three touchdowns on 35-of-55 passing. 鈥淥bviously, you don’t want to be in that spot to start with.鈥
The Panthers (0-2) began the season with a flat . They opened Sunday’s game by getting pancaked early by the Cardinals (2-0).
Young lost a fumble on a strip sack on Carolina’s opening drive and Cardinals linebacker Zaven Collins scooped it up for a 3-yard touchdown. Young was hit again on the next drive, fluttering the ball right into the hands of Arizona’s Baron Browning for an interception that set up a field goal.
Three minutes into the game, 10 points down.
鈥淭wo weeks in a row, early inflicted wounds 鈥 10 points just like that,鈥 Panthers coach Dave Canales said.
The Panthers seemed resigned to a second straight disheartening loss with a 17-point deficit at halftime that extended to 27-3 in the third quarter.
Then they started chipping away.
Carolina’s defense tightened, keeping Kyler Murray and the Cardinals in check as Young began picking apart their defense.
Young hit Hunter Renfrow on a 4-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, then pressure on Murray led to an interception by Panthers linebacker D.J. Wonnum at Carolina’s 12-yard line. Young went back to work, zipping passes around the field on a 14-play, 88-yard drive capped by his 5-yard touchdown pass to Chuba Hubbard.
Even after failing on the 2-point conversion, the Panthers had pulled themselves within reach, down 12 with just over five minutes left. Carolina’s defense held again and Young drove the Panthers down the field again, finding Renfrow on a 1-yard TD pass that made it 27-22 after another failed 2-point conversion.
The new NFL rules make it even tougher to convert an onside kick 鈥 the other teams knows it’s coming 鈥 but the Panthers came up with Ryan Fitzgerald’s kick after it squibbed off a Cardinals player.
That left Carolina with two minutes to go 51 yards for the winning score.
The potential game-winning drive almost ended quickly when Young was sacked on fourth down, but Arizona was called for defensive holding. The Panthers reached Arizona’s 38 after the teams traded penalties, but their hopes ended with Young on his back from a game-ending sack that counted.
鈥淵ou don’t come back and make that game close without guys that are willing to fight,鈥 said Renfrow, who had seven catches for 48 yards. 鈥淚 think we proved a lot to each other that we weren’t just going to take it.鈥
They just needed to get it started a bit sooner.
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