The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Panthers’ D clamps down on Cowboys
Cam Newton ran for 58 yards and a touchdown, and Carolina’s defense turned in a dominating performance as the Panthers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 16-8 in the season opener Sunday.
Luke Kuechly had 13 tackles, Kawann Short sacked Dak Prescott twice and Mario Addison had a huge strip-sack of the Cowboys quarterback with 1:23 left to seal the victory.
Carolina’s defense had six sacks in all and limited the Cowboys to 232 yards.
The Cowboys, who are looking for answers on offense following the departures of Dez Bryant and Jason Witten, couldn’t do much against a stingy Carolina defense in the first half. The Panthers limited the Cowboys to 60 yards and four first downs to take a 10-0 lead into the locker room.
Prescott finished with just 170 yards passing and Ezekiel Elliott was held to 69 yards rushing and a touchdown. Dallas’ leading receiver was Cole Beasley, who had seven catches for 73 yards.
The Panthers seemed in complete control when fullback Alex Armah scored on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter to make it 16-0. But Carolina botched the extra point, keeping it a two-possession game and turning the momentum to the Cowboys.
Elliott scored on a 4-yard touchdown run on the next drive and Prescott added the 2-point conversion to cut the lead in half. But Dallas’ final drive ended when Addison — who had 11 sacks last season — stripped Prescott of the ball and Captain Munnerlyn recovered.
Brett Maher, who replaced Dan Bailey — the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history — missed a 47-yard field goal for the Cowboys in his first career attempt.
For the first time in franchise history, the Panthers painted their team logo at midfield.
New owner David Tepper made the decision after purchasing the team from Jerry Richardson in July. The Panthers have always had the NFL “shield” at midfield.
Broncos 27, Seahawks 24: Von Miller sacked Russell Wilson three times, forced two fumbles and recovered one in helping Case Keenum win his Denver debut. Keenum threw for 329 yards and three touchdowns, but was also intercepted three times. Wilson threw for 298 yards and three TDs, but was picked off twice and sacked six times.
Steelers 21, Browns 21 (OT): Cleveland ended its 17game losing streak, but the Browns missed a chance at their first victory since 2016 when kicker Zane Gonzalez’s 43-yard field-goal attempt with 9 seconds left in OT was blocked by T.J. Watt. The Steelers, who blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter, also wasted their chance to escape with a win when Chris Boswell was wide left on a 42-yard field-goal attempt with 1:44 remaining in OT.
Chiefs 38, Chargers 28: Tyreek Hill scored three TDs, Patrick Mahomes passed for his first four NFL scores as Kansas City knocked off Los Angeles. Hill had a 91-yard punt return for a score and a 58-yard TD reception during the first quarter before adding a 1-yard reception for a score in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. He also amassed 169 yards on seven receptions.
Redskins 24, Cardinals 6: Alex Smith carved up the Arizona defense for 255 yards and two touchdowns, Adrian Peterson rushed for 96 yards and a score and Washington spoiled the Arizona coaching debut of Steve Wilks. Smith completed 21 of 30 passes without an interception and had TD throws of 13 yards to Chris Thompson and 4 yards to Jordan Reed.
Buccaneers 48, Saints 40: Tampa’s Ryan Fitzpatrick highlighted a 417-yard, four-touchdown performance with two scoring strikes of more than 50 yards. Starting for the suspended Jameis Winston, Fitzpatrick completed 21 of 28 passes without an interception and also ran for a short touchdown, bowling over free safety Marcus Williams on his way into the end zone. Vikings 24, 49ers 16: Kirk Cousins passed for two TDs in his much-anticipated Minnesota debut, and the Vikings forced four turnovers to stick 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo with his first loss in eight games as an NFL starter. Cousins connected with Stefon Diggs in the second quarter and Kyle Rudolph in the third quarter for scores, and the defense finished the job with three sacks and three second-half interceptions of Garoppolo. Dolphins 27, Titans 20: Jakeem Grant scored on a tiebreaking 102-yard kickoff return with 14 minutes to go, and Miami overcame two weather delays to win the longest game since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. Delays for lightning lasted a total of 3 hours, 59 minutes, and the game took 7 hours, 10 minutes to play. The previous longest game since 1970 was a Bears overtime victory against the Ravens in 2013 that took 5 hours, 16 minutes. Bengals 34, Colts 23: Andy Dalton rallied Cincinnati with three scores in the final 19 minutes and Clayton Fejedelem scored on an 83-yard fumble return with 24 seconds to go. Cincinnati snapped an eight-game losing streak in Indy. The loss spoiled the Colts’ season opener — and the return of Andrew Luck, who made his first start in more than 20 months.