Panthers 23, Broncos 10
Just when you thought the Broncos reached a new low, we had this. Denver lost in overtime to the Raiders at home last week, yet were humiliated in a double-digit loss at Carolina.
Sam Darnold was making his first start of the season, and he outplayed Russell Wilson in another embarrassing loss for the Nathanial Hackett-led Broncos. This game was expected to be low scoring given that each team has a good defense, but Brian Burns destroyed Denver in the first half, and if it weren’t for a muffed punt, the Broncos would have had zero points until garbage time late in the fourth quarter. Denver’s offense was truly pathetic.
Early in the first quarter, the Panthers had good field position at the Denver 40, but couldn’t do anything with it because the Denver defense started the game well. On the next Carolina drive, a fake punt converted a fourth-and-1, and Darnold finally located one his open receivers in D.J. Moore, who hauled in a 23-yard completion. D’onta Foreman ran for 15 yards, and Darnold dropped in a well-placed pass to Moore for a five-yard touchdown to the back corner of the end zone. Carolina had a muffed punt that was recovered by Denver at the Panthers 27, but the Broncos could only muster a field goal from the short field.
The Panthers used their ground game to generate a field goal drive to go up 10-3. Denver responded with Latavius Murray springing a 53-yard run to get inside the Carolina 30, but Burns had a strip sack that was recovered by the Panthers to keep their lead at 10-3 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Carolina stayed with the ground game, but also hit Moore to move into Denver territory. To cap the drive, Darnold took a zone-read run and fumbled the ball, but Darnold dove on the loose ball and then rolled into the end zone for a laughable rushing touchdown.
