Source: Mike Comer / Getty
The Carolina Panthers welcomed the San Francisco 49ers to Bank of America Stadium, but the boys from the Bay Area were greeted with plenty of support as the 49ers faithful took over large swaths of the stadium.
The Panthers were trailing 10-3 with less than a minute remaining before halftime, when quarterback Baker Mayfield sailed a pass over the head of Christian McCaffrey and into the waiting arms of a 49ers defender, Emmanuel Moseley. Moseley would return the errant throw 41 yards for a touchdown, giving San Fran a 17-3 lead heading into the break.
The Panthers offense would have some success to open the second half, scoring a touchdown on their first drive, and scoring points on their first three drives of the half. Unfortunately, in between those drives, the Niners were marching on the Carolina defense, with two 75-yard touchdown drives. By the time Eddie Pinero would kick a field goal to cap the Panthers third straight scoring drive, he was greeted by boos from the fans, as the Panthers were trailing 30-12 with less than half of a quarter remaining in the game.
Despite some second half success, the offense continued to struggle through out much of the day. The offense, which has been woeful in many first halves this season, had some longer drives in the first half, but again struggled in the red zone, resulting in the team settling for 3’s while the 49ers were scoring touchdowns.
One of the bright spots on the day for the Panthers was the work of Raheem Blackshear on kickoff returns. With the loss of Andre Roberts, the Panthers were searching for a new answer, and Blackshear had 8 returns for 200 yards, twice setting up the offense at midfield.
In the end, San Francisco waltzes out of Charlotte with a 37-15 win. With another loss the Panthers, under Head Coach Matt Rhule, fall to 1-27 in games where their opponents score 17 or more points, including 25 straight losses.
Costly INT before Halftime Dooms Panthers in Another Home Loss was originally published on wfnz.com
