2021 Carolina Panthers season

Notes:

• Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
• Networks and times from Weeks 16–18 are subject to change as a result of flexible scheduling.
• Week 18 is subject to being flexed to Saturday, January 8.

In the Panthers' home and season opener against the New York Jets, quarterback Sam Darnold faced his former team for the first time. Neither team scored in the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, as the Panthers attempted to convert on fourth down in the red zone, the football slipped out of Darnold's hands before he could hand it off to Christian McCaffrey, and the loose ball was recovered by the Jets' Sheldon Rankins. On the next drive, the Jets' rookie quarterback Zach Wilson tried to pass to Ryan Griffin but was intercepted by Shaq Thompson. From the turnover, Ryan Santoso kicked a 22-yard field goal for the Panthers, giving them a 3–0 lead. In the last five minutes of the first half, Carolina scored two touchdowns. Immediately after a Jets turnover on downs, Darnold found Robby Anderson with a long pass for the first touchdown, but Santoso missed the extra point conversion wide left. Darnold then capped off the next Panthers drive with a five-yard run for the second touchdown, and they went into halftime with a 16–0 lead. Late in the third quarter, the Jets finally scored when Wilson passed to Corey Davis for the touchdown. Wilson then ran in on the ensuing two-point conversion to reduce the Panthers' lead to one score, but in the fourth quarter, Santoso converted a second field goal, increasing the Panthers' lead to 19–8. Right after the two-minute warning, Wilson connected with Davis again for the second Jets touchdown, but his pass to Elijah Moore on the two-point conversion was deflected and fell short. With Jets kicker Matt Ammendola's onside kick going out of bounds, the Panthers retained possession for the remainder of the game and won 19–14, beginning the season at 1–0.

In the first quarter, the Panthers opened the scoring when Sam Darnold threw a 20-yard pass to Brandon Zylstra for a touchdown on the opening drive, with newly signed kicker Zane Gonzalez converting the extra point conversion. Gonzalez then made a field goal early in the second quarter, increasing the Panthers' lead to 10. On the next Panthers drive, Darnold recorded his second touchdown of the game, finding D. J. Moore with a two-yard pass in the end zone. In the final minute of the quarter, Jameis Winston scrambled out of the pocket and launched a long pass downfield intended for Deonte Harris, but the pass fell short and was intercepted by Juston Burris. With the interception, the Panthers completed their first-half shutout of the Saints and went into halftime with a 17–0 lead. The third quarter was scoreless; the Panthers came closest to scoring, but a 50-yard field goal attempt from Gonzalez was blocked by Carl Granderson and recovered by the Saints' Zack Baun. With less than two minutes to go in the third quarter, as P. J. Williams about to sack him, Darnold attempted a shovel pass that fell to Malcolm Roach for an interception, the only Panthers turnover of the game. The Saints capitalized on the mistake, as Jameis Winston capped off the ensuing drive early in the fourth quarter with an eight-yard run for the Saints' only touchdown of the game. The Panthers once again increased their lead with an 11-yard touchdown run from Christian McCaffrey, but Gonzalez's extra point conversion missed wide left. After a Saints turnover on downs, Gonzalez converted a 42-yard field goal. In the final minutes of the game, Winston once again scrambled to avoid getting sacked before throwing a long pass downfield; his overthrown pass intended for Juwan Johnson resulted in his second interception of the game, this time at the hands of rookie Jaycee Horn. The Panthers' 26–7 victory improved their record to 2–0.

A 5-yard touchdown run from Sam Darnold in the first quarter gave the Panthers the early lead. Just before halftime, Davis Mills found Anthony Miller with a short pass for a Texans touchdown, but former Panthers kicker Joey Slye missed the extra point conversion wide right, preventing the Texans from drawing level. In the third quarter, the Panthers extended their lead, as Tommy Tremble scored a touchdown off of a seven-yard end-around run. In doing so, Tremble became the youngest tight end to score a rushing touchdown in NFL history; the last tight end to score a rushing touchdown at age 22 or younger was Rob Gronkowski, who did so for the New England Patriots in Week 13 of the 2011 season against the Indianapolis Colts.[2] With a one-score game heading into the fourth quarter, the teams traded field goals, with Zane Gonzalez converting from 21 yards before Slye converted from 53 yards. It remained a one-score game after the field goals but the Panthers secured the win with a quarterback sneak from Darnold for his second rushing touchdown of the game. With the 24–9 win, the Panthers began the season with three consecutive wins for the first time since the 2015 season.

Both teams scored one-yard rushing touchdowns in the first quarter, with Ezekiel Elliott scoring first for the Cowboys before Sam Darnold scored for the Panthers. On the extra point conversion after Dak Prescott's 18-yard touchdown throw to Blake Jarwin, the Panthers were penalized for having too many players on the field, and the line of scrimmage was moved to the one-yard line. On the ensuing two-point conversion, Prescott threw to Dalton Schultz, who was initially ruled to have successfully scored. However, upon further review, Schultz was tackled just short of the goal line by Jeremy Chinn and the tip of the football had not broken the plane of the end zone by the time Schultz's knee was down. On the next drive, Darnold scored his second rushing touchdown of the game, this time from 11 yards out, to make it four consecutive touchdown drives from both teams combined. With the touchdown, his fifth rushing touchdown of the season, Darnold became the NFL's sole leader in rushing touchdowns on the season; he also became the first quarterback in NFL history to reach that mark in the first four games of the season.[3] The Panthers led 14–13 at halftime, but the Cowboys dominated the third quarter and pulled ahead. After the Panthers' opening drive of the second half ended with Zane Gonzalez missing a 54-yard field goal attempt wide left, Prescott threw for touchdowns on all three of the Cowboys' third-quarter drives, finding Amari Cooper, Schultz, and Cedrick Wilson Jr., respectively. The Cowboys tried another two-point conversion after Schultz's touchdown, but Prescott's pass to CeeDee Lamb was too high. The Cowboys defense also contributed, with rookie Trevon Diggs intercepting Darnold on back-to-back Panthers drives sandwiching the Cowboys' third touchdown drive of the quarter; Diggs also became a league leader with five interceptions on the season up to that point.[4] From the second Diggs interception, the Cowboys opened the fourth quarter with a 37-yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein, increasing their lead further to 36–14. The Panthers countered with a pair of touchdowns from Darnold to D. J. Moore to reduce the deficit to eight points, but the Cowboys retained possession for the rest of the game and won 36–28. The loss was the Panthers' first of the season, and it left the Arizona Cardinals and the Las Vegas Raiders as the only remaining undefeated teams, though the Raiders would lose as well the following day.

After the 1–3 Eagles went three-and-out to start the game, the Panthers scored first with a 48-yard field goal from Zane Gonzalez. However, on the next Panthers drive, an underthrown pass from Sam Darnold intended for D. J. Moore was intercepted by Darius Slay, who advanced the ball to the ten-yard line. Despite starting from inside the red zone, the Eagles were unable to take full advantage of the turnover; they settled for a 30-yard field goal from Jake Elliott after a touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts to DeVonta Smith on fourth-and-goal was disallowed due to an offensive pass interference penalty on Greg Ward. The Panthers then countered with a five-yard touchdown pass from Darnold to rookie Tommy Tremble, the first receiving touchdown of the latter's NFL career.[5] After a series of unsuccessful drives ending in punts from both teams, the Panthers increased their lead with a 43-yard field goal from Gonzalez late in the second quarter. On the next play after the kickoff return, a high snap ricocheted off of Hurts' right hand and into the end zone; despite the attempts of several Panthers players to gain possession of the football, none of them could before Hurts batted the ball out of the end zone to minimize the consequences of the Eagles' mistake from a touchdown to a safety.[6] After forcing a quick three-and-out from the Panthers, the Eagles drove down the field and ended the first half with a 58-yard field goal from Elliott, with the score at halftime being 15–6. The second half was filled with turnovers from both teams. After the Panthers punted on the opening drive of the second half, Hurts completed a pass to DeVonta Smith before Donte Jackson knocked the ball out of Smith's hands, with the fumble recovered by Jeremy Chinn. After the Panthers were unable to capitalize on the turnover, two interceptions followed in quick succession. On the next Eagles offensive play, Hurts overthrew Zach Ertz on a long pass down the left sideline and was intercepted by Jackson, who managed to keep both feet inbounds. Then, Slay stepped in front of Moore to once again intercept Darnold. Just before the end of the third quarter, the Eagles reduced the Panthers' lead to two points with Hurts scoring on a quarterback sneak. A third field goal from Gonzalez, this time from 50 yards, was followed by an Eagles turnover on downs. With the Panthers still leading by five points, T. J. Edwards ran unimpeded through the punt formation and blocked a Joseph Charlton punt, which was recovered by Shaun Bradley. On the ensuing drive after the blocked punt, the Eagles took the lead with under three minutes left, with Hurts scoring his second rushing touchdown of the game before making the two-point conversion with a pass to Smith. The Panthers' attempt to retake the lead resulted in Darnold's third intercepted pass of the game, this time by Steven Nelson, who stepped in front of Robby Anderson. With the Eagles closing out the game, the Panthers lost 21–18, their second loss in a row after starting the season with three wins.

On the game's first play from scrimmage, Bashaud Breeland dove in front of Robby Anderson to intercept Sam Darnold, from which the Vikings scored with Greg Joseph converting a 25-yard field goal. After Kirk Cousins passed to Justin Jefferson, A. J. Bouye forced a fumble, which was recovered and advanced by Haason Reddick. From the turnover, Shi Smith ran 16 yards on the shovel pass from Sam Darnold before Chuba Hubbard scored the touchdown on a two-yard run. Joseph added another 25-yard field goal to close the deficit to one point before the Vikings regained the lead early in the second quarter with a two-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to Chris Herndon. The Vikings were unsuccessful on the two-point conversion, as Bouye tripped up Dalvin Cook before the latter could reach the goal line. The Panthers added a 23-yard field goal from Zane Gonzalez later in the quarter, and the score was 12–10 in favor of the Vikings at halftime. On the second Vikings drive of the third quarter, Frankie Luvu ran through the middle of the punt formation and blocked a Jordan Berry punt, which was recovered by Kenny Robinson and returned for a Panthers touchdown. The Vikings then countered with touchdowns on consecutive possessions. First, Cook scored on a 16-yard run after the initial ruling that he was down at the one-yard line was overturned; the two-point conversion was once again unsuccessful, as Jefferson was unable to stay inbounds to catch a pass from Cousins. On the next Panthers play from scrimmage, D. J. Moore received a pass from Darnold and was tackled by Xavier Woods, who stripped away the football, which was subsequently recovered by Eric Kendricks. The Vikings once again capitalized on the Panthers turnover, with Cousins completing a five-yard pass to Adam Thielen for a touchdown. Following a 38-yard field goal from Joseph, Darnold lost the ball while being by Armon Watts and Everson Griffen, and the loose ball was recovered by Dalvin Tomlinson. However, the Vikings were unable to convert the turnover into points this time. After converting three field goals already, Joseph missed wide right from 50 yards out before Gonzalez converted a 23-yard field goal to narrow the deficit to eight points. After a Berry punt was downed at the four-yard line, Darnold recorded three straight incompletions before converting on fourth down with a 41-yard pass to Ian Thomas. The Panthers, having driven almost the entire length of the field in under 90 seconds, completed the drive with Darnold's first touchdown of the game on a seven-yard pass to Anderson. Tommy Tremble then converted the two-point conversion with a shovel pass from Darnold to tie the game at 28–28. Despite there only being 42 seconds left in the game, the Vikings advanced the ball to within field goal range, but Joseph missed wide right once again from 47 yards out on what could have been the game-winning field goal. In overtime, the Vikings won the coin toss and elected to receive; on their first possession, K. J. Osborn scored on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to win the game, with both teams even with 3–3 records. This was the Panthers' third consecutive loss after winning their first three games of the season, and they remained winless after key players Christian McCaffrey and Jaycee Horn both picked up injuries during the Week 3 game against the Houston Texans.

On the Panthers' opening drive, Zane Gonzalez kicked a 45-yard field goal, which went in off the left upright, to give the Panthers the early lead and their only points of the game. After the Giants were unable to convert on fourth-and-goal from the two-yard line, the Panthers received the ball. After having only advanced the ball one yard in total on the first two downs, the Panthers faced third-and-nine to begin the second quarter. In the face of the Giants' oncoming blitz, Sam Darnold threw the ball away, but because the throw did not pass the line of scrimmage and was not in the vicinity of any eligible receivers, Darnold was penalized for intentional grounding, which resulted in a Giants safety given the field position. On the ensuing drive, former Panthers kicker Graham Gano converted a 49-yard field goal to give the Giants a 5–3 lead. Later in the quarter, after Darnold completed five passes consecutively on the same drive, his pass intended for Ian Thomas was intercepted by former Panther James Bradberry in the red zone. The Giants were unable to capitalize on the turnover but retained a two-point lead at halftime. Towards the end of the third quarter, Dante Pettis completed a 16-yard pass to Jones on a trick play, with the same drive culminating with a five-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Pettis. After a run of poor performances, Panthers head coach Matt Rhule benched Darnold, with P. J. Walker taking over at quarterback for the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Giants continued to extend their lead, with Gano adding two more field goals, from 53 yards and 44 yards out, respectively. A pair of Panthers turnovers on downs late in the fourth quarter was sandwiched by a 19-yard touchdown run from Devontae Booker to cap off the 25–3 loss, the Panthers' fourth in a row.

On the opening play from scrimmage, Deion Jones tackled Chuba Hubbard for a two-yard loss and knocked the ball out, with Adetokunbo Ogundeji recovering the fumble. Younghoe Koo converted the turnover into the game's first points with a 46-yard field goal before Zane Gonzalez kicked a 29-yard field goal. The Falcons retook the lead on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan to Cordarrelle Patterson early in the second quarter. After Gonzalez converted a 51-yard field goal, Ryan's pass intended for Hayden Hurst was intercepted by Shaq Thompson. The Panthers were unable to capitalize on the interception but Gonzalez added a 57-yard field goal on the last play of the first half, leaving them down by one point at halftime. On the only Panthers drive of the third quarter, which lasted almost nine minutes, Gonzalez added a fourth field goal, this time from 23 yards out to give the Panthers their first lead of the game. Early in the fourth quarter, Koo missed a 45-yard field goal wide right before the Panthers increased their lead with a six-yard touchdown run from Hubbard. On that touchdown drive, Sam Darnold sustained a hard hit from Foyesade Oluokun on an eight-yard scramble and, having already been hit hard by Jones on the previous play's scramble, had to leave the game with a concussion; P. J. Walker filled in at quarterback for the rest of the game.[7] After Stephon Gilmore stepped in front of Kyle Pitts to intercept Ryan, the Panthers looked to close out the game but were forced to punt with under a minute left. Thirty-four seconds later, Koo added a 53-yard field goal, but his subsequent onside kick was recovered by Robby Anderson. With the 19–13 victory, the Panthers stopped their four-game losing streak and improved to 4–4.

Both teams entered the game with identical 4–4 records. In the last minute of the first quarter, Brian Burns strip-sacked Mac Jones, with the ball being recovered by Frankie Luvu; on the ensuing drive, Zane Gonzalez converted a 39-yard field goal. Damien Harris then scored on a 3-yard run. Later in the second quarter, Stephon Gilmore, who had been traded from the Patriots on October 6, intercepted Jones on a pass intended for Jakobi Meyers; from this, Gonzalez converted another field goal, this time from 49 yards. With 24 seconds left in the half, Jones found Hunter Henry for a seven-yard touchdown. In the second half, Sam Darnold threw interceptions on three consecutive Panthers drives. The first of these came when Darnold, who was being chased down by Matthew Judon and Christian Barmore, overthrew Ian Thomas, with J. C. Jackson returning the interception for a touchdown. Jamie Collins recorded the second interception, jumping up at the line of scrimmage to grab a pass intended for Robby Anderson. After the Panthers drove into the red zone early in the fourth quarter, Darnold was once again intercepted by Jackson, who was covering D. J. Moore in the end zone. From these turnovers, Nick Folk added to the Patriots' lead with a 37-yard field goal after Collins's interception but missed a 54-yard field goal wide right after Jackson's second interception. After a late Panthers drive resulted in a turnover on downs, the Patriots closed out the game and dropped the Panthers to 4–5.

In his first game back after resigning with the Panthers, Cam Newton was expected to receive limited playing action, while P. J. Walker remained as the starting quarterback.[8] Meanwhile, the 8–1 Cardinals were without several key players on offense, including quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.[9] On the game's opening drive, Colt McCoy was strip-sacked by Haason Reddick, with the fumble recovered by Morgan Fox. From the turnover, Newton scored a two-yard touchdown run on his first snap of the game.[10] After McCoy was unable to convert a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-one, resulting in a turnover on downs, Newton scored his second touchdown in as many snaps, with a two-yard pass to Robby Anderson.[10] McCoy committed his second turnover of the first quarter, as an overthrown pass intended for Antoine Wesley was intercepted by Donte Jackson. The Panthers continued to increase their lead, with Zane Gonzalez converting a 44-yard field goal on the ensuing drive before adding a 48-yard field goal in the second quarter. Jalen Thompson then intercepted an overthrown pass from Walker intended for Terrace Marshall Jr., but the Cardinals were forced into a three-and-out, having to punt on their third consecutive drive. Gonzalez closed out the first half with a 49-yard field goal, completing the Panthers' 23–0 shutout of the Cardinals in the half. After the Panthers were forced to punt for the first time in the game on the opening drive of the second half, Matt Prater kicked a 47-yard field goal for the Cardinals' first points of the game. Chuba Hubbard then scored a five-yard touchdown run, with Walker completing a pass to Marshall for the two-point conversion. After McCoy sustained a chest injury (later clarified to be a pectoral injury)[11] on a sack by Shaq Thompson, he left the game and was replaced by Chris Streveler.[12] Streveler was involved in a pair of Cardinals turnover on downs, the first one coming after he was sacked by Fox and Reddick, and the second one after he fumbled the snap, which was recovered by Eno Benjamin but was advanced no further; these instances sandwiched a botched handoff between Walker and Hubbard that was recovered by Zach Allen. After James Conner scored an 11-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, Gonzalez capped off the Panthers' 34–10 victory with his fourth field goal of the game, this one from 27 yards. While the other three NFC South teams lost their respective Week 10 games, the Panthers picked up a vital underdog[13] victory and improved to 5–5, matching their win total from the previous season.

Ahead of the game, Cam Newton was named as the starter over P. J. Walker.[14] The Panthers scored first as Newton completed a 10-yard pass to D. J. Moore for a touchdown on the opening drive. Later in the first quarter, Antonio Gibson fumbled the ball while being tackled by Morgan Fox, with Frankie Luvu recovering the loose ball, but the Panthers were unable to capitalize. Early in the second quarter, Washington, led by former Panthers head coach Ron Rivera and former Panthers quarterback Taylor Heinicke, drew even with Heinicke completing a six-yard touchdown pass to Cam Sims. After Newton scored on a 25-yard touchdown run, Julian Stanford forced a fumble from DeAndre Carter on the ensuing kickoff return. However, Troy Apke was able to recover the ball for Washington, and they rebounded with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Heinicke to Terry McLaurin with 14 seconds left in the first half. Washington then took the lead on the opening drive of the second half as Heinicke scored his third passing touchdown of the game on a four-yard pass to Carter. The Panthers equalized early in the fourth quarter with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Newton to Christian McCaffrey. Former Panthers kicker Joey Slye, who had played against the Panthers earlier in the season as a member of the Houston Texans, then kicked a 36-yard field goal. After a Panthers turnover on downs, Slye converted a 29-yard field goal increase Washington's lead. A second Panthers turnover on downs allowed Washington to close out the game and win 27–21.

After Duke Riley blocked a punt from Lachlan Edwards, Justin Coleman recovered the ball and was pushed into the end zone for the opening score. On the next drive, Cam Newton scored a one-yard touchdown run on his second effort with help from right guard Trent Scott after initially being stopped at the line of scrimmage.[15] Early in the second quarter, Newton threw a pair of interceptions on back-to-back Panthers drives. The first one was to Jevon Holland on an underthrown pass intended for Robby Anderson, while the second one was to Xavien Howard on a pass intended for Moore. From the Howard interception, Tua Tagovailoa completed a nine-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle. The Dolphins scored their third touchdown of the first half as Myles Gaskin took a direct snap from the wildcat formation and ran in for a three-yard touchdown. In the final minute of the first half, the Dolphins were driving down the field in an attempt to further increase their lead before halftime, but a botched snap from Austin Reiter to Tagovailoa with 12 seconds left was recovered by Frankie Luvu. As Luvu attempted to return the fumble recovery, he was tackled by Isaiah Ford with one second left, allowing Zane Gonzalez to kick a 41-yard field goal to end the first half. The Panthers successfully executed a fake punt on the opening drive of the second half, with Sean Chandler taking the direct snap from long snapper J. J. Jansen and running 14 yards for the first down, though the drive still ended in a punt later. Gaskin then added his second rushing touchdown of the game, which also came from a direct snap three yards out. Jason Sanders hit the left upright on the ensuing extra point conversion but later added two field goals, first from 46 yards and then from 33 yards, to secure Miami's lead. Meanwhile, Newton was benched after his poor performance and was replaced by P. J. Walker for the fourth quarter.[15] However, on his first drive of the game, Walker was forced to scramble out of the pocket and his underthrown pass intended for Ian Thomas was intercepted by Nik Needham, leading to the second of Sanders' field goals. A late Panthers drive to try and narrow the deficit was unsuccessful, and the 33–10 loss dropped them to 5–7 ahead of their bye week.

The Panthers and the Falcons, both entering the game at 5–7, played each other for the second time this season, with the Panthers winning the first game 19–13 in Week 8. A pair of touchdowns was scored in the first quarter, with Cam Newton's 12-yard run matched by Cordarrelle Patterson's five-yard run. In the second quarter, Mykal Walker intercepted a pass from Newton intended for Ameer Abdullah and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown, before the Falcons bolstered their lead with a 32-yard field goal from Younghoe Koo. For the second game in a row, Newton was replaced by P. J. Walker, albeit temporarily, as Walker was more familiar with the Panthers' two-minute offensive playbook, according to head coach Matt Rhule.[16] However, Walker's first drive ended with an interception by A. J. Terrell on a pass intended for Robby Anderson. The Falcons were unable to capitalize on the turnover but retained a 17–7 lead at halftime. Newton returned to the game in the second half, and from the opening drive, Chuba Hubbard scored a touchdown on a 17-yard run before Koo kicked a 38-yard field goal. With under five minutes left in the third quarter, Newton stumbled while attempting a handoff to Hubbard and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Grady Jarrett. From this, Matt Ryan completed a three-yard pass to Hayden Hurst for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but the former was then unable to find an open receiver on the ensuing two-point conversion, which failed. Two consecutive Panthers drives ended in turnovers on downs, with the first one resulting in Koo's third field goal, this time from 48 yards. Immediately following the second turnover on downs, Qadree Ollison was tackled by DaQuan Jones and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Jermaine Carter. The Panthers closed the deficit to eight points as Walker completed a five-yard touchdown pass to Anderson, but the Falcons were able to retain possession for the rest of the game and win 29–21.