The Carolina Panthers offense wasted little time taking it to the Detroit Lions on Saturday afternoon—needing only five plays to piece together a 78-yard touchdown drive on their opening possession. Well, they did a lot of the same two touches later.
On their third possession of the game, the Panthers went right back to the ground-and-pound approach to begin the second quarter. After starting on their own 9-yard line, courtesy of a clutch fumble recovery by defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos, Carolina trekked 91 more yards in a flash.
Quarterback Sam Darnold was the star of the drive, completing all three of his throws for 30 yards and adding another 15 on the ground. And three of those 15 rushing yards gave the Panthers six points and a 14-7 lead with 9:35 remaining in the first half . . .
A souvenir on Christmas eve 🎁 pic.twitter.com/BEgFwHywkA
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 24, 2022
Sneaky Sam 😎 pic.twitter.com/L0i5mhgFPE
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 24, 2022
Running back D’Onta Foreman also played a big role in the score, accounting for a 38-yard run on the second play of the possession. To that point, the Panthers ran for 164 yards and two scores on just 12 attempts.
