“I was happy with the result of that drive,” Eason said of the hurry-up offense, “and to get that experience under my belt.”Ĭolts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus was unavailable for COVID-19-related reasons.
The Colts responded 74 seconds later as Jordan Wilkins scored on a 3-yard run with 42 seconds left in the half. Walker completed a 26-yard pass to rookie Shi Smith on the drive before scrambling to throw for the touchdown. Hubbard, a fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma State, had gained 6 yards on five carries before his breakaway rush. Slye tried one from 63 yards on the final play of the half but missed wide left. When the Colts drove into Panthers territory on the next possession, Frankie Luvu sacked Eason for a 13-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 rollout. Haynes had three quarterback hits in the opening quarter. Carolina’s second kick was set up by Marquis Haynes recovering his own strip-sack at the Colts’ 14 near the end of the first quarter. We want to win in everything we do.”Ĭarolina’s Joey Slye converted field goals from 29, 28 and 41 yards while the Colts’ Rodrigo Blankenship made a 34-yarder in the first half. “We came out there and we evaluated, (but) we just didn’t win,” Panthers first-year head coach Matt Rhule said. Two plays later, Walker hit rookie Tommy Tremble on a 7-yard TD pass to give the Panthers a 15-3 lead. Rookie Chuba Hubbard was seemingly swallowed up by the pile on a third-and-1 inside rush, but inexplicably emerged on the other side and sped ahead for a 59-yard gain. The Panthers dominated much of the first half. “Individually, it started off a little shaky.” “Whatever it takes to win,” Ehlinger said. Pineiro’s deciding kick with 7 seconds remaining capped a 16-play drive. An 11-yard run on third down got the Colts to the Panthers 17 at the 2-minute warning. On the next drive, Ehlinger scrambled to keep the Colts moving. Ehlinger scrambled up the middle for the tying conversion. Kenny Robinson provided a humbling introduction by intercepting Ehlinger’s fourth pass.īut after the Panthers widened their lead to 18-10, Ehlinger connected with Tarik Black for 47 yards, then hit Tyler Vaughns for a 25-yard gain to set up Benny LeMay’s 1-yard TD run. “I felt like when I was here,” Walker said about his Colts stint from 2017 to 2019, “I didn’t have as much fun playing football.”Įhlinger entered in the second half with the Colts trailing 15-10. Walker started for Carolina, going 10 of 21 for 161 yards and a touchdown. Panthers starting quarterback Sam Darnold didn’t play, either, and the game was dominated by defensive reserves. “I think both of them are probably going to grade out as playing winning football at the end of the day.” “That’s the kind of thing you want to see from your quarterbacks, mental toughness, being able to handle the blitz and come back and play winning football,” Colts coach Frank Reich said.