Panthers takeaways from frustrating loss to Steelers in preseason finale

The Carolina Panthers finished up their preseason tonight, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers to wrap a winless summer. They looked pretty rough in all three games, though tonight was easily the best outing. It was not enough, though.

The games don't matter, but we can still learn a few things about the team, the roster, and the coaches. After a 19-10 loss, here's what we know heading into the regular season.

The Carolina Panthers can't rush the passer

Very seldom, even at the beginning of the game with the best defenders Carolina has on the field, the Panthers could not generate any pressure. Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson had virtually all day to throw, and they generally picked apart the defense because of it.

Jack Plummer should never be the Panthers' backup

The Panthers are toast if Bryce Young goes down. Andy Dalton didn't play, but he's been bad this preseason, too. Jack Plummer, though, is especially bad. His first-half interception in the end zone was heinous, and he hardly had a single accurate pass all night. His receivers did a lot of the work for him catching off-target balls.

David Moore's probably making the roster

I think David Moore is easily the right choice to get cut from the wide receivers. He doesn't have the upside of any young players, and his separation is awful. Hunter Renfrow won't have that problem. Unfortunately, he looked pretty good in this game at times, and that's probably enough to convince his longtime coach Dave Canales.

There's a big secondary problem

Starters didn't play, so the coverage people were backups, but they looked awful. Some of them will play meaningful snaps during the regular season, and that is really bad. They couldn't cover the Steelers' third and fourth-string WRs.

Dave Canales' playcalling remains solid

The offense, at times, looked so much better tonight than it has for most of the preseason. The major difference was Dave Canales taking back playcalling, because the offense was using two bad quarterbacks and other backup players. The key was Canales, who did a good job.

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