NFL.com states the obvious about Carolina Panthers’ starters

In their first preseason outing of 2025, the Carolina Panthers faced a Cleveland Browns’ team that finished with a 3-14 record a year ago. On Saturday, Dave Canales’s team faced a little tougher assignment in a club coming off back-to-back AFC South titles. It was a rough outing overall for the Panthers, who finished the game with 164 total yards and two turnovers in a 20-3 setback to the Houston Texans.

“Saturday wasn’t the best of days for the Carolina 1s.” explained David Ely of NFL.com. “Bryce Young and the first-team offense, which showed promise last week versus the Browns, regressed against a tough challenge in Houston. Young didn’t complete a pass in two series and the starting group had a discouraging minus-2 net yards on the day, with its lone first down coming via penalty. The defense didn’t fare much better, allowing chunk plays on the ground and a fourth-and-goal conversion when C.J. Stroud found Nico Collins for six.”

Carolina Panthers’ starting offense struggled at Houston

As mentioned, Young led the offense on his team’s first two series. He threw an interception on the club’s first offensive play of the contest, but he got a reprieve as the turnover was wiped out by a penalty. Nevertheless, the Panthers were three-and-out twice in the first quarter with him at the helm. Six plays added up to minus-2 yards. Young was 0-for-2 in passing, ran once for two yards, and was sacked once for minus-eight yards.

Texans INT — Aug 16, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans cornerback Damon Arnette (41) runs with the ball after making an interception during the fourth quarter against the Carolina Panthers at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

All told, it was a disappointing performance given how the first team offense looked a week ago against the Browns, when on its second series of the game marched 73 yards on nine plays for a touchdown. Of course, the rest of the team, including quarterbacks Andy Dalton and Jack Plummer, didn’t fare much better—the latter serving up a pair of interceptions while being sacked twice.

Meanwhile, it’s already been reported that Canales won’t play his starters this week vs. the visiting Steelers on Thursday. An interesting decision indeed. Obviously, this team has some work to do before they kick off the season three weeks from today when they face the Jaguars at Jacksonville.

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