The Panthers were unable to complete the “perfect” preseason as they dropped to 3-1 in a loss against the Steelers. However Color Rush Christian McCaffrey Jersey , the Panthers’ offense looked rejuvenated under first year offensive coordinator Norv Turner. This preseason, they averaged 373.3 yards per game, the best in the NFL according to NFL statistics. Cam Newton looked more consistent, completing 26 of 38 passes for 315 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Despite its many woes, the offensive line only allowed seven sacks all preseason. The Cowboys finished 0-4 this preseason. Not exactly stellar. But, Dallas’ first-team defense looked solid. In 39 snaps, the unit allowed 2.2 yards per carry and a 63 passer rating against. Here are three keys for the Panthers offense to get off to a winning start in 2018:Beat Cowboys at the pass rush: Last season, the Cowboys found a consistent pass rusher in defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence. This season, the Cowboys found a compliment for Lawrence in Randy Gregory. Lawrence is a monster against quarterbacks. He racked up 14.5 sacks, generating 160 lost yards last season. The most sack yards in the NFL in 15 years. Taylor Moton will have a true test in his first game at left tackle if he’s to protect Newton. Time to run CMC: Ron Rivera said in the offseason that Christian McCaffrey could see 25-30 touches per game. It’s time to put those words in action. He had a 71-yard touchdown run in the Panthers’ 27-20 preseason win over the Dolphins — the longest run from scrimmage in the NFC. Despite the many injures to the offensive line, CMC was able to rush 21 times for 151 yards and two scores in the preseason. McCaffrey not only showed off his versatility, but proved he’s able to run between the tackles. Don’t overthink, just throw the ball: Panthers have one of the most dynamic wide receiving corps in the league. Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ secondary is their weakest asset. Jourdan Lewis outplayed Anthony Brown in the preseason Youth DJ Moore Jersey , despite Lewis not looking as confident. With how thin the Cowboys are at safety, Dallas recently acquired Ibraheim Campbell off waivers. But Campbell will have to get up to speed fast. Carolina will have a real chance to beat Dallas through the air.This game will come down to how well the offensive line can stick together against a stout defensive front. If Newton is given the chance, he’ll be able to throw 400+ yards and allow his receivers to make big plays. Without that protection, things could unravel for the Panthers. Plays to Love, Plays to Hate (aka “P2L, P2H”) looks at the most significant plays in swinging momentum and impacting the eventual outcome of the game. There is always plenty to hate about NFL officiating, so we will only focus on the plays on the field, not the refs.Three plays to love2nd Quarter 14:21 – Panthers 7, Giants 3. Panthers Punt from CAR 47The Situation: After Christian McCaffrey got stuffed on a predictable 3rd-and-1 jumbo package run up the middle, the Panthers were forced to punt early in the second quarter.The Play: Odell Beckham, Jr. was back to return the punt near the goal line. D.J. Moore flew down the sideline as a gunner and Beckham tried to block Moore instead of fielding the punt. The ball hit the ground, struck OBJ’s leg, and got batted into the end zone. Janoris Jenkins briefly recovered the ball only to have Curtis Samuel knock it free again. Then, as Giants Eli Apple was about to dive on the ball and make the recovery Color Rush Dontari Poe Jersey , D.J. Moore alertly dove on top of him, allowing Colin Jones to make the recovery for a touchdown. Jones gets the glory for the touchdown, but it was two great plays by D.J. Moore that set it up. 3rd Quarter 7:46 – Panthers 20, Giants 13. Giants ball 3rd-and-14 at CAR 18The Situation: The Giants were in the red zone facing 3rd-and-14 and trailing by a touchdown. The Play: The Panthers dropped into zone and Eli Manning threw a perfect high strike to Odell Beckham, Jr. for an apparent touchdown. But at the last moment, James Bradberry recovered and broke up the completion as he and Beckham fell to the ground. The Giants settled for a field goal and a 20-16 Panthers lead. 4th Quarter 0:09 – Panthers 30, Giants 31. Panthers ball 3rd-and-10 at NYG 45The Situation: After trying to lose this game in a million creative ways, the Panthers lined up for a game-winning 63-yard field goal. The Play: GRAHAM GANO HIT A 63-YARD GAME-WINNING FIELD GOAL! Absolutely incredible. The kick tied for the second longest make in NFL history and trails the longest field goal ever by just one yard. Just, wow!Three plays to hate4th Quarter 9:08 – Panthers 27, Giants 16. Panthers ball 3rd-and-8 at NYG 43The Situation: With the Panthers leading by 11 points with less than 10 minutes left, ball control and field position were at a premium as Cam Newton dropped to pass on 3rd-and-8. The Play: Christian McCaffrey whiffed on his blitz pick-up of Landon Collins by diving at his feet. Collins leapt over CMC without breaking stride and was immediately in Cam’s face. Instead of just taking the sack, Cam tried to fire contested bullet to unproven rookie Ian Thomas who appeared to stop on his route. The errant pass was intercepted and returned to the Carolina 34. Two plays later Odell Beckham scored and the Giants two-point conversion was successful to cut the Panthers lead to 27-24. Poor block by CMC, poor route by Ian Thomas, and poor decision by Cam. 4th Quarter 1:39 – Panthers 24 Youth Cam Newton Jersey , Giants 30. Giants ball 1st-and-10 at NYG 45The Situation: The Giants had a lot of ground to cover as they scrambled for a go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes left. The Play: Russell Shepard ran a deep route with Donte Jackson in coverage and Mike Adams providing help over the top. For some inexplicable reason, Adams appeared to get frozen looking into the backfield or at shorter routes as Shepard got behind both him and Donte for a 40-yard gain. Adams simply cannot let a man get behind him in that situation. 4th Quarter 1:15 – Panthers 30, Giants 24. Giants ball 1st-and-10 at CAR 15The Situation: The Giants reeled off several big plays to get in the red zone with just over a minute remaining, looking for the go-ahead touchdown.The Play: As Eli Manning dropped to pass, Saquon Barkley ran a wheel route from out of the backfield down the right sideline. In a baffling coaching decision, defensive coordinator Eric Washington appeared to drop Efe Obada into man coverage on the dynamic Barkley. No disrespect to Efe, but we know how that turned out. Touchdown Barkley for a 31-30 Giants lead. The Panthers were only saved by Gano’s miracle kick. Terrible, terrible coverage call by Washington. Closing it out and summing it upI guess we’d rather be lucky than good in this one. Even with all of these things going our way, we only won by only the narrowest of margins:OBJ’s wacky muffed punt for a Panthers touchdown. Cam’s second quarter fumble which was recovered by the Giants Eli Apple, but Carolina kept possession because Apple was just barely out of bounds. The Panthers ended up netting a field goal on this drive. The Giants tried to give the Panthers additional points in the third quarter. Carolina lined up to punt on 4th-and-8 from the New York 41 but the Giants were flagged for offsides. Then on 4th-and-3 the Panthers went for it and the Giants were called for defensive holding followed by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct. Instead of punting from the 41 the Panthers now had 1st-and-10 from the 16. So what do the Panthers do with this red zone gift? They got called for a 10-yard penalty then threw an interception, of course. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Panthers faced a 3rd-and-13 when Landon Collins was flagged for a dubious unnecessary roughness call to extend the Panthers drive. It ended with a Christian McCaffrey touchdown. Tough call against the Giants. The offensive line got punched in the mouth in the trenches for most of the day, providing almost no running lanes. Ian Thomas was involved in both of Cam Newton’s interceptions and his indecisiveness as a route runner may have caused both turnovers. Mike Adams’ stat sheet looks good with the two picks, but he was out of position on Shepard’s long catch (above) and OBJ’s first touchdown reception (2:05 mark in this video). Adams got beat on some of the most crucial plays of the game. Can we get more of Curtis Samuel and his double 360 beast-mode touchdowns http://www.authenticscarolinapanthers.com/cheap-mike-adams-jersey , please? And can we get the ball in the hands of D.J. Moore more often, seeing how he’s virtually impossible to tackle? Jarius Wright continues to be “Mr. Clutch” this time with his 27-yard gain on 4th-and-1 with just 3:27 remaining in the game. Between the production of Wright and Devin Funchess and the potential of Samuel and Moore, Torrey Smith’s role should be heavily reduced from here.But all the praise goes to Graham Gano in this one. Going 3-for-3 from 39, 47, and 47 before hitting an incredible 63-yard winner is as impressive as it gets for a kicker. Well done, Gano! Thanks to his big leg the Panthers are sitting pretty at 3-1. Plays to love season leaders2 - D.J. Moore, Efe Obada, James Bradberry1 - Cam Newton, Christian McCaffrey, Colin Jones, Donte Jackson, Graham Gano, Kawann Short, Mario Addison Color Rush Shaq Thompson Jersey , Norv Turner, Wes HortonPlays to hate season leaders2 - Cam Newton, Christian McCaffrey, Mike Adams1 - Amini Silatolu, C.J. Anderson, Captain Munnerlyn, Colin Jones, Devin Funchess, Donte Jackson, Eric Washington, Ian Thomas