Carolina Panthers Shine In Preseason Finale Over Pittsburgh Steelers; Kicker Situation Still Not Stable

The Carolina Panthers had their dress rehearsal on Friday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sam Darnold put an exclamation point on the preseason going 19-of-25 for 162 passing yards and two touchdowns in a 34-9 victory. In this week’s "Time Out For Sports," the Charlotte Observer’s Langston Wertz Jr. breaks down everything that went right for the Carolina Panthers in the first preseason game.

One thing to take note of -- the score, the Panthers scored 34 points on Friday, which was 13 more than they scored in the first two preseason games combined. Starting quarterback Sam Darnold’s performance was the catalyst for their performance however Wertz says that the offense looking good is a change for the better.

“Gwen, it was nice to see the Panthers score,” Wertz said. “They hadn’t scored a lot in preseason.”

Last week, Glenn and Wertz wondered if kicker Joey Slye would hold onto his job throughout the preseason. Unfortunately for Slye, he did not as he was released Saturday to make room for kicker Ryan Santoso. Santoso’s debut was a 52-yard field goal right off the uprights.

Here are some other things to check out in this week’s edition of Time Out For Sports:

• NC Central had the primetime slot of the first weekend of college football. Langston and Gwen break down the 23-14 win for the Eagles in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge.

• Former NBA guard Earl “J.R” Smith is going back to school at North Carolina A&T and will be on their golf team. 
• NC State has a new policy for their athletes — if they’re not vaccinated, they don’t play road games.
• The North Carolina High School Athletic Association was in front of the state Senate last week. The changes could limit their share of state tournament revenues.
  

Listen to the audio above for the full conversation.