Panthers highlight: QB Sam Darnold finds WR Robby Anderson for first TD

QB Sam Darnold and the Panthers offense needed a bit of time, but they finally started to find the end zone to close out the first half.

The Carolina Panthers have quite a few former New York Jets in the lineup today. Two of them are a pair of good buddies in quarterback Sam Darnold and wideout Robby Anderson.

Darnold and Anderson, just as they used to in New York, connected a long pass for the first touchdown of the 2021 season. Anderson scooted right upfield from the slot to blow open the top of the Jets defense for a 57-yard score.

Patented Robby, isn’t it?

Anderson hadn’t even been thrown to prior to the play. So one catch for 57 yards and six points is, at least, pretty darn efficient. It was also, of course, Darnold’s first touchdown as a Panther.

The easy hookup, which was the lone play on that drive, gave the Panthers a 9-0 lead at the 4:06 mark of the second quarter. A missed extra point try from kicker Ryan Santoso kept the advantage at nine.

About three minutes later, for an encore, Darnold busted a 5-yard run for another trip to the end zone to push the lead to 16-0 right before the break.

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