I get downright giddy when a new season starts, even it’s an otherwise meaningless exhibition game. It means I’ve somehow survived to start a process of fandom and overly emotional connections once more, and it sure does beat the alternative.
There’s argubaly no more meaningless start to a professional season that the Hall of Fame game. It’s a fifth pre-season tilt tagged onto a schedule that a majority of regulars take minimal part of–and certainly none were on the neutral field in Canton, Ohio last night when players seemingly masquerading as the Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals trudged through their still-evolving playbooks. All that said, it’s an actual game with helmets and pads on a 100-yard gridiron for the first time in 179 days. And it’s not the elimination episode of BIG BROTHER or the episode of PRESS YOUR LUCK where someone lost nearly $200,000 to a whammy. So yeah, I was paying attention. And as it turned out, it was a pretty darn good game, as FIELD LEVEL MEDIA’s bots shared last night:
Haynes King scrambled for a 5-yard touchdown as time expired, lifting the Carolina Panthers to a 33-30 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday in the Hall of Fame Game at Canton, Ohio. The dash, completed with a dive over the goal line, capped a 13-play, 65-yard drive. Arizona took the lead with 1:55 remaining when Kedon Slovis connected with Bryson Green for a 1-yard touchdown pass. King completed 21 of 34 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns, and he added three carries for 39 yards. He was the second quarterback used by the Panthers (1-0), who gave Kenny Pickett the start while No. 1 QB Bryce Young took the night off.
King’s last-second score capped off a quality day for him. He completed 21 of 34 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns across extensive action and added 39 yards and a score on three carries. That should help him stake his claim to the third-string quarterback role, which he already had the inside track toward following the retirement of Will Grier. Meanwhile, Arizona will be discouraged to lose but encouraged by what it saw from Beck in his debut. The third-round rookie looked poised in the pocket and showed great accuracy, completing 15 of 19 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown.
Their colleague Nate Davis attempted to put the appropriate amount of caveat and asterisk on these accomplishments:
(T)h
is game will quickly fade into appropriate irrelevance – now something of an ornamental affair as the inaugural one of what’s now a 49-game docket of exhibition games…still, we usually tend to learn something from the HOF game, even if it’s little more than a first impression provided by a national platform in an otherwise forgettable undertaking – and, in this case, between two of the league’s lowest-profile teams.
Arizona’s rookie quarterback made his (unofficial) NFL debut, starting Thursday and playing with distinction into the second half. No, Beck wasn’t facing Hall of Fame-caliber players like Luke Kuechly – or even new Panthers Pro Bowler Devin Lloyd – but the third-rounder looked poised, accurate and dangerous, his best throw of the night a 49-yard deep shot to Jalen Brooks. Beck led the Cardinals to 17 first-half points.
Davis’ verdict pretty much echoes mine:
More than 800 yards of total offense and 63 points? About as entertaining and well-executed an offensive display as you’ll ever see in a Hall of Fame Game.
We now have to wait a full week for the actual pre-season to start. This game used to take place on the Sunday night following the induction ceremonies, but after six months of nothing more than conversation, and especially considering the tepidness of media competition, NBC wisely chose to move it up to the weekend’s opening act rather than its coda. It’s not like the starters were planning to play anyhow. And it gives us all that much longer to figure out exactly where Carson Beck will now land on our fantasy draft boards.
Much ado about nothing? Arguable. But it’s better than what we’ve had, and if this is indeed a precursor to what lies ahead, fall can’t come quickly enough.
Until next time…
