Panthers beat Jaguars 20-9; Luke Kuechly suffers concussion

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The Carolina Panthers won the game but lost Luke Kuechly to the concussion protocol.

Carolina beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-9 on Sunday, struggling through offensive inefficiency and losing its best defensive player to a head injury late in the second quarter.

The difference in a game that saw five field-goal attempts and just two offensive touchdowns was Panthers cornerback Josh Norman, who created two turnovers and six points.

Norman punched the ball away from Allen Hurns inside the Carolina 20, stopping a drive in the second quarter. Then in the third quarter, Norman intercepted Blake Bortles and returned the ball 30 yards for a touchdown.

“It was a tough, physical win,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “Not satisfied, though. We made too many mistakes. They’re a good football team. They went out and did some things and got after us. We missed some opportunities. You can’t miss opportunities when you have them, especially in this game. We kicked too many field goals.”

Quarterback Cam Newton finished 18-of-31 passing for 175 yards, a touchdown and one interception on a throw on which he didn’t follow through completely after his shoulder got hit.

Expected to be a bigger part of the offense with wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin out for the season, Panthers tight end Greg Olsen only had one catch on three targets for 11 yards.

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