Jaguars 26-10 Panthers: Week 1 2025 score, stats, highlights

Jaguars set the tone, Panthers stumble in a lopsided Week 1

Two teams started the season looking for answers. Only one walked out with a clear blueprint. The Jacksonville Jaguars punched first and never let go, rolling past the Carolina Panthers 26-10 at EverBank Stadium to open the 2025 NFL season with a statement win that looked organized, confident, and — for a franchise under fresh leadership — sustainable.

It wasn’t flashy so much as mature. Jacksonville piled up 17 points in the second quarter, sat through a lightning delay without losing its rhythm, and kept the game comfortably in hand the rest of the way. By halftime, it was 20-3 and felt like more. The fourth quarter brought two more scoring drives that squeezed the clock and the hope out of a Panthers team that couldn’t get its footing on offense.

The first look at Jacksonville’s sweeping offseason changes was undeniably positive. A new front office and coaching group — first-time general manager James Gladstone, new executive vice president Tony Boselli, and first-year head coach Doug Coen — delivered a clean debut. The coordinators kept it simple and decisive. The roster, topped by a quarterback who knows the weight of expectation, played like it had been together for years.

Trevor Lawrence set the tone with control. He worked through reads, checked into favorable looks, and hit on the money throws that claim early leads. His standout moment came on a touchdown to rookie Travis Hunter, the first-round pick who arrived with rare two-way buzz. Hunter’s first NFL score was the kind of crisp red-zone execution fans crave in Week 1 — well-timed route, confident delivery, no drama.

“It feels great the direction we’re heading,” Lawrence said afterward. “You got to take it for what it is. We won in Week 1. We’re 1-0 to start the season, and we’re all pumped about that. No one takes it for granted how hard it is to win in this league, so we’re all really proud of that. But it’s one game. We got to keep doing it. Consistency is what will be the difference.”

That word — consistency — showed up in the run game, too. Travis Etienne gave the offense balance, slipping through first contact and forcing Carolina’s safeties to respect the ground threat. Those steady gains mattered. They set up play action, quick hitters to the perimeter, and easy third downs that favored the Jaguars’ tempo. Coen didn’t ask his offense to be heroic. He asked it to be efficient. It was.

Carolina saw the other side of that coin. Bryce Young’s third straight shaky season opener dug an early hole the Panthers couldn’t climb out of. He completed 18 of 35 passes for 154 yards, threw two interceptions, and lost a fumble. The numbers tell the story, but the moments sting more — a forced ball late over the middle, a scramble that turned into a strip, and the head-scratching decision to throw out of the back of the end zone on fourth-and-1 from the 5-yard line. When he walked off after that play, helmet slammed, the frustration was obvious.

Jacksonville’s defense fed that frustration. The pass rush kept Young uncomfortable and sped up his reads. The secondary disguised looks well enough to bait mistakes, then rallied to the ball to limit yards after the catch. Carolina’s first half included two turnovers. Its second half featured two failed fourth downs. That’s not just bad luck. That’s a defense winning downs that decide games.

The weather even tried to interrupt. Lightning stopped play in the second quarter, a momentum killer in most stadiums. It didn’t throw the Jaguars off. They returned to the field sharp, finished the half with purpose, and carried a 20-3 lead to the locker room. If you’re looking for early proof of a team’s composure under new management, handling a mid-game delay without drifting is a good place to start.

Key moments, rookie watch, and what Week 1 really told us

Week 1 isn’t a crystal ball, but it can show you how a team wants to win. The Jaguars’ blueprint was clear: win early downs, protect the ball, cash in red-zone chances, and make the other quarterback play tight. The Panthers’ path was just as clear — and just as concerning: too many empty possessions, too many self-inflicted mistakes, and not enough answers when the game demanded a calm drive.

Here’s how it swung:

• Second-quarter surge: Jacksonville’s 17-point burst flipped the game from cautious to comfortable. Lawrence’s touchdown to Hunter highlighted the run-pass balance that Carolina never cracked.
• Red-zone discipline: The Jaguars finished drives. No panicked throws, no wasted plays. The Panthers did the opposite on their biggest snap — the fourth-and-1 miss that ended with a ball flying past the end line.
• Turnover tide: Carolina gave the ball away twice in the first half and failed on two fourth-down tries in the second. Jacksonville didn’t gift anything back.
• Weather delay composure: The lightning stoppage could have chopped Jacksonville’s momentum. It didn’t. The Jaguars stayed organized and extended the lead before halftime.
• Closer mentality: Two late scoring drives added six points and bled the clock. That’s how you close out a Week 1 lead without drama.

Hunter’s debut deserved the spotlight. He entered the league as a rare first-round pick expected to contribute at wide receiver and cornerback. In his first taste of the NFL, he made his mark on offense with the touchdown grab — a clean route, a confident finish, and a glimpse of why Jacksonville drafted him to tilt matchups. Whether he plays both ways regularly will unfold over the season, but the first impression was exactly what the staff wanted: immediate impact, low-risk touches, and a threat defenses have to account for.

Carolina also rolled out a first-round rookie in Tetairoa McMillan, who saw early action and got a feel for the speed of the league. The plan, clearly, is to grow his role alongside Young. But the Panthers couldn’t chain first downs long enough to test the Jaguars deep, and McMillan’s debut lived in that reality — flashes, then stalls, then the defense jogs back on.

Jacksonville’s defense set the tone with structure. Edge pressure kept Young from getting comfortable in the pocket. Inside leverage clogged his quick-game windows. The back end rallied, tackled, and turned would-be chain movers into third-and-long. It wasn’t a blitz-fest. It was calculated stress: make Carolina stack error-free plays. The Panthers couldn’t.

Credit the Jaguars’ staff for a game plan that fit the moment. First-time play-caller on offense? Don’t overload. Let Lawrence distribute, let Etienne chew clock, and lean on a defense that’s playing fast. First-time coordinator on defense? Don’t chase sacks at the expense of leverage. Force Carolina to work the field and live with the occasional underneath completion. The result looked like a team that knew exactly who it wanted to be on opening day.

For the Panthers, the checklist is already clear. Protect the football. Fix the fourth-down decision-making so it aligns with what your quarterback does well. Make the run game a real threat to lighten Young’s load. And when the red zone comes, simplify. Carolina’s best chance to stabilize is to turn those chaotic snaps into high-percentage throws and defined reads. The talent is there — you don’t take Young No. 1 if you don’t believe — but belief has to meet structure, and structure has to show up on Sundays.

Young’s opener sits alongside two others he’d rather forget. Across the past three Week 1 games, he’s piled up interceptions, taken the wrong risks, and left the field chasing plays he wanted back. That trend is the headline for Carolina until he breaks it. The Panthers don’t need highlight throws. They need routine drives stacked together — hitches that move the chains, checkdowns that become eight yards, and the occasional shot when the defense finally cheats.

One reason Jacksonville could squeeze the tempo: special-teams steadiness and field position that kept the Panthers starting in traffic. No blown coverages, no free runs back the other way. That kind of hidden-yardage control lets a defense build pressure without blitzing and an offense play on its front foot. It’s the kind of detail that looks small in a box score and huge on the sideline.

Listen to the players, and you hear the new voice in Jacksonville. Lawrence’s point about consistency wasn’t spin. It was a reminder that good teams don’t chase early highs. They stack routine performances. You saw hints of that in how the Jaguars kept their foot on the gas late, not by forcing explosive plays but by running the ball, staying in bounds, and making the Panthers tackle. That’s veteran football from a roster that doesn’t actually have many graybeards.

The front-office angle matters, too. Gladstone and Boselli took a big swing this offseason — new staff, new schemes, new energy. Week 1 doesn’t prove those choices right, but it shows why they made them. The Jaguars didn’t look like a tinkered version of last year. They looked redesigned to protect leads, lean into their quarterback’s strengths, and play defense that travels.

There’s only so much a Week 1 can tell you, but it can tell you this: Jacksonville controlled what it could. Carolina didn’t. And when that happens in this league, the scoreboard rarely flatters the team on the wrong side of the turnover column.

By the numbers we do have, the picture is sharp enough. Jaguars 26, Panthers 10. A 20-3 halftime cushion built on a 17-point second quarter. Two interceptions and a lost fumble by Young. Two failed fourth-down tries after the break. Jacksonville tacked on six points late to close it out. You won’t find many openers more straightforward than that.

So what comes next? For Jacksonville, it’s about showing the same identity on the road and under different game scripts. Can they chase if they fall behind? Can they grind out a one-score slog in bad weather without the cushion of a big second quarter? Those are tests for later, but they’re the ones that turn an encouraging September into a meaningful January.

For Carolina, it’s triage and clarity. What does the offense look like when it’s not behind the sticks? Which calls give Young his best first read? How do you get McMillan involved without asking him to win isolation routes all afternoon? The fixes aren’t glamorous, but they’re urgent. Another week like this and the season stops being early and starts being uphill.

Opening day sent out two different messages: Jacksonville’s overhaul has early traction, and Carolina’s reset needs more work. The Jaguars earned the clean sheet — efficient, prepared, and businesslike. The Panthers head home with hard tape and harder questions. That’s Week 1. It doesn’t crown anyone. It just tells you who handled the moment.